Members of the Aston family in front of Tilly’s father’s boot making business in Carisbrook. From left: Sophie Aston (Tilly’s sister), William Aston (Tilly’s brother), Ann Aston (Tilly’s mother) and Edward Aston (Tilly’s father). The female figure on the far left of the image is unidentified.

Tilly Aston is not featured in this image. Her father passed away around 1880, leaving her mother to support a family of eight.

Tilly Aston’s achievements are formidable. In 1894 she founded the Victorian Association of Braille Writers, which became the Victorian Braille Library. In 1895, she co-founded the Association for the Advancement of the Blind, which in became Vision Australia. As well as being the first woman who was blind to be admitted to an Australian university and Australia's first blind teacher, Tilly was a distinguished and critically acclaimed writer, producing seven books of verse. Tilly received a Commonwealth grant for her writing in 1935, and the King’s Medal for Distinguished Citizenry twice.