Emma Timbery

Emma Timbery (c.1842 - 26 November 1916) was a Mulgoa Aboriginal Australian shellworker and matriarch. She was also known as the "Queen of the Illawarra", "Queen of La Perouse" or "Granny Timbery." Her shellwork became part of a family tradition that continues to the present day. Timbery was also a Christian convert and active in the Christian Endeavor Society in La Perouse. Timbery also acted as a cultural informant about her language, Dharawal.

Emma Timbery in 1895.

Biography

Timbery was born on the Georges River[1] at Liverpool, New South Wales.[2] She spoke Dharawal and was originally known by her stepfather's last name, Lond or Lownds.[3] At the age of ten, she was taken to live with Mr. and Mrs. Edward Hill in Surry Hills, New South Wales.[1] There, she began attending Sunday School regularly.[1] She married George Timbery, an Aboriginal fisherman, in 1864 in Botany Bay.[3] She and George had 11 children together.[4] The couple had moved to La Perouse by 1882 where Timbery was able to make extra money creating shell baskets.[3] Timbery's shellwork was displayed on a regular basis and sold annually in Sydney at the Royal Easter Show.[3] Timbery's work is part of the "early phase" of La Perouse shellwork.[5] In 1910, her shellwork was displayed in London.[6]

Timbery was revered in the community, known as "Queen of La Perouse" or "Granny Timbery."[1][5] Timbery was also a skilled fisher,[1] and on at least two occasions, in 1876[7] and in the early 1900s,[1] a boat was provided for the community to enable them to catch their own fish.[1] The boat provided in 1876 was named the "Queen Emma", in honour of Timbery.[7]

Timbery was also an informant on her own culture, working with the anthropologist R.H. Mathews, who was studying the Dharawal language and culture.[5] Maria Nugent writes that Timbery's "information has been essential for the preservation and revival of the Dharawal language."[5] Timbery, who had become a Christian convert in the early 1890s, was also involved with Christian missionaries at the La Perouse Aboriginal settlement and also with the Christian Endeavor Society.[4][8] Timbery was elected as vice president of the Christian Endeavor Society branch in La Perouse.[9] Timbery was close to missionary, Retta Dixon and the two women worked together.[4] It was believed by the community that Queen Victoria had left lands to Timbery, but the paperwork had been destroyed in a fire.[8]

Timbery died in La Perouse on 26 November 1916[1] and was buried in Botany Cemetery.[8] She left behind a long family legacy of arts with her grandson, Joseph Timbery, noted as a boomerang maker and women in her family continuing to do shellwork.[8] Her great-granddaughter, Esme Russell, won awards for her shellwork.[5]

References
  1. "QUEEN EMMA DEAD". Sunday Times. No. 1611. New South Wales, Australia. 3 December 1916. p. 26. Retrieved 6 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. Goodall, Heather; Cadzow, Allison (2009). Rivers and Resilience: Aboriginal People on Sydney's Georges River. Sydney: UNSW Press. p. 106. ISBN 9781921410741.
  3. Nugent, Maria, "Timbery, Emma (1842–1916)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 4 August 2019
  4. Warden, Hayley (8 August 2017). "Aboriginal Stories Come to Life in Historical Book". South Coast Register. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  5. Nugent, Maria (2008). "Emma Timbery". Design & Art Australia Online. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  6. Kembrey, Melanie (16 January 2018). "The shell seeker: Esme Timbery's journey from Paddy's Markets to the Biennale". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  7. "The "Queen Emma."". Illawarra Mercury. Vol. XXI, no. C. New South Wales, Australia. 12 September 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 6 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "La Perouse Mission Church". NSW Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  9. Cruickshank, Joanna; Grimshaw, Patricia (2019). White Women, Aboriginal Missions and Australian Settler Governments: Maternal Contradictions. Leiden: Brill. p. 110. ISBN 9789004397019.
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