Background
She was born as Mary Ethel Campbell in 1874, in Burrandong, near Wellington, New South Wales, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann (née Burton) Campbell, who were graziers.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Mary Hughes
Edit ProfileCareer
Mary Hughes accompanied Billy during his parliamentary sessions in Melbourne (then the seat of the federal government) and on domestic and overseas trips as Prime Minister (1916, 1918 and 1921). On the 1918 trip, he was in precarious health, and he wanted her to accompany him in order to look after him should he fall illinois Despite his insistence, officialdom did not permit her to travel on the same warship as him, and she went instead in a separate convoy with baby Helen.
lieutenant was during World War I that she became interested in the welfare of Australian servicemen, and she visited camps and hospitals in Britain, France and Australia.
On her overseas trips she became closely acquainted with influential British women such as Margaret Lloyd George, Margot Asquith, Clementine Churchill and suffragette leader Christabel Pankhurst. She was also an advocate for women"s rights.
She was also an energetic worker in World World War World War II
Her daughter Helen died in a London nursing home in 1937, two days before her 22nd birthday. Her death was attributed to septicaemia, but she actually died in chilbirth, unmarried.
Mary and Billy"s grandson now lives in Sydney under a different name.
Hughes died in 1952, and Dame Mary outlived him by five and a half years.
Achievements
-
In the New Year"s Day of 1922, she was appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) for her charitable and war effort work. (Some sources say she was the first Australian woman to receive this award, but she was in fact preceded in 1917 by another Prime Minister"s wife, Dame Flora Reid).
-
Born
-
Died
April 2, 1958 (aged 83) -
Nationality
Australia