Linda Colburn (nee Mason) was born in Orbost, Victoria in 1934. Her mother was Trixie (nee Thomas) Mason and father Alexander Mason. Linda did not know her father as he died during World War Two.
In 1940, aged 6 Linda Colburn travelled from Orbost, Victoria, to Bodalla, NSW on the back of a fish truck. She was with her mother, brothers and sisters, they hitched a ride with a fish truck going to the Sydney markets, they had to sit in the back of the truck on boxes packed with fish. Upon arrival, the Mason family began to work and live at the Stanford’s ‘Wayne Court’ Eurobodalla Rd, Bodalla. The Mason family lived in a shed at the back of the property, and worked in the region picking seasonal vegetables.
During the 1940s Linda attended Bodalla School. A generation later Linda’s children attended Bodalla School and today, Linda’s grandchildren attend Bodalla School.
In 1951 Linda moved to ‘Tyrone’, a farm also owned by the Stanford family, with her husband Oliver Colburn, having her children there. Linda remained at Tyrone for a further 20 years. After her husband died, she moved to Nowra for about 20 years and in 1998 returned to Bodalla to assist in the rearing of her grandchildren. Linda continues to live in Bodalla and still to this day picks seasonal vegetables.
Excerpt from Stories About the Eurobodalla by Aboriginal People, 2006. Story contributed by Martin Ind from Moruya High School.