Vivienne Mason (Nee Ella)

Vivienne Mason’s grandmother was Muriel Coolie. Muriel Coolie was from Nelligen and she married ‘Ted’ Edward Stewart who was born at Tilba Tilba. Ted’s father was Christy Stewart and his mother Emily Walker. Emily Walker’s father was Neddy Walker from Wallaga Lake. The Stewart family left the Tilba Tilba area following the timber industry to Annandale, Sydney, where they stayed.

Vivienne Mason’s grandmother was Muriel Coolie. Muriel Coolie was from Nelligen and she married ‘Ted’ Edward Stewart who was born at Tilba Tilba. Ted’s father was Christy Stewart and his mother Emily Walker. Emily Walker’s father was Neddy Walker from Wallaga Lake. The Stewart family left the Tilba Tilba area following the timber industry to Annandale, Sydney, where they stayed.

Every year the families ‘trek back to ancestral land…to maintain their connection’. Vivienne recalls visiting Coopers Island as a kid in a black motorcar with her sister Jacqueline and her paternal grandmother, Nan Ella. Grandfather Stewart passed away when he was 50 years old. He always sang the name ‘Tilba Tilba’, that was his country and he died before he could take the family back. The family has camped and fished along the south coast. The Stewart family would often visit family at Mogo or ‘Sunpatch’, Tomakin.

Camping and or fishing places, important to this family include Durras, Jamisons and Blackfellows Point, Brou Lake, Mummuga Lake, Glasshouse Rocks, Corunna Lake, Cadgee, Tuross River, Mystery Bay, Fullers Beach, Handkerchief Beach, Wagonga Inlet, and Potato Point.

 

Excerpt from "Stories About the Eurobodalla by Aboriginal People", 2006. Story Contributed by Martin Ind from Moruya High School.