Jimmy was born on 30 September 1912 near the Pennefather River in Far North Queensland, Australia.
[1] Both her parents were of Wimaranga ancestry and her name, Andruana, meant wattle in their native language, signifying feminine resolve.
She spent most of her formative years in a Presbyterian lodging in Mapoon, rarely seeing her father, Philip, who was an evangelist for aboriginal people.
On 29 August 1933, she married sailor Gilbert Jimmy; they relocated to Thursday Island after World War II.
She revealed her experiences to the 1964 Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders Conference.