Nan Sarah Flanders was born on the lower south arm of the Bellinger River. She moved to Bowraville when she was 12 and lived with Miss Connelly. She liked going to the picture theatre, and remembers Myrtle Richardson playing the piano during the silent films. She married Tom Flanders when she was 21. Her husband built their house in Bowraville where they raised ten children. The family moved to Coffs Harbour in the 1940s, where Tom found work as a gravedigger.