Mary Daly (Australian writer)
Dame Mary Dora Daly, DBE CBE OBE (24 August 1896 – 11 June 1983) was an Australian author, humanitarian and charity worker.
Biography[]
Mary Dora MacMahon was born in Cootamundra, New South Wales, 24 August 1896. Her parents were Patrick MacMahon, a solicitor, and his wife Mary Ellen (née O'Donnell).
She was educated at Loreto convent schools in Normanhurst, New South Wales and Ballarat, Victoria.
On 3 January 1923 at St Canice's Church, Darlinghurst, she married John Joseph Daly (died 1953), a physician and a nephew of the founder of St Vincent's Hospital, Mother Berchmans Daly. The Dalys had two children, John and Marie.[1]
With the outbreak of World War II, Daly was the only woman on the executive of the , founded in Melbourne in 1939 by Archbishop Mannix. She became the CWO's president two years later, in 1941.[2]
She was also affiliated with:
- Member, National Council, Australian Red Cross Society (ARCS)
- Executive Member, Council of the Victorian Division, ARCS
- Fund-raiser, Caritas Christi Hospice
- First woman president (1966–75), Australian Catholic Relief
- Foundation member (president 1975–77), Ryder-Cheshire Foundation (Australia).[3]
Writings[]
- Cinty and the laughing jackasses and other children's stories (1961)
- Timmy's Christmas surprise (1967)
- Holidays at Hillydale: a story for children about a family's holiday spent on an Australian sheep station (1973)
- Catholic Welfare Organisation: its work for the men and women of the Services during World War II, September 1939 - June 1948
Dame Mary Daly died at Fitzroy, Victoria, aged 86, on 11 June 1983.
Honours and awards[]
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) - 1937[4]
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) - 1949[5]
- Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) - 1951[6]
The Roman Catholic Church awarded Mary Daly the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in 1951 for her service to the church, including her work with the Catholic Welfare Organisation (1939 - 1948).
She was awarded a long service medal from the Australian Red Cross Society in 1940 and honorary life membership in 1971.
References[]
Sources[]
- Lofthouse, Andrea (ed.), Who's Who of Australian Women, Methuen Australia, North Ryde (NSW), 1982
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- 1896 births
- 1983 deaths
- Australian Roman Catholics
- Australian people of Irish descent
- Australian Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- People from New South Wales
- Writers from Melbourne
- Australian humanitarians
- Women humanitarians
- Australian children's writers
- Australian women children's writers