A White Hot Flame: Mary Montgomerie Bennett - Author, Educator, Activist for Indigenous Justice

by Sue Taffe

Overview

"A white hot flame indeed - here is an important contribution to our national story." —Kim Scott *** Mary Montgomerie Bennett (1881-1961) is an important but under-recognised figure in Australian history. A member of a successful squatting family, she became a voice for reform at a time when Aboriginal Australians had their citizens' rights curtailed by repressive state laws. From her late forties until her death she fought for justice on behalf of the first Australians. She was a teacher, a writer and an advocate. She vehemently opposed the separating, on racial grounds, of Aboriginal children from their families. She put the case, decades before campaigns began, for Aboriginal rights to traditional lands. And she argued for citizenship rights, including equal pay and access to old age pensions for Aboriginal people. A friend described her as 'a white hot flame', relentless in pursuit of a better world for the people she loved. This first full-length biography seeks the sources of Mary's inspiring energy, maintained throughout her life, in her family background and early life experiences. (Series: Australian History) [Subject: History, Aboriginal Studies, Politics, Australian Studies]

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781925523188
Publisher:	Monash University Publishing
Publication date:	03/28/2018
Series:	Australian History
Pages:	468
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Sue Taffe is a Melbourne historian who has written about the contributions of twentieth century activists to campaigns for Aboriginal rights. She is the author of Black and White Together FCAATSI: the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, as well as articles and book chapters about these activists.

Table of Contents

List of maps vii

Introduction viii

Pasents and Childhood 1

Chapter 1 Parents: A pioneer Scots pastoralist and a London artist 3

Chapter 2 Mimi's childhood: 'Queensland, Our Home? 31

Author to Activist 59

Chapter 3 Mimi Christison: Art student and young English lady 61

Chapter 4 Christison of Lammermoor: Romance burdened by reality 86

Chapter 5 M. M. Bennett: Emerging activist 122

The Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia 167

Chapter 6 Learning about Western Australia: 'My eyes open and my mouth shut' 169

Chapter 7 Mrs Bennett, Teacher: Mount Margaret Mission 183

Chapter 8 Commissioner Moseley and Chief Protector Neville 209

Chapter 9 Disillusionment 250

Belonging, Identity, Commitment 265

Chapter 10 Dora and Gladys: Wartime London and a return to Australia 267

Chapter 11 Families: Peter Pontara and Human Rights for Aborigines 299

Chapter 12 The Wongatha people of Kalgoorlie 337

Chapter 13 Final days 371

Epilogue 395

Acknowledgments 409

Further reading 417

Index 419