Rita Baker
Rita Baker, Gulgong, NSW provided details of some of the Australian tunes in this archive, as described by John Meredith.
"Rita was born Rita Adams in Gulgong in 1906, her mother was of Irish descent and her father, Samuel, English. Both parents were musical and played fiddle for local dances. They later lived at Bundella in the Liverpool ranges, in country so rough they had to take the buggy apart to get to their land. Rita could play a fiddle at the age of seven and throughout her life was passionately fond of music. In later years arthritis prevented her from playing her violin and she would sing or whistle her tunes to herself as she carried out her tasks. Rita learned many of her tunes from her parents." -- (adapted from) J Meredith, R Covell, & P Brown, Folk Songs of Australia Vol 2, UNSW Press, 1987, p17-28
A photo of Rita Baker is available in the John Meredith Collection in the NLA at Portrait of Rita Baker.
