Poppy Wilson
Florence “Poppy” Wilson was one of the first women to cut and polish opals at Lightning Ridge, and was described in her time as “the only woman in the world with that vocation.” Born in Paddington, England in 1895, Poppy came to Australia in the early 1920s to visit her sister Dolly, who had married opal cutter and returned serviceman Harold Frazer.
Poppy arrived during a busy time for the Ridge. In 1923, she and Dolly made costumes for the Merrymakers theatre production, a fundraising performance for the Bush Nursing Association. She returned to England in early 1924. Her visit home was brief, within six months she had returned to Lightning Ridge, sailing back in December 1924.
Under the guidance of her brother-in-law Harold Frazer, Poppy learned to cut and polish opal. Her name appears in numerous accounts from the period, including her role in polishing the Pandora opal in 1928. Stuart Lloyd, writing in 1967, noted she was taught by Frazer and became highly skilled in her own right.
In a 1935 profile by The Sun, Poppy was described as a Yorkshire woman (although LRHS research shows she was born in Paddington), dressed in a green frock, operating the polishing wheels in her workshop. The article highlighted her enthusiasm and her technical skill, detailing her use of tin, carborundum, felt, rouge, and pumice in the polishing process. She spoke with pride about how much she enjoyed her work, and how a nondescript nobby might reveal flashes of brilliance once faced, or be a disappointment entirely.
During her early years on the Ridge, she and Dolly worked shafts and pulled buckets like any gouger. “Yes, people used to think Poppy and I were crazy,” Dolly told The Sun, “We used to pull the dirt up…and get opal, too.”
Poppy married Joe Willis. The couple managed the Imperial Hotel from 1939 to 1941. By the 1940s, Poppy and Dolly had moved to the Newcastle area, and were later based in Glebe.
Poppy Wilson passed away in Glebe on 21 March 1945 and was buried at Rookwood Necropolis.