Eva Mylott

Eva Theresa Mylott (1875 – 1920), ‘The Moruya Nightingale’, was a world-renowned contralto and opera singer.

She was born at Tuross Head in 1875, her father then owning the entire headland.

It was evident early in her life that she was a gifted singer, winning a singing competition at the age of seven. After puberty she developed a rich contralto voice, so the family moved to Sydney for Eva to be able to receive the best possible musical tuition. One of her teachers was Madame Ellen Christian who had been Dame Nellie Melba’s first singing teacher.

In 1908 she performed with one of Australia’s earliest touring troupes, led by tenor and impresario Charles Turner.

One of Eva’s cousins was Marie Narelle, a well-known soprano who had also been taught by Madame Christian. They shared a love of music and often performed together. A concert in Moruya’s Centennial Hall in January 1900 was reported by the 'Moruya Examiner' to 'have been an unprecedented success – artistic and otherwise. The deep rich tones of the contralto and the sweet clear voice of the soprano were a treat Moruya has never before experienced, and encore after encore was the result.'

Eva eventually became Sydney’s leading contralto. In 1902 she was introduced by Sydney’s Lord Mayor to Dame Nellie Melba and became Melba’s protégé.

Around this time the 'Australian Star' noted 'Miss Mylott, like so many daughters of the Emerald Isle, is fair to look upon, a fact which should stand her in good stead in her professional career. Of good stature, dignified and graceful in movement, and possessing a pretty, petite face whose pure complexion is set off by luxuriant auburn tresses, she is sure to make an impression wherever she goes.'

In December 1902, Eva sailed from Sydney with a letter from Dame Nellie Melba: 'This letter will introduce you to Miss Eva Mylott who has a beautiful contralto voice and in whom I have great hopes. I shall esteem it a personal favour if you will hear her sing and do what you can to help.'
Before she departed, however, she gave a farewell concert in the Town Hall and all the windows and doors were left open so that the hundreds of people who could not be accommodated inside were able to hear her perform.

Melba sent Eva to her own teacher in Paris, and when Eva then went to London, in 1903, she received further tuition from Melba herself and toured with Melba.

She was then to tour to critical acclaim in Europe, Canada and the United States.

Eva returned to Australia in 1912. The ship she was travelling on was dressed up in flags from stem to stern in her honour as it entered Sydney Harbour. She was met by a party of dignitaries and was given a civic reception by the Lord Mayor – an honour no other performer, except for Dame Nellie Melba, had received. This was followed by a concert in Sydney Town Hall…and, later, one in Moruya where she was continually encored and showered with bouquets.

Eva returned to the United States to perform and teach, working for many charities and at benefit concerts in aid of Allied soldiers during World War I.

In 1917 she married Hutton Gibson, a partner in a Chicago brass foundry. She had two sons just before she died of throat cancer in February 1920.

Eva is the paternal grandmother of Australian actor and film director Mel Gibson. And a plaque, mounted on a large granite boulder, was erected in her memory in Jutland Street, Tuross Head in 1975.