Bill was a station master at the railway and would spend two or three weeks at a time in Dunedoo before heading back home to Dubbo. 

“My father was selling raffle tickets and Bill won a ham, so my father said he could keep the ham in our fridge until he was back from Dubbo,” Anne said. 

“He was trying to get things started between us.”

And things started indeed. 

On November 30, 1957, Bill and Anne were married in Dunedoo. 

“It was a small wedding, very nice,” Bill said. 

“It was very hot and there was a drought, and my father didn’t have a lot of money so it was very simple,” Anne said. 

“But it was a lovely day.”

In January 1959 Ann and Bill had their first child in Dubbo. 

Bill’s job as a station manager meant the family of eight travelled a lot. Bill worked everywhere from Yass to Cootamundra to Forbes to Dubbo and Bowral. 

When they settled in Bowral in 1977 the couple already had six children, Katherine, Paul, Mark, Matthew, Jennifer and David. 

Flash forward to today and the pair have 17 grandchildren and one great grandchild. 

Until 1996 Bill and Anne lived in the railway station house in Bowral. 

“That was a great house, lots of space” Bill said. 

“It was double-brick so it always kept nice and cool inside during summer, everyone thought we had air-conditioning!”

“I miss the pantry,” Anne said. “It was so spacious, it was great.” 

Now living on Ascot Road, the pair celebrated 60 years of marriage with friends and family, last Saturday. 

“We had about 25 people here, it was a lovely afternoon,” Ann said. 

Anne and Bill said the key to marriage was being prepared, and keeping busy. 

“If you’re not prepared to give it your all, don’t do it,” Anne said. 

“Lots of young people don’t think about it and rush a little bit these days,” Bill said. 

“We are very involved with St Thomas Aquinas Church and we have been with Vinnies for over 50 years so we also get to do a lot together, which is nice.” 

The Merediths received a very special gift for their anniversary - an Apolistic Blessing from Pope Francis. 

“Our daughter arranged it for us, it’s very special,” Anne said. 

The pair said they hoped for many more years of marriage to come. 

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