Coastal Sydney: Lizzie Malone (Mrs Golden)

Early linguists and ethnologists sought out John (Johnny) Malone (c 1820–1880) and his wife Lizzie (c 1830–1901), later Golden, as language and cultural knowledge holders. Johnny’s local knowledge and hunting skills were also well recognised. He and his ‘tribe’ were engaged by the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel in the 1860s to run fishing and scenic tours from the hotel wharf. Johnny was also sought out by ethnologist Edward Smith Hill and Austrian Karl Scherzer to locate Aboriginal sites around Gamay.

In the 1860s and 70s both Johnny and Lizzie provided samples of ‘Sydney tribe’ language to anthropologists. Johnny shared the Dharawal language while Lizzie, an Illawarra woman, shared Wodi Wodi words, sentences and stories.