Mount Gambier woman Kay Neal got the surprise of a lifetime when she recently discovered a 71-year-old letter tucked behind a photo.

The letter, dated July 8, 1950, was written by her father William Marshall to Mrs Neal and her brother and had been hidden behind a photograph of her now-deceased father.

“I saw the envelope and knew it was my dad’s handwriting because of the way he wrote Kay,” Mrs Neal said.

Mrs Neal’s mother made copies for each of her three children of the photo of her father taken in the 1970s.

The letter remained hidden until a maintenance man took off the frame stand to attach the photo to the wall of Mrs Neal’s apartment.

“I was absolutely speechless when the maintenance man showed me the letter,” she said.

“Behind the frame was also a hospital card with my birth details.

“I have no idea how my father managed to put the letter in the frame without anyone noticing.”

Mrs Neal said her father was a loved member of the community and she recalled several fond memories.

“When he was building his own house, he did not want the cement to set before it was all poured out so he asked two or three of his mates to help and 150 turned up,” she said.

“At his funeral there were so many people at the church individuals had to stand outside.”

Mr Marshall was working in Scotland as at electrician at the time of Mrs Neal’s birth and was often away working for weeks at a time.

Once World War II ended her father wrote to the Canadian, South African and Australian governments looking to relocate his family.

“Australia was the first to respond so he jumped at the opportunity,” she said.

“He had visited Darwin and Sydney during the war as part of the British Air Force so he said there was a lot of opportunity out there, it is a new country and it is a good place to bring up kids.”

Mrs Neal said hiding the letter behind the frame was in line with her father’s loving character.

“He was an excellent father who loved the three of us kids equally,” she said.

“He was always thinking of us.”