Dwyer née Golding was born at Tambaroora, Wellington County, New South Wales to Joseph Golding (died 1890), a gold-miner from Galway, Ireland, and his Scottish wife, Ann (died 1906; née Fraser).
Dwyer, who was born in Tambaroora, Wellington County, New South Wales, came from a family of Irish descent. Her father, Joseph Golding, was a gold-miner from Galway, Ireland, and her mother, Ann (née Fraser), was Scottish.