People Australia

Mary Quirk, n.d.

New South Wales Parliament Archives

Mary Lilly May Quirk, née Deal, late Kelly (1881-1952), shop assistant, trade unionist, housewife and parliamentarian 

Birth: 7 December 1880 at Coonamble, New South Wales, daughter of Julius Franz Frederick Deal (1849-1919), a butcher born at sea 3 days from Sydney, and Emma Margaretta Parry-White (1862-1952), born in Victoria. Marriages: (1) 28 September 1898 at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Balmain, to English-born John Kelly (1859-1926), a widower and a labourer. They had three daughters and one son. (2) 9 February 1927 at St Patrick’s Church, Sydney, to John Quirk (1870-1938), a widower and a politician, born at Balmain, Sydney. Death: 4 March 1952 in hospital at Sydney; usual residence Govett Street, Randwick. Religion: Catholic. 

• Mary was educated at Rozelle Public School. She later worked as a shop assistant at Grace Brothers Pty Ltd. Joining the Shop Assistant's Union, she was active in the campaign to abolish late night shopping.
• Kelly was appointed a justice of the peace in October 1923 and was president of the Sunshine Club, formed to alleviate family distress from unemployment in Balmain in 1924.
• She and her first husband were members of the Rozelle branch of the Australian Labor Party and of the Rozelle Social Club, whose secretary was the local member John Quirk, whom the widowed Mrs Kelly later married.
• Mary Quirk became Labor member of the Legislative Assembly for the seat of Balmain in January 1939, replacing her late husband. She joined Jack Lang’s Australian Labor (Non-Communist) party in 1940. Losing ALP preselection in 1950, she was defeated after standing as an Independent Labor candidate in June that year.
• She became a director of Sunshine Homes for Children.
• Cause of death: myeloid leukaemia. 

Sources
Heather Radi, Peter Spearritt and Elizabeth Hinton Hinton (eds), Biographical Register of the NSW Parliament 1901-1970 (Canberra, 1979); Shop Assistant, January 1939.