Mary Hyde
| Mary Hyde | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | c. 19 February 1779 Halesowen, Worcestershire, England |
| Died | 1 December 1864 (aged 85) "Banks House”, Botany, Sydney, Australia |
| Other names | Mary Hide, alias Sarah Blunn; Mary Black; Mary Lord |
| Spouse(s) |
Simeon Lord (1771–1840), and her earlier partner was Captain John Black (1778–1802) |
| Children |
2 children with John Black: (1821–1857) |
| Parent(s) |
Edward Hyde and Sarah Blunn |
2 children with John Black:
John Henry Black
(1799–1867)
Mary Ann De Mestre
nee Black
(1801–1861)
8 children with Simeon Lord:
Sarah Ann Ramsay
nee Lord
(1806–1889)
Louisa Dick
nee Lord
(born 1808, date of death unknown)
Simeon Lord Jnr.
(1810–1892)
Francis Lord
(1812–1897)
Edward Lord
(1814–1884)
Thomas Lord
(1816–1876)
George William Lord
(1818–1880)
Mary Lord nee Hyde (1779–1864) in the period 1855 to 1859 sued the Commissioners of the City of Sydney and won compensation for the sum of over £15,600 (plus costs) for the inundation of her property at Botany.
Hyde is noted for her pertinacity. Despite in late 1855 partially winning her case through the New South Wales courts, Mary appealed and three years later in early 1859 won fully after taking her case as far as the Privy Council in England, the final court of appeal then available to a British subject living in the Colony of New South Wales.
In 1859, in the 70-year-old Colony of New South Wales, her court case, although largely ignored by historians, was nevertheless an achievement: women did not have the vote; and Hyde lived in a male-dominated society governed by British law where women had little power. Married women had no power at all, and Mary was only able to sue as being a widow she was no longer married.
Having experienced life as a woman in Victorian society, single, married and widowed, Mary became concerned with what today would be called a feminist issue. She stipulated in her will that any bequests made to her daughters and granddaughters were to be given to them in their own right and that their husbands should not have any say. She attempted to give her daughters and granddaughters control over their own inheritances. The law of the day overrode her stated wishes. Remembering that colonies in Australia were largely governed by English law, prior to the English 1887 Married Woman's Property Act (which was a rallying point for many first-wave feminists in the late nineteenth century, and was only passed after years of intense political lobbying by dedicated women) a married woman could own no property, and was the chattel of her husband. Any property that she had owned as a single woman, or that she inherited as a married woman whether in goods, money, or land, passed into the ownership of her husband.
...
Wikipedia