Mary Ann Moore-Bentley (6 January 1865 – 1 September 1953), also known as Mary Ling, was an Australian writer and parliamentary candidate. She was one of the first four women to stand for the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

, running unsuccessful as an independent

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

candidate in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

at the 1903 federal election.

Early life

Born in Braidwood to English-born

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

s George Bentley and Mary Ann, ''née'' Moore, young Mary and her two younger brothers was primarily educated at home by her mother. She and her sister visited the

Sydney International Exhibition The Sydney International Exhibition was established headed by Lord Augustus Loftus and took place in Sydney in 1879, after being preceded by a number of Metropolitan Intercolonial Exhibitions through the 1870s in Prince Alfred Park. Organisa ...

in 1879, but when their money ran out they were forced to work as domestic servants. In 1880 the family settled at

Marrickville Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local government ...

and Mary became a nursemaid to the children of Colonel Charles Roberts. She married postal clerk Henry Hill Ling on 3 September 1889 at the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

barracks in Burwood; they separated in 1897 and divorced in 1906.

Politics

Moore-Bentley's first novel was rejected in 1890; she published ''A Woman of Mars; or, Australia's Enfranchised Woman'' in 1901. A

Georgist Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—includ ...

, she joined the

Single Tax League The Single Tax League was a Georgist Australian political party that flourished throughout the 1920s and 1930s based on support for single tax. Based upon the ideas of Henry George, who argued that all taxes should be abolished, save for a singl ...

in 1901 and was appointed to its council, although she only attended two meetings. In 1903, under the name "Mary Ann Moore Bentley", she was one of four women to contest the 1903 federal election, the first at which women were eligible to stand, although she was not formally supported by the league. Contesting the

in New South Wales, she described herself as "the working woman's candidate" and support

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

, abolition of state parliaments and a state bank in addition to Georgism. She received 18,924 votes (6.1%), outpolling the other New South Wales Senate candidate,

Nellie Martel Ellen Alma Martel, (; 30 September 1855 – 11 August 1940) was an English-Australian Women's suffrage, suffragist and elocutionist. She stood for the Australian Senate, Senate at the 1903 Australian federal election, 1903 federal election, ...

, by 400 votes.

Later life

By 1906, Moore-Bentley's relations with her brothers, her nearest neighbours at Bangor where she lived, grew tense. ''A Psychological Interpretation of the Gospel'' (January 1917) received a US publication in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and Moore-Bentley sailed to America later that year; she was repatriated at government expense in 1918 and blamed her disappointing time in America on the "

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...

" and the Australian government's misrepresentation of her anti-

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

activities. She retired to Menai, writing poems and children's stories. In 1943 she was committed to the Mental Hospital at

Stockton Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom * Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk * Stockton, Chi ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, where she died in 1953. Her memoir, ''Journey to Durran Durra 1852–1885'', which was written around 1935, was published in 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore-Bentley, Mary 1865 births 1953 deaths Australian writers 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women Georgists Colony of New South Wales people