Mary Piety

Mary Ellen Piety was a Yuin woman, connected to the Wallaga Lake and Tilba Tilba/Gulaga Mountain region. Born around 1872, she became a prominent midwife in her community, delivering both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal babies at a time when formal hospital care was often unavailable. Local accounts describe her as being trained by Mrs. Corkhill at a farm in Tilba Tilba, after which she worked across the region, including delivering her own granddaughter in 1928.

Mary married Bob Andy, a well-known Aboriginal tracker, uniting two prominent families. She was commonly known as “Granny Andy” by later generations, reflecting her central role in the community. Mary’s work as a midwife blended traditional Aboriginal birthing practices with practical skills learned from early settler nurses, making her a vital caregiver and cultural Custodian. In addition to her midwifery, Mary contributed to her community through farm work and giving guidance as an Elder, continuing these efforts into her later years.

Mary Ellen Piety’s life illustrates the multifaceted roles Aboriginal women held during this period, as caregivers, labourers, and cultural Custodians, often unrecorded in formal histories. Through oral histories, place-names, and family memory, her legacy endures as a figure of cultural connection and the significant role of women who contributed to and shaped the Wallaga Lake and Tilba Tilba communities.