Emily was born at Wyandotte Station, near Cardwell in Queensland, in 1881.  She was the eldest child of George and Jane Coleman (nee Wiltshire).  There were ten children in total though the second eldest, Elizabeth, died in infancy (3 months old), and another daughter died at 4 years of age.

On living at Wyandotte Station, Emily later recalled that when her father was away droving, her mother would keep a rifle handy in case of trouble with the local aboriginals.  The aboriginals were known to throw spears at white settlers in the area, and Emily’s mother  would fire a shot or two to scare the aboriginals if they approached the house.

Emily was engaged to a man with the occupation of ‘ringer’, but he died before the wedding.  She later married Abraham Wilson at the Stoke St Church (Methodist) in Townsville, on 9 December 1908. One of Emily’s younger brothers, Fred, was one of the witnesses to sign the marriage certificate.

At the time, Emily was living in Fifth Avenue, South Townsville, with her parents.   After marriage, she moved, with Abraham to Railway Estate.

Emily and Abraham had five children.  Emily was known to be overly protective of her eldest son, according to her daughter-in-law.  When her son got married, Emily worried her daughter-in-law would not be able to look after him properly.

in later years Emily possibly suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, though it was not diagnosed, probably because Alzheimers was still relatively unknown.