Janet Sanderson was born 30 March 1859 in Morpeth NSW, and died 5 March 1943 in Quirindi NSW. She married Benjamin Taylor 18 July 1877 in C/e Wallabadah, son of William Taylor and Mary Hardy. He was born 20 December 1853 in Lochinvar NSW, and died 11 October 1923 in Werris Creek NSW.
Janet Was the eldest child in the family following the death of her older brother as a baby. She spent her very early years at Morpeth NSW and was about eleven or twelve years old when the family moved to Wallabadah NSW. Janet went to work, and lived in, on a property at Collie Creek NSW for about twelve months. She was not allowed to receive her pay and her mother would collect it. Janet then went to work at McDonald's Wallabadah NSW station. Mrs McDonald insisted that Janet be paid the wages and would not give the money to her mother as you did not work for it'. At night, after Janet had finished her day's work, she would clip the ends of the feathers tat had been saved to make pillows and mattresses. The cook from Sydney was not happy about the situation and took handfuls of feathers and threw them in the open fire 'you have enough work to do'. Janet was 18 years of age when she married Benjamin Taylor in 1877 at Middle Creek, Wallabadah NSW. Benjamin was born in Lochinvar NSW and came to Wallabadah NSW when he was 16 years old with his parents. His father purchased a store and ran it for upward of 20 years before moving to Narrabri NSW. Benjamin and Janet made their home in Wallabadah NSW and lived at 'Bellevue'. They raised a very large family of thirteen children, one of whom died not long after birth. Janet had a very petite figure, being just under five foot tall and never weighing more than seven stone was a shoe size two. She had a volatile nature as she had a quick and fiery temper. Her health was not always good as she suffered from asthma as did her sons and daughters Nina and Rene. In a particularly bad attack Janet's daughter, Rene, would lift Janet upside down to help her get her breath back and at times when Janet could not sleep because of breathlessness she would sit outside on the wood heap and crochet until 4am. Janet was a very particular home maker and would be up at four am sweeping and scrubbing. Her culinary skills are still remembered, particularly preserves and the half pound butter pats in the shape of a pineapple. Benjamin worked for many years as a maintenance man on the roads before local government, assisted in building the many culverts and bridges in the area. He retired from road work and in 1923 had bought a house in Werris Creek NSW which he was repairing. He died suddenly one morning while at Werris Creek NSW working on the house. His death at aged 69 years was a great shock to his family and friends as he was a hale and hearty man. At one time in the 1930's after her husband had died Janet received a pension of one shilling a week. Janet was widowed for21 year and died aged 84 years in Quirindi Hospital of acute Carditis. Both are buried in the cemetery at Wallabadah NSW.
Contributions from the research of Alison Morris, Wendy Nott, Shirley Potter and Libby Fry