Celia Stewart

Celia May Stewart was a main character from January 1988 (Episode 7) until April 1990 (Episode 520). She returned as a guest in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2012 and 2013. Although she didn’t appear in the pilot episode, she is considered to be a member of the original cast. Celia is Alf Stewart's busybody younger sister. She was played by Fiona Spence.

Biography[]

Celia Stewart
Character Profile
Birthday:	1949
Birthplace:	Summer Bay
Father:	Gordon Stewart
Mother:	Sarah Jane Stewart
Siblings:	Alf Stewart Morag Bellingham Barbara Stewart Debra Stewart Colleen Smart (half)
Spouse:	None
Children:	None
Occupation:	Owner of The Stewart Store Missionary
Played By:	Fiona Spence

Backstory[]

Celia Stewart was born in 1949 in Summer Bay to Gordon and Sarah Jane Stewart. In the late 1960s, Celia got engaged to Les Palmer but tragically, they never got the chance to marry. Les was killed in Vietnam in 1971. Celia never got over the loss of her true love and held onto her engagement ring. Celia turned to religion in a big way after this as a way of coping.

1988-1990[]

Celia wasn't happy to see the Fletcher family move to Summer Bay because she felt they lowered the tone of the place. It quickly became evident that she was the town gossip and enjoyed keeping tabs on everything along with her accomplices Doris Peters and Betty Fulwell. She was heavily involved in the local church and was a bit sniffy about Catholics. Sometimes Celia's gossiping caused problems for other people but she wasn't a malicious person. She showed great kindness to her niece Roo when she became pregnant with baby Martha. Also in 1988, Celia bought Hogan's Store from her sister-in-law Ailsa. The shop was burned down in 1989 by Dodge. She then went into business with her brother Alf, and they jointly opened a small supermarket.

In 1989 Celia developed feelings for Nigel Taggart, a blind man who was working for her sister Morag. Nigel didn't feel the same way about Celia but didn't want her to be hurt either. He enlisted Ailsa to help concoct a story which would let her down gently. He then moved back to the city to start a new life, which enraged Morag. As revenge, she told Celia the truth about what had happened. Needless to say, Celia was devastated.

In 1990 Celia decided to go to Africa to do missionary work.

2000-2013[]

In 2000, Celia was taken hostage in Nigeria by rebels. Alf travelled there in person to negotiate her release, then brought her back to Summer Bay with him. By now, her nephew Duncan had grown into a troublesome teen. She wasted no time in pulling him and his friend Nick Smith up for their bad behaviour. This made Nick's mother Eve (recently released from a mental institute) throw stones at her. She was pleasantly surprised when Duncan stuck up for her against Nick. Shortly afterwards she returned to Africa.

In 2002 Celia returned briefly for the town's 150th anniversary celebrations. Her next trip home in 2005 was another flying visit. This time it was for Alf's 60th birthday.

In 2012 Celia came back to attend her niece Roo's wedding to Harvey Ryan. She told Alf that she had no home to return to because a man had conned her. She took a job working at the Pier Diner but to the surprise of nobody, began to annoy its owner Irene Roberts. Harvey challenged Celia to a game of poker and noticed that she was an experienced player. She was then seen stealing money from the Caravan Park and from the Diner, though she soon replaced it. When confronted by Alf, she confessed to having an addiction to gambling. She agreed to attend a help group but Alf soon found out that she was lying about this. They fell out but Marilyn helped them to reconcile. Marilyn also made contact with Celia's ex-boyfriend(!) Sheldon Atkinson. He was the person responsible for introducing her to gambling. Celia gave him another chance but after he tried to convince her to put money on a horse, she broke up with him permanently.

She disapproved of Heath Braxton and Bianca Scott's public displays of affection but later came around to liking them. She advised Heath to ask Bianca to marry him. This caused trouble between the pair. Celia gave Heath her prized engagement ring to win Bianca back. After this, she decided that she was better off helping other people elsewhere and moved on,

Memorable info[]

Date of birth: 1949

Celia is said to be the 2nd youngest full sibling of Alf Stewart. Alf was born in 1945 and Morag Bellingham (nee Stewart) in 1941, 4 years before Alf. So Debra Stewart is probably Alf's next youngest sibling.

Unlike her other siblings, Celia never married or had any children.

First Line: "Personally I'm not in favour of foster children, I know I certainly wouldn't take any on." (to Ailsa)

Last Line: