Susan Grace Benny, née Anderson, (1872–1944) of

Seacliff, South Australia Seacliff is a coastal suburb located in the capital city of South Australia; Adelaide. Overseen by the council, City of Holdfast Bay, this suburb is adjacent to South Brighton, Seacliff Park, Marino and Kingston Park. Seacliff Post Office ...

, generally referred to as Grace Benny or S. Grace Benny, was the first woman elected to local government in Australia when she was elected to the Brighton Council in 1919. She represented the

Seacliff Seacliff comprises a beach, an estate and a harbour. It lies east of North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland. History The beach and estate command a strategic position at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, and control of the area has been conte ...

ward from November 1919 until December 1921.

Early life

Benny was born in the ''Crown Inn Hotel'',

Currie Street, Adelaide Currie Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

She grew up on the family's sheep station "Springfield", located near Stansbury,

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula, known as Guuranda by the original inhabitants, the Narungga people, is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula ...

. She married her cousin, solicitor Benjamin Benny (21 October 1869 – 10 February 1935), eldest son of the Reverend George Benny, on 16 July 1896, and moved to Adelaide where he worked. The couple moved to Seacliff in Adelaide's south and raised three daughters and two sons. Benny was active in a range of community and political organisations, and during the First World War was the Honorary Secretary of the Seacliff

Cheer-Up Society The Cheer-Up Society was a South Australian patriotic organisation founded during The Great War, whose aims were provision of creature comforts for soldiers in South Australia. Much of their activity was centred on the Cheer-up Hut, which they bui ...

. She was also a member of the local Progress Association, and spinning and

croquet Croquet ( or ) is a sport which involves hitting wooden, plastic, or composite balls with a mallet through hoops (often called Wicket, "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Variations In all forms of croquet, in ...

clubs.

Political career

Following World War I, Benny was a member of the Liberal Union Sturt District committee and president of the Brighton Women's Branch of the Liberal Union, and was elected president of the Women's Branch of the South Australian Liberal Union in 1918. During this time she argued strongly for equality of divorce for women, which became law in South Australia in 1918. Following the lead of her husband, who was mayor of Brighton City Council 1903–1905, Benny became the first female local government councillor in Australia. In November 1919, on petition of ratepayers, she was appointed to represent the newly created South ward (later called Seacliff) of Brighton Council. She stood for election the following month, believing that there was work to be done in the area that only a woman could do. She was duly elected on 22 December 1919, and held this seat at the following election. In 1922 she stood unsuccessfully for mayor, a defeat welcomed by at least one (Catholic) commentator. As a council member Benny successfully argued for public access to the beach, the installation of electric lights and the allocation of reserves for a children's playground and public garden. She also actively supported the abolition of segregated sea-bathing so that families could swim together. In 1921 Grace Benny was made a Justice of the Peace, hearing cases relating to state children, police matters and women.

Controversy

Her husband Benjamin Benny was elected to the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

in 1919, resigning in January 1926 after suffering a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. He was immediately sued for misappropriating various trust funds, and in June 1926 was convicted of the fraudulent conversion of Treasury bonds to the value of £1,200, as well as various other trust funds. He was sentenced to three years' gaol, struck off the roll of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, of which he was a practitioner, and declared insolvent. The Benny home "Stoneywood", a property overlooking the Seacliff foreshore reserve, was put up for sale in 1925.

Later life

Following her husband's imprisonment, Benny was forced to rely on money she had inherited to support her children. Although she had never worked for a living, she moved into her husband's law offices in

King William Street, Adelaide King William Street is the part of a major arterial road that traverses the CBD and centre of Adelaide, continuing as King William Road to the north of North Terrace and south of Greenhill Road; between South Terrace and Greenhill Road it i ...

and opened the "Elite Employment Agency", which enabled her to support her family through the Depression. Benjamin Benny died in 1935. On 23 February 1940 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Grace married Cecil Ralph Bannister. 20 years her junior, Bannister was a tramway worker and clerk before moving to Adelaide to live with Grace. Grace Benny died in North Adelaide on 5 November 1944 and was buried in the Scotch cemetery at

Morphett Vale Morphett Vale is a southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Onkaparinga. It is the largest suburb in the state, with a population of more than 23,000 and an area of 12.76 km2, followed by Paralowie with nearly 10,000 fewe ...

Recognition

* Benny Crescent, South Brighton * Susan Grace Benny Park, Seacliff Park *

Adelaide City Council The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council, is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia. It is legally defined as the capital city of Sout ...

plaque on North Terrace near the corner of King William Street, Adelaide * Grace Benny Scholarship, awarded annually by the Australian Local Government Women's Association (South Australian Branch) * Bronze bust on a sandstone plinth at 20 Jetty Rd, Brighton, by Meliesa Judge of Liquid Metal Studios. Completed 31 August 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benny, Susan Grace 1872 births 1944 deaths South Australian local councillors Women local councillors in Australia Politicians from Adelaide 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians