Mary Booth OBE (1869–1956) was an Australian physician, clubwoman and welfare worker.
Mary Booth | |
|---|---|
 Dr Mary Booth, OBE, by J.S. Watkins (c.1930)[1] | |
| Born | 9 July 1869 Burwood, Sydney |
| Died | 28 November 1956 (aged 87) Sydney, New South Wales |
| Education | medicine |
| Occupation(s) | physician, clubwoman and welfare worker |
| Political party | Women's Party (1920) |
Early life and education
editMary Booth was born on 9 July 1869 at Burwood, Sydney.[2][3][4] She was the eldest of three daughters of Ruth Sewell, and William Booth. Booth educated in private, at Airlie School and then graduated in Arts from the University of Sydney. She supported herself by working as a governess for the children of the New South Wales governor, Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, until 1893 when she received inheritance from her grandfather Thomas Sewell. She studied medicine at the Edinburgh College of Medicine for Women (graduating in 1899) before returning to Sydney in 1900.[2][3][4][5][6]
Career
editBooth kept medical consulting rooms on Macquarie street, primarily working contracts in public health. She taught at girls' secondary schools and worked as a lecturer for the NSW Department of Public Instruction.[3][4] In 1910-12 she established the Victorian school for medical service.[2][3][4]
Booth was active in feminist organisations, she was a founder of the Woman's Club, and she held roles on the National Council of Women of New South Wales.[3]
When World War I broke out, Booth was an active campaigner for conscription taking a role on the executive committee of the Universal Service League. She offered her services to supervise refugee camps in Egypt, but was turned down.[3] Instead she remained in Australia and established supportive charity organisations such as the Babies' Kit Society for the Allies Babies, which collected babies clothes for refugees.[7] Booth was the office bearer and founder of many patriotic associations, including the Friendly Union of Soldiers' Wives and the Soldier's Club.[8] She founded the Soldier's Club at the Royal Hotel on George Street, when she identified the problem of homeless soldiers. She also set up a centre for Soldiers Wives and Mothers, and established a War Widows Fund.[2] For establishing the Soldier's club, and the Friendly Union of Soldiers' Wives she was honored with an OBE.[9]
Booth stood unsuccessfully for North Shore as an Independent candidate in 1920.[3][4] She then failed to gain the nomination in 1922 for the Senate election. She published a monthly magazine Boy Settler; founded the Anzac Fellowship of Women in 1921; and involved in the Dreadnought Scheme.[2][3][4][6]
Awards and honours
editBooth was awarded an OBE in 1918 for her charitable work.[8]
Death and legacy
editBooth died in 1956. After her death and the sale of her property, the funds were used to initiate the scholarship for women economic students at the University of Sydney.[3][4][10] In 1961 the Mary Booth Lookout in Kirribilli was named in her honour.[11] Booth Crescent, in the Canberra suburb of Cook, is named for her.[12]
References
edit- ^ Jimmy Watkins died in 1942
- ^ a b c d e Roe, Jill, "Booth, Mary (1869–1956)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 20 March 2019
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Melbourne, The University of. "Booth, Mary - Woman - The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia". www.womenaustralia.info. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Booth, Mary (1869-1956) - People and organisations". Trove. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ BROOKES, BARBARA (April 2008). "A Corresponding Community: Dr Agnes Bennett and her Friends from the Edinburgh Medical College for Women of the 1890s". Medical History. 52 (2): 237–256. doi:10.1017/s0025727300002374. ISSN 0025-7273. PMC 2329860. PMID 18458784.
- ^ a b Centre, The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research. "Booth, Mary - Biographical entry - Encyclopedia of Australian Science". www.eoas.info. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ "BABIES' KIT SOCIETY". Forbes Times. New South Wales, Australia. 24 December 1914. p. 7. Retrieved 14 September 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b "Order of the British Empire". British Medical Journal. 2 (3015): 417. 12 October 1918. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.3015.417. ISSN 0007-1447. S2CID 220232947.
- ^ "Page 11772 | Supplement 30935, 4 October 1918 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ Tuchman, Arleen (2006). Science Has No Sex: The Life of Marie Zakrzewska, M.D. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807830208.
- ^ Hoskins, Ian (2008). "Kirribilli". The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ "AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY National Memorials Ordinance 1928–1959". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Australia. 2 October 1969. p. 5791. Retrieved 16 December 2020 – via Trove.