She was part of her people's survival
- Samantha Elley
- Jul 22
- 2 min read
There is not much information on Fanny Hopkins. At a very young age, however, she was given the responsibility of one of Australia's most celebrated sons, when he was a baby. She was the nanny to Banjo Paterson.
Fanny was born in Dubbo (before it was Dubbo) on Wiradjuri land in 1842. It was a tumultuous time for the Indigenous that lived in the Central West of NSW. Ever since the white man had followed an Aboriginal track over the Blue Mountains, their lives were never the same again.
As white settlement spread out over sacred Aboriginal sites and hunting grounds, there was less and less space for the Wiradjuri. They needed to survive and one way was by working for many of the newly established pastoralists.
With the discovery of gold in 1851, many white labourers up and went to seek their fortune on the gold fields, leaving many farmers understaffed. Aboriginal people soon picked up the slack and were employed as labourers, shepherds, house staff and even nannies, which is where 16-year-old Fanny Hopkins came in.
Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson was born on 17 February 1864 and was brought up on Buckinbah Station near Yeoval, NSW. Buckinbah Station had a reputation of being a safe place for Wiradjuri people in the 1800s. Fanny would have cared for Banjo up until he turned five years old, as that was when his father lost everything in a flood and was forced to sell up and move.
Many Aboriginals that didn't work for pastoralists were then sent to reserves set up by the Aboriginal Protection Board.
Fanny went on to live a long life with descendants still living on Wiradjuri land. She died in Sydney 13th January, 1924 and is buried at Rookwood General Cemetery three days later in plot Zone C Section M Grave 523.
References
'Fanny Hopkins', Findagrave, accessed 14th July, 2025, Fanny Hopkins (unknown-1924) - Find a Grave Memorial
'Banjo Paterson', Wikipedia, accessed 14th July, 2025, Banjo Paterson - Wikipedia
'Tubba-Gah Maing Wiraduri Aboriginal Corporation, Facebook, accessed 14th July, 2025, Facebook
'How the Wiradjuri people of Central West NSW survived first contact with European settlers, ABC, accessed 18th July, 2025, How the Wiradjuri people of Central West NSW survived first contact with European settlers - ABC News
'Australia Day 2023 in Dubbo. Address by Aboriginal Elder, Lewis Burns', Youtube, accessed 18th July, 2025, Australia Day 2023 in Dubbo. Address by Aboriginal Elder, Lewis Burns.
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