Rick Biden is fascinate with history. So it was only fitting he joined the Ballan Shire Historical Society when he moved to Ballan 16 years.
What’s your connection to Moorabool?
I’m a new resident (laughs). We moved to Ballan from Werribee 16 years ago and my wife and I bought a five-acre property, built a house and retired here. I worked on a research fund for 30 years and was ready to resign or retire. There was an opportunity for me to resign at 54 and then I moved up here.
What’s your favourite thing about living in Moorabool?
Everything. Ballan is just a lovely little town. People are friendly, the atmosphere’s great and you can virtually get everything you want here.
What would you change about the area if you could?
Nothing really. It’s what we like … I can’t see any reason to change anything. Werribee was a little country town in ’69. When we left in 2000, there were people in Hoppers Crossing who didn’t know Werribee existed; it was so huge. Ballan is quite a nice little place.
Where’s your favourite place to hang out?
Being involved in the historical society, we go there a fair a bit. The local cafes are good and if we want to go out for dinner, there’s this Indian place in Daylesford or the Wallace or Commercial hotels.
How did you get involved with the historical society?
When we were living in Werribee, in 1972, my wife joined the Werribee District Historical Society and I joined, too. We were continuously involved with the Werribee society until we came up here, and we decided we were new residents and needed to lay low and see what was out there.
Why do you enjoy being involved with historical societies?
Family history for one thing. Biden is an unusual name and I’ve been able to search the internet with some success. I like catching up with family, knowing how I came about and how our forebears came out.
What have you learned about yourself?
I’m incredibly diverse! Going back in history, we’ve got ancestors from Europe and England and various places around England, Ireland, Scotland. What they’ve been through and what they’ve done when they came to Australia is intriguing.
I suppose the most interesting thing I found out is [my German roots]. When I was a child in Sydney in 1944, we were [sort of] ostracised as a family because of our German connections. But I didn’t know of any other family I had. After I got married, my wife said, ‘Let’s look into your family history’. In 1969-70, we wrote to all the Bidens in Australia and I found out I had a heck of a lot of relatives.
