Tucker, Margaret Elizabeth (Lilardia)

One of the earliest female Aboriginal activists. She was taken from her family at Wangaseda in New South Wales in 1917 at the age of 12 and trained as a domestic servant at the Cootamundra Girls Home. She was sent at 16 to a wealthy grazier's family in Neutral Bay as a domestic servant, but was abused in her first placement and sent to another family. She ran away but was caught and sent into service again in Walgett. She stayed in service until 1925 and spent her adult life campaigning for Aboriginal rights and welfare. Tucker, also known as Aunty Marge and Princess Lilardia, was one of the founding members of the Australian Aborigines League in Victoria in 1932 and one of the organisers of the National Day of Mourning in Sydney in 1938. In 1968 she became the first Aboriginal woman to join the Commonwealth’s Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs. She was awarded an MBE in 1968.