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Aston, Matilda Ann (1873 - 1947)

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    Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers
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    The Woolinappers
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Born
11 December 1873
Carisbrook, Victoria, Australia
Died
1 November 1947
Windsor, Victoria, Australia
Alternative Names
  • Aston, Tilly (also known as)

Summary

Aston was born at Carisbrook, Victoria, and lost her sight by the age of seven. In 1881 she met an itinerant missionary who taught her to read Braille and the following year she left home to attend a school for the blind in St Kilda. She enrolled in an Arts Degree at the University of Melbourne - becoming the first blind student in an Australian tertiary institution - but withdrew due to anxiety and lack of resources. She went on to become a teacher, eventually heading the Victorian school for the Blind and working to establish the Association for the Advancement of the Blind and the Victorian Association of Braille Writers. She wrote popular song lyrics and published five volumes of verse, two serialised novellas, an autobiography and two collections of short stories: The Woolinappers: or Some Tales of the By-ways of Methodism (1905) and Old Timers: Sketches and Word Pictures of the Old Pioneers (1938).

Published resources

Books

  • Aston, Tilly, The woolinappers : or, some tales from the by-ways of Methodism, Spectator Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1905, 104 pp. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, 148 pp. Details

Short Stories

  • Aston, Tilly, 'Our Local Laureate', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 81-89. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'Bruce and His Dog', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 17-23. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'The Scholard', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 24-29. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'Me and Mother', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 30-35. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'A Modern Sarah', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 36-42. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'The Eden by the Creek', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 43-49. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'The Man who could never go Home', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 50-57. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'Brummy', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 58-65. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'The Grumpy Squatter', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 72-80. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'Our Bad Boy', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 90-97. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'Jimmy's Sundowner', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 98-106. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'The Hermit', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 107-113. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'The Mahoneys', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 114-118. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'The Sundowner's Legacy', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 119-126. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'Irrepressible Grandpa', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 127-134. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'The Ghost of the Hill', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 135-143. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'The Back to Din-Garoop', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 144-148. Details
  • Aston, Tilly, 'The Black Butterfly', in Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers, Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1938, pp. 66-71. Details

See also

Archival resources

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

  • Biographical information - Tilly Aston, - 1978, MS 10224; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Rachael Weaver

Created: 3 February 2009, Last modified: 10 June 2015