15 August 1870 'Ila House' 3 Brisbane Street Launceston Tasmania Australia Did not marry No children

Emily Ila Collins, known by her second name, was born on 15 Aug 1870, the fifth child of George Thomas Collins (1839-1926) and his wife Ursula Flora McEachern (1843-1929). Ila attended the Methodist Ladies College, Elphin Road, Launceston. She was awarded the MBE on 28 Sep 1921 for the work she had done on the home front during the First World War. She worked enthusiastically for the Australian, British and French Red Cross Societies, the Voluntary Aid Detatchment, the YMCA, the Returned Soldiers' Association, the Naval Reserves' Association and the Navy League.

Ila raised funds with an art union, a concert at 'Ila House' and by cooking and selling meat and other edibles in her 'shops'. She spent weeks getting ready Christmas billies for the soldiers at Gallipoli. She worked on behalf of the 40th Battalion Band Fund and the Anzac Hostel. She did not marry and died aged 63 in St Margaret's Hospital, Launceston, on 30 Jul 1934. She was buried at Carr Villa Cemetery in Section B2 No. 103.

Sally Vandenberg & Prue McCausland Mar 2008