George William Hannaford was born on 4 January 1852, the son of farmer George Williams Hannaford and his wife Ann (née Cornish) of ‘Hatchlands’ in Hartley Vale, near Gumeracha, South Australia.
Deeply affected by the isolation and loneliness of her early married life, Mary Jane Warnes strived to improve conditions for her fellow countrywomen by founding the South Australian Country Women’s Association.