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Aston, Matilda Ann (1873-1947)

Occupation
autobiographer/memoirist; community worker; magazine/journal editor; poet; schoolteacher; short story writer; songwriter
Persistent Identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-630666

Biographies

Australian Women's Register

Matilda Ann Aston (December 11, 1873 - November, 1947), better known as Tilly Aston, was a blind Australian writer and teacher. She founded the Victorian Association of Braille Writers (which became the Victorian Braille Library) and then went on to establish the Association for the Advancement of the Blind, assuming the post of secretary. Tilly's energy was unbounded and her achievements (along with those of her co-workers) to promote the human rights of vision impaired people were plentiful. They include: Successfully lobbying for the world's first free post system for braille (and later talking) books. Gaining free public transport for blind people. Achieving the right to vote for blind people. Lobbying for the repeal of the bounty system which meant blind people had to pay hefty levies before they could travel interstate Gaining Government approval for a pension for all legally blind people.

Matilda (Tilly) Ann Aston was a blind Australian writer and teacher who founded the Victorian Association of Braille Writers, and later went on to establish the Association for the Advancement of the Blind.

Born in the town of Carisbrook, Victoria in 1873, Tilly was one of eight children. Vision impaired from birth, she had lost most of her sight by the age of seven. A chance meeting with Thomas James, an itinerant blind missionary changed her life; he introduced her to the Braille method of reading. She was then persuaded to travel to Melbourne to further her education. After successfully matriculating in 1988, Tilly became the first blind Australian to go to a university. Sadly, she was unable to complete her Arts Degree at the University of Melbourne due to the lack of braille text books. She was forced to discontinue her studies in the middle of her second year.

In 1894, with the assistance of the Australian Natives Association, Tilly established the Victorian Association of Braille Writers. This organisation would eventually become the Victorian Braille Library. In 1895, she established the Association for the Advancement of the Blind to fight for greater independence, social change and new laws for blind people. They quickly won voting rights for blind people; free postage for Braille material (in 1899 - a world first); and transport concessions for the blind.

In 1913, aged forty, Tilly undertook a course of teacher training to become head of the Victorian Education Department's School for the Blind. The Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind had some misgivings about the appointment, given her disability, but she proved to be a competent educator and administrator, working for the department until ill-health forced her to retire in 1925

As well as being an energetic activist and inspirational teacher, Tilly Aston was a prolific writer. Between 1901 and 1940 she published eight volumes of verse. Her self-penned memoirs The Memoirs of Tilly Aston : Australia's blind poet, author and philanthropist were published in 1946. She corresponded with people around the world in Esperanto, and was editor and chief contributor to A Book of Opals, a Braille magazine for Chinese mission schools, for many years.

Tilly's lifetime of achievements has been recognised in a number of ways. She twice received the King’s Medal for distinguished citizens service. A cairn in her honour was erected by the school children of Carsibrook and the Midlands Historical Society. The Federal electorate Division of Aston in Melbourne's eastern suburbs is named after her, as is a species of rose. There is also a sculpture in her honour in King's Domain, in Melbourne, Victoria. The Tilly Aston Bell rings, but only after one runs one's hands all the way round the Braille inscription that the sculpture carries.

Tilly Aston died from cancer on November 1 1947. Her ability to live a useful, independent life despite her disability was inspirational.

View the full record at Australian Women's Register

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

ASTON, MATILDA ANN (1873-1947), blind writer and teacher, was born on 11 December 1873 at Carisbrook, Victoria, youngest of the eight children of Edward Aston, bootmaker, and his wife Ann, née Howell. Her parents had migrated from Gloucestershire to Kapunda, South Australia, in 1855 and two years later moved to Carisbrook.

View the full record at Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Resources

Selected resources (15)

Australian Women's Register

  1. Aston, Matilda Ann (1873-1947)
    Green, O. S.
    [2006]
    Published: Australian National University
  2. With Love to My Niece
    Aston, Tilly
    [2005]
  3. The woolinappers : or, some tales from the by-ways of Methodism
    Aston, Tilly
    [1905]
    Published: Spectator Publishing, Melbourne
  4. Songs of Light
    Aston, Tilly
    [1935]
    Published: Arthur Barron, London
  5. Singable Songs
    Aston, Tilly
    [1924]
    Published: Robertson & Mullens, Melbourne
  6. Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers
    Aston, Tilly
    [1938]
    Published: Lothian Publishing Co, Melbourne
  7. Maiden verses
    Aston,Tilly
    [1901]
    Published: A.H. Massina, Melbourne
  8. The inner garden
    Aston, Tilly
    [1940]
    Published: The Hawthorn Press, Melbourne
  9. Memoirs of Tilly Aston : Australia's blind poet author and philanthropist.
    Aston, Tilly
    [1946]
    Published: The Hawthorn Press, Melbourne
  10. Our History
    Vision Australia
    [2005]
  11. Lighthouse on the Boulevard: A History of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind (RVIB) 1866-2004
    Buckrich, Judith R.
    [2004]
    Published: Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne
  12. No Sight -Great Vision: A Centenary History of the Association for the Blind
    Wilson, J.W.
    [1996]
    Published: The Association for the Blind, Brighton
  13. Biographical cuttings on Matilda Ann Aston, "Australia's blind poet, author and philanthropist"
    National Library of Australia Newspaper Microcopy Reading Room
    BIOG
  14. Portrait of Tilly Aston
    [Photograph : c. 1930 - c. 1947]
    Title devised by cataloguer from inscription on photograph. 2 photographs : b&w ; 12.8 x 8.1 cm. and smaller. Inscriptions: "Tilly Aston"-- signed on upper left corner of 1 photograph. "Tilly Aston"--on mount bottom centre of second photograph. Condition good. Two copies of the same photograph
    2
    National Library of Australia, Pictorial Collection
    PIC/4071/1-2 LOC Box PIC/4071
  15. Vision Australia's Heritage Collection
    Vision Australia's heritage collection consists of more than 10,000 objects, photographs, film, sound recordings, and documents recording the remarkable history of our organisation.
    Vision Australia

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

  1. 'Aston, Matilda Ann (1873 - 1947)' - Australian Dictionary of Biography
    O. S. Green
    [1979]
    Published: Melbourne University Press
    Series: Volume 7
    pp 118-119.

Resources By Matilda Ann Aston (11)

  1. Memoirs of Tilly Aston : Australia's blind poet author and philanthropist
    Aston, Tilly, 1873-1947
    [Book : 1946]
  2. Songs of light / Tilly Aston
    Aston, Tilly, 1873-1947
    [Book : 1935]
  3. Old timers : sketches and word pictures of the old pioneers / by Tilly Aston
    Aston, Tilly, 1873-1947
    [Book, Audio book : 1938-1988]
  4. Maiden verses by Tilly Aston
    Aston, Tilly 1873-1947
    [Book : 1901]
    Available online
  5. The inner garden / by Tilly Aston
    Aston, Tilly, 1873-1947
    [Book : 1940]
  6. The woolinappers ; or, some tales from the by-ways of Methodism / by Tilly Aston
    Aston, Tilly, 1873-1947
    [Book : 1905]
  7. Singable songs / by Tilly Aston
    Aston, Tilly, 1873-1947
    [Book : 1900-1940]
  8. The memoirs of Tilly Aston by Tilly Aston
    Aston, Tilly, 1873-1947
    [Audio book : 1986]
  9. The austral year / verses by Tilly Aston
    Aston, Tilly, 1873-1947
    [Book : 1919]
  10. Biographical information
    Aston, Tilly, 1873-1947
    [Unpublished : 1900-1978]

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  1. Website: Australian Women's Archives Project
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