When Vera May Cleary was born on January 16, 1919, in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, her father, Justin, was 34, and her mother, Mary, was 31. At age 16, Vera gave birth to a son (Dennis John) who was conceived after she was raped; he died 15 days later.
Vera married David John McCullough (formerly Barlow) in 1937 and they had four children together. After her husband went missing at war (presumed dead), Vera had one son and four daughters with Leonard Lancelot Smith. She died on February 5, 1980, in Seymour, Victoria, Australia, at the age of 61.