When Doris Violet Thirkettle was born on 24 June 1895, in Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia, her father, Alfred Thirkettle, was 37 and her mother, Mary Jane Ward, was 34. She married William Charles Thorsby in 1916, in Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia. She died in April 1982, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, at the age of 86, and was buried in Woronora Memorial Park, Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia.