Dame Nellie MelbaPrint Page

The plaque commemorates Helen Porter Mitchell (known as Dame Nellie Melba) who married Charles Armstrong, the manager of the Marian Sugar Mill. A house was built for them beside the mill. It was not a happy marriage as they separated in December 1883. Their home was later relocated to a riverbank location on Eungella Road in Edward Lloyd Park, two kilometres from the centre of Marian and named Melba House.

Dame Nellie Melba GBE (19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931), born Helen Porter Mitchell, was an Australian opera soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century due to the purity of her lyrical voice and the brilliance of her technique. Melba was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician.

MACKAY. Sunday. — Two plaques in memory of Dame Nellie Melba were unveiled yesterday at Marian. 22 miles from Mackay. The president of Queensland Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australia (Mrs. H. Robertson) performed the ceremony. The plaques have been erected on memorial gates at the mill and house where Melba lived with Herbert Charles Armstrong in 1883 when Armstrong was manager of Marian mill.
The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, QLD) :  7th May 1951

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