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Newcastle Herald

Alanna Tomazin

Meet Merle, the oldest living former student of Maitland Public School

Maitland Public School captain Eamon Brown with his great grandmother Merle Daly, mum Elissa Brown and younger brother Owen Brown. Picture by Marina Neil

IT was 1942 when Merle Daly attended Maitland Public School, wearing her navy tunic with three box pleats, paired with a white blouse, silk black stockings and a felt hat perched on her head.

She rode the bus to school each day from Raymond Terrace, tittle-tattling with the girls from the Catholic school and the Cessnock girls who she described as "tough".

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