The Australian Women's Register

Summary

Hetty Perkins was an Aranda woman from Central Australia. From the age of 14 she worked as a kitchen-hand at a hotel in Arltunga, and rode out mustering and watering cattle for the hotel owner. She had eleven children, and her son Charles Perkins became the first Aboriginal person to hold a senior public service appointment. Hetty worked on a cattle station for some time before moving to Alice Springs to work as a nursemaid in a European family. She later lived on Telegraph Station near Alice Springs, and worked in Alice Springs as a cook. Later, she moved to Jay Creek Settlement. She looked after many children as well as her own, and urged Aboriginal children to keep out of trouble.