After a lifetime shaped by Queensland’s remote cattle stations, Lorna Wing celebrated her 100th birthday at the Carinity Hilltop aged care home in Kelvin Grove on 13 September.
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Born in Townsville in 1926, Lorna grew up on Van Rook and Lorraine stations in the Gulf Country of north-west Queensland. As a young woman, she worked as a bookkeeper on Lorraine Station, a farming property located around 400km north of Mount Isa and Cloncurry.
Bush life was a memorable part of Lorna’s youth, with horse riding among the activities she enjoyed on the beef cattle stations. Lorna also rode as a jockey at country race meetings, mostly during her late teens and 20s.
“Mum rode as a jockey a few times as a young woman, mostly in her late-teens and 20s. It was usually at country race meets,” her daughter Donna Doyle said.
A Life In The Outback
During World War II, Lorna was a plane spotter, looking for enemy aircraft and reporting on them. She later met Bob Wing while he was working as head stockman on Lorraine Station. They married in Townsville in 1954 and later welcomed four children, two daughters and two sons.
The Wing family has since grown to include 13 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Donna described her mother as a “very strong and resilient” woman, particularly during the years Lorna lived and worked in the outback, including at Walhallow Station in the Northern Territory.
“There were times when she was cooking for 40 men alongside teaching three of her kids distance education, and entertaining directors from the station company when they visited,” Donna said.
Lorna worked on cattle stations for her entire young adult life before she and Bob retired to Brisbane in 1986. The couple lived in Browns Plains. Lorna’s favourite pastimes have included gardening, knitting, crocheting, drawing, crosswords and Sudoku. She still enjoys doing crosswords and Sudoku.
A New Chapter In Brisbane
Lorna has lived at Carinity Hilltop in Kelvin Grove since 2023. Her 100th birthday brought family members from Scotland, Darwin, Melbourne, Blackall, Emerald, and Clermont to celebrate with her.
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The gathering marked a milestone for Lorna after decades spent working on cattle stations, riding at country race meetings and raising a family before settling in Brisbane.
Published 15-September-2026
