born on 18 June 1866 at Greenough in Western Australia
tall with a commanding presence, kindly but determined, good sense of humour
My name is Mary Farrelly and I represent ‘Golden soil, wealth for toil’
because of the work I did to help people in country areas. I joined the Women’s
Service Guild soon after it was founded in 1909, held several senior positions within the
organisation, and helped to establish the State Kindergarten Union and the girl guide
movement. In 1912 the guild established Country Services for women in isolated places, and
I organised rural household science courses to teach domestic efficiency to such women.
The Country Women’s Association in Western Australia grew out of this idea. My
courses demonstrated the virtue of wholemeal flour by making homemade loaves of bread, and
I eventually wrote a cookbook, How to cook wheat, which was published during the
Depression of the 1930s and proved very popular.
1901-2001 Centenary of
Federation