Early Life

I was born in Pilliga and my family wasn’t on the mission. My father was a returned soldier and he didn’t believe in the missions and would never take us there. We were supposed to be on the mission but whenever the welfare would find us and make us go to the mission, we’d move on to another place. My father was a sleeper cutter.

The welfare also tried to take all my brothers and sisters away from Mum and Dad. Every time we heard a motor car we had to run and hide down on the creek and stay there until we heard the car go. We knew all that country like the back of our hand. We were so frightened when we heard the motor car coming that we would scatter like rabbits. One day they managed to take Alice, my step sister and she had to go to work in Wee Waa. She had to do housework and cooking and go to school for a couple of hours. it upset us all very much because we couldn’t even go and see her.

Dad was married before and he had two boys and they were both taken by the welfare. One boy ended up dying out on the property where he was working of pneumonia. The other one cleared off and joined the army. He was killed in action in the war.

At our camp, all the kids used to hunt all day. We used to walk and walk and we’d go for miles. If we weren’t hunting we’d be bird nesting or fishing. We were always well fed that was. We’d never come home to mum and say ‘What’s there to eat?” because we were always full. Now and again a lorry would come out of town with other food but most of the time we hunted our food. We ate porcupine, quandongs, and blue berries and naypans. We never got lost and we’d get home about 10 o’clock at night. A naypan is like a fruit – a yellow pod with seeds init. It tastes a bit like a passionfruit. We’d also eat ‘goobi-eyes’. They are like a potato. We’d dig them up with a pointy stick and ‘boodies’ which is a stick with a knob on the end. We used the knob to knock the rabbits on the head. We used shanghais. Later on mum had a wonderful vegetable garden on the Cuttibri Creek and we had chooks too, we would eat lots of eggs.

Later life

I was taken away when I was about 12 years old. Mum and Dad knew I had to go and start work. I had to do all the chores around the house. I’ve never felt so lonely in all my life because I came from a big family. So one night when everyone was asleep I packed up and took off home, 14 miles along the back way. I was pleased to be back with my family and Dad wouldn’t let me go back.

I never went to school at all, we came to Coonamble and the Welfare got on to us and made my younger brothers and sisters go but I was tool old then.

I worked at the pub, then did housework and ironing and I wouldn’t get home until after dark. I would give all the money to Mum and she would feed the rest of the children. The rector’s wife, Mrs Pollard helped me to get my first pair of new shoes, and a pair of socks. I paid then off gradually. I thought I was the Queen of England.

Dad worked at Geanmoney for a while and we lived in a big old house. Then in 1947 we moved to Tin Town. I was married by this time and my husband was a bag sower. I married Jack Hamilton. We had three children, tow boys, Douglas and Danny and on girl, Isobel. My daughter married a white man and has three children. She lives in Tasmania and travels a lot.

Jack got a job on the Council in the ‘Red Scheme”. He died in 1975 of heart and bronchial pneumonia. It was a horrible death. When he died I missed him so much that I decided I would go to Wee Waa and get a job with the cotton. This kept me busy.

Both my son’s wives left them with four and five kids so I left the Wee Waa job and I adopted them all along with a couple of others. I looked after 12 children. I would buy everything in bulk and I used to cook a lot of stews. They really kept me busy.

Now I am in my little flat with Jamie and I am very happy.