Mary Lee : Short Biography

Mary was born in to a Monaghan Methodist family with a zeal for social reform. She operated schools with her husband George until his death and then independently until, in 1879, she travelled to Adelaide to be with family. Mary agitated for change through letters to newspapers, speaking engagements and visitations, with organisation like the Social Purity Society, the Women’s Trades and Labor Union, and the Women’s Suffrage League. Overcoming prejudice against her gender and her birthplace, Mary was a driving force in achieving the women’s vote in South Australia, a precedent for other Australian colonies. A world-first, the Constitution (Female Suffrage) Act (1895) enabled women to vote and to stand for Parliament.

This Chronicle has been adapted by kind permission of the Aisling Society. The content has been inspired by the Aisling 20/20 Vision project, which forms part of a programme marking the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the Consulate General of Ireland to New South Wales. 

The Aisling Society is an Irish Australian cultural society whose main interests are the study of the history, life, and culture of Ireland, and the effect of Irish heritage on Australian life.