“Well, Fancy That.” Those who have spent time around the Queensland show circuit may recall the familiar exclamation of Amelia “Millie” Mullins, deep in conversation with a friend. 

 Well known around the district, and in the halls of Akooramak in the later years, Millie Mullins was a well-loved and respected member of the Warwick community.

Passing away at the age of 99 on 20th February, 2021, Millie leaves behind a lasting legacy of love for her family, generosity and her famous sponge cake. Millie was the matriarch of a large, close-knit family of 6 children, 18 grandchildren, 43 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren.

Born in Roma on the 19th of February 1922, Amelia Mullins nee Giles moved to Warwick with her family. As the eldest child, she was relied upon to milk the cows in the early hours of the morning to earn extra money for the family, then at 14 Millie left school and got a job to supplement the family income. 

Millie was working at the Hollywood Cafe in Warwick when she met Hugh Mullins. They married on the 20th May 1942 and quickly started their family of six children - Brian, Maureen, Joyce, Peter, Vince and Gary.

The Mullins family bought a property at Campbell's Gully in 1942, before settling into a house on Marshall Street, where Millie remained until she moved to Akooramak in 2016.

Hugh had various jobs, while Millie raised their family and kept an immaculate house. 

Hugh was a talented horseman, and taught the children and ponies many impressive tricks, which soon became a performance. The Mullins Family Troupe debuted at the 1953 Warwick Rodeo, before performing in front of a very young Queen Elizabeth II in Boonah in 1954 as part of her Coronation Tour of Australia. Millie told us that the ponies didn’t put a foot wrong and the young Queen seemed very impressed with them.

In the years that followed, the Mullins Family Troupe dominated the nights at the Brisbane Exhibition and the Sydney Royal Easter Show with their travelling trick show. Each costume was designed, hand-made, repaired and washed by Millie. At the Ekka, the kids performed twice a day for 10 days and yet every time they went out in public, they had the brightest whitest shirts all freshly washed and ironed.

After the children grew up, Millie trained up two lovely Border Collie dogs to do tricks, Penny and Bubbles, and ended up performing at school fetes and shopping centre shows. The dogs walked a tightrope, smoked a pipe, climbed ladders, skipped rope and ran through Millie’s legs as she was walking, to name a few of their many impressive tricks.

Millie always loved a show – whether she was watching her children perform in front of thousands at the Brisbane Ekka, or watching the great-grandchildren get up on her birthday to sing a song or say a poem in front of the family, she just loved to see her family perform and express themselves.

A phenomenal cook, Millie’s baking was always the first to disappear at family gatherings and events. Whether it was her famous sponge cake, patty cakes or melting moments, Millie could always be relied upon to provide the sweet treats for a special event or ‘just because’.

Millie was always the first to the table when a game of cards was on offer, and due to her proficiency with numbers, it was always a challenge to beat her. Canasta, Euchre, Sevens, Five Crowns, you name it, she was up for it. And it wasn’t just cards she had a knack for - even as her body started to fail her, Millie was still winning at bingo.

Millie Mullins was a remarkable woman, with an exceptional work ethic, an unwavering faith and an all-encompassing love of everyone she came into contact with.

As valued family friend Marco Gliori put it – Millie was a calming influence on any gathering, a storyteller herself, and inspired her families and children to become great community characters.  Millie’s legacy of love permeates the lives of her family, her friends and the community. She will be dearly missed.