Mary Lee (née Walsh) (14 February 1821 – 18 September 1909) was an Irish-Australian

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

and social reformer in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Early life

Mary Lee was born in Ireland at Kilknock Estate in the county of Monaghan. She was married in 1844 to George Lee. The couple had seven children and a 2018 biography gives details of her life in Ireland, notably running a school for girls. Her son John Benjamin Stedham "Ben" Lee moved to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. When he fell ill in 1879, Lee, now a widow, and her daughter, Evelyn, immigrated to Adelaide aboard the

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

''Orient'' on its maiden voyage. Ben died on 2 November 1880.

Australia

In 1883 Mary Lee became active in the ladies' committee of the Social Purity Society of the reverend

Joseph Coles Kirby Joseph Coles Kirby (10 June 1837 – 1 August 1924) was an English flour miller who migrated to Sydney, Australia in 1854. In 1864, Kirby was ordained in the Congregational Churches and then ministered to rural and city congregations in Queensl ...

. The Society advocated changes to the law relating to the social and legal status of young women, advocating an end to

child labour Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

to protect girls from abuse and preventing them from becoming prostitutes or child brides. The group's success was a passage in the 1885 ''Criminal Law Consolidation Amendment Act'' that raised the

age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to Human sexual activity, sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is un ...

from 13 to 16, i.e., which made it illegal for a man to have sex with a girl under 16. Helen Patricia Jones (1986
Lee, Mary (1821–1909)
''Australian Dictionary of Biography''. Retrieved 11 July 2021. Kirby credited Lee for this success. The Social Purity Society also was concerned with the working conditions of women. After the bill was passed in 1885 the group began campaigning for workers' rights. In December 1889 at a public meeting Lee proposed the formation of a women's

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

The Working Women's Trades Union ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

was founded in 1890, Mary Lee was the union's secretary for two years. In 1893 Lee attended the Trades and Labor Council meetings, served on the sub-committee which examined conditions in the clothing industry, and on the Distressed Women and Children's Committee which distributed clothes and food to the families hit by the

economic depression An economic depression is a period of carried long-term economic downturn that is the result of lowered economic activity in one or more major national economies. It is often understood in economics that economic crisis and the following recession ...

of the 1890s.Mansutti, E. (1994) ''Mary Lee (1821-1894) Public Work''. State Library of South Australia. Archived a
''Trove'' - National Library of Australia
Retrieved 11 July 2021. On 13 July 1888 Lee, the Social Purity League, and others met and formed the South Australian

Women's Suffrage League The Women's Suffrage League, founded in 1888, spearheaded the campaign for women's right to vote in South Australia. In 1894 South Australia became the first Australian colony and the fourth place in the world to grant women's suffrage. At the ...

. She was the League's co-honorary secretary and for six and half years she fought for women's suffrage. Her own letters and reports of her speeches show that she was an astute and logical woman, employing sound argument, wit and humour in her correspondence and public speaking. In 1889 she wrote:

Let husbands, brothers, fathers, be kept in mind that it is the duty of every free man to leave his daughters as free as his sons. -as women assist in maintaining Government they have a right to a say how and by whom they shall be governed. Nineteenth century civilisation has accorded to women the same political status as to the idiot and the criminal. Such is the basis of our reverence for the person of women and of our estimate of her work.

Lee was active in advocating the rights of the working class, publishing the following thoughts in ''

The Barrier Miner ''The Barrier Miner'' was a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Broken Hill in far western New South Wales from 1888 to 1974. History First published on 28 February 1888, ''The Barrier Miner'' was published continuously until 25 November 1 ...

'' in respect of the

1892 Broken Hill miners' strike The 1892 Broken Hill miners' strike was a sixteen-week strike which was one of four major strikes that took place between 1889 and 1920 in Broken Hill, NSW, Australia. During the four months from July to November 1892, both local miners and Wo ...

... Sir, this strike has one feature which renders it more profoundly interesting than any of its predecessors...which must secure it a prominent and distinguished page when the history of these colonies shall be written. It is that the women of Broken Hill are the first great body of working women who have raised their voices in united protest against the glaring injustice that 'the present constitution will not allow them a voice in framing the laws ...'

Bills to grant women's suffrage were put forth in the South Australian parliament between 1889 and 1893, all failed. Spurred on by the grant of women's suffrage in New Zealand, Lee, the Social Purity League, the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

and the Democratic League travelled all over South Australia, which included the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

at the time, collecting signatures on a petition. On 23 August 1894 when the '' Adult Suffrage Bill'' was read in the South Australian parliament, the women presented the great petition. The petition contained 11,600 signatures, on paper sheets from all over the colony, that had been pasted together to make a roll 122 metres long. The bill passed on 18 December 1894, granted women the right to vote and stand for parliament, and South Australia was the first legislation worldwide to do so. Once women had the vote, Lee was active in voter education, encouraging women to enrol and vote. By her 75th birthday, 60,000 women had enrolled to vote. In 1895 she was nominated to stand for parliament but refused. She was appointed to the honorary position of official visitor to the

Lunatic Asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...

s in 1896, the only female so appointed. During this latter part of her life, Lee struggled financially and had to sell her library. She continued to correspond with women in other Australian states where suffrage was not yet granted. She died in 1909 from

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (Pulmonary pleurae, pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant d ...

following

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

and was buried with her son Ben. Mary Lee Close in the

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

suburb of Bonython is named for her. In 1994, to mark the centenary of the enfranchisement of women in South Australia she was accorded recognition as a national hero. A special proof coin was issued by the mint in her honour.Review of ''Mary Lee'', by Denise George in Irish Times 5 January 2018.
/ref> She was posthumously inducted onto the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the Australian state of Victoria. It was launched by The Hon. Joan Kirner AC as a joint initiative of the Centenary of Federation Victoria Comm ...

in 2001. A full-scale biography of Mary Lee by Denise George was published in 2018 and well reviewed.

References

External links

About Mary Lee

Office for Women

Australian Dictionary of Biography

SA Memory
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Mary 1821 births 1909 deaths Australian social reformers Australian suffragists Australian women's rights activists Australian women activists 20th-century Australian women 19th-century Australian women