Amelia Kilian

Amelia Albertina Kilian (c. 1849 – 22 November 1927) was a Prussian born woman who became and businesswoman and landowner in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Early life Kilian was born around 1849 to Samuel Gunther and his wife Ernestine, née Hellmscher, and when she was approximately two years old they immigrated to Australia and settled in Victoria. Little else is known of her early life.

Around 1891 Charles left the Northern Territory and travelled to Western Australia, ostensibly for health reasons, and Kilian remained.

In 1895 Killian, alongside her daughter Amelia, where two of the 82 women in the Northern Territory to register to vote in 1895.

Kilian's home was destroyed in the 1897 Darwin cyclone and it was said that portions of the home were "blown into the sea" and that, to survive, Kilian and her children had to hide under the house. Kilian later had to defended herself publicly when she was accused of receiving unneeded funds from the cyclone relief fund. Kilian replied that she had neither requested or received such funds. Killian died on 22 November 1926 and, at the age of 77, she was believed to be Darwin's oldest resident. She had lived in the Northern Territory for 53 years.

Legacy

Killian Crescent and Kilian Park, both in Jingili, Northern Territory are named for her.