August 26th, 2025Betty’s final wishes: For the park to remain

When the late Betty Rea, a former shire president and councillor, bequeathed a parcel of land in Raglan Street, Daylesford, her wording was that “it be bequeathed to the mayor, councillors and citizens of the Shire of Daylesford for the use and benefit of the citizens of Daylesford and for it to be named Rea-Lands Park”.
Betty’s son Stefan, a former police officer at Daylesford, also says he clearly remembered his mother expressing her desire that it be made available as a park for the citizens of Daylesford and for visitors to the area for future generations,
A decision last month by Hepburn Shire Council to look into the potential sale of the park has raised the ire of the community, and Betty Rea’s only child Stefan.
Cr Lesley Hewitt moved a motion at the July meeting saying she wanted an investigation into whether the land could be sold. Cr Hewitt later told The Local it was clear Mrs Rea thought community was at the heart of everything she did. “And then the question is, what’s community benefit?”

Stefan said his mother would definitely not have been in favour of selling the land to fund other projects. “She wanted it to remain as a parkland. Obviously, it’s been developed by the Daylesford Community Food Gardeners. They’ve done a superb job with where they’ve got it to today with further tree plantings and other facilities that are there.
“I think she would have been very proud and impressed when they took over the role. She would have been more than satisfied that it was being used for a community park and community purpose here. The suggestion for it to be sold off and the funds used by council for any other event, she would have been totally against, as I am and I’m sure quite a lot of other locals are as well.”
Stefan said the council tried to sell the land in 2011. “We fought them then. At one stage they even offered to swap the land with us so that they could dispose of it. There was a site of land down at the corner of Bleakley Street and King Street, directly over the road from where the BP petrol station is now. They wanted to swap the land over basically and call that Rea-Lands Park. We said no for a couple of reasons, one because it had nothing to do with the Rea name and secondly because I knew it was built on top of a mullock heap and a mine shaft. It wouldn’t have been stable.”
Stefan said 2011 was when the Daylesford Community Food Gardeners were given a lease on the land, and the council had agreed to mow the park and pay for water. “We thought that was the end of it. It would be good to know it will remain as a park in perpetuity.”

Who was Betty Rea?

Betty Rea was born in Fremantle, Western Australia on January 17, 1921 to Phillip and Virginia Guest-Sanderson.
Phillip had served in the British Army in the Royal Engineers during World War I and worked alongside Lawrence of Arabia during the Arab insurrection. He later emigrated to Australia where he met Virginia, and then served in the Catering Corp of the Australian Army in World War II.
After the war the couple started up their own catering company and even catered for Queen Elizabeth when she came out after the coronation. Phillip was also awarded a MBE for his extended service to both Britain and Australia during the war.
After Betty grew up she went into nursing, helping with the war efforts at home, and then an opportunity came up to move to Bonegilla, near Benalla in Victoria to help new Australians arriving at migrant camps.
“Mum was one of the nurses or matrons who assisted them with settling in to Australia at those migrant camps. Sometime after that she met my father, Henry John, known as Jack, and they got married and settled in Daylesford. My father was the fourth generation of the Rea family living there.
“They ran a general store-cum-hardware shop in Howe Street next to where the Daylesford Central Motor Inn is. They worked there for many, many years.”
Meanwhile, Jack and Betty bought a house in the late 50s/early 60s at 25 Hill Street with land from Hill Street down through to Raglan Street.
Betty also continued her nursing duties at both Daylesford and Trentham hospitals – at times working with Dr Gweneth Wisewould – and also taking on duties as a midwife.
Betty was also a local reporter for the Daylesford Advocate, The Ballarat Courier and also did some filming for BTV6 in Ballarat and BCV8 in Bendigo.
“Mum also kept a scrapbook and any media articles that appeared in The Advocate or the Ballarat Courier, were pasted into them. She had a lot of history from the Daylesford area from the 60s and 70s and part of her bequeathment was that those scrapbooks got donated to the Daylesford Museum and they’re still there.”

Jack died in 1972 leaving Betty, at 51, a single parent with a 10-year-old boy to look after.
It was at that time Betty decided to run for council and was elected. “I think it was just that she wanted to help give back to the community more from there. She felt it was the right thing to do. She’d always been very community involved with organising committees and other bits and pieces.”
She was the second female councillor for the shire and then became the first female shire president since the municipality was formed back in 1858. Just some of her achievements and involvement included being instrumental in establishing the community housing, Harper Court, in Hospital Street, Daylesford, being on the Business and Professional Women’s Association in Daylesford, on the board for the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind, helping with the Leonards Hill Baby Show, and the entire family was involved with the Daylesford Highland Gathering – there was even a Betty Rea Trophy for the best window display for the event.
Betty was also a Justice of the Peace and regularly called into the Daylesford Police Station in Camp Street, or people’s homes, to sign documents.
Stefan said another volunteer role was organising billeting for people who were being flown out of Darwin after Cyclone Tracy hit on Christmas Eve 1974.
“They had to evacuate a lot of people around so they could do the clean-up and Mum was instrumental in setting up a spot in Daylesford for the refugees to come and stay.”
Betty, who spent her life helping others, died in 1982 while having open heart surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. She had bequeathed Rea-Lands Park to the people of, and visitors to, the shire. In perpetuity.

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Contributed