Ted Roberts

Edmond (Ted) James Roberts was born in Stawell on the July 18, 1928, or so it says on his birth certificate. But his maternal grandmother claimed to recall the day well and she was adamant that Ted was born two days later. Being a practical man, Ted celebrates two birthdays, one on July 18, and one on July 20. “My friends clearly don’t accept July 20th as they feel I look two days older!” Ted’s earliest memory as a little boy of three or four, is running outside his home, while holding on to the axle of a pair of pram wheels with a belt attached. That was over ninety years ago. Unfortunately, he fell on to the gravel road and sustained a cut lip. As his lip bled, both his mother and grandmother tried to comfort him and stop the bleeding, but he would only allow them to touch his wound with cotton wool. It’s an early indication of Ted’s single-mindedness and the determined personality that he has consistently demonstrated throughout his life.