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Tenison Woods, Mary Cecil (1893 - 1971)

CBE, OBE, LLB

Born
9 December 1893
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Died
18 October 1971
Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Lawyer

Summary

Mary Tenison Woods (née Kitson) was the first woman to graduate in law in South Australia. She was admitted to the bar on 20 October 1917. Her application to become a public notary in 1921 led to a change in the law: the existing Act did not include women as 'persons'. Following the failure of her marriage to Julian Tenison Woods, she moved to Sydney with her son. Here she became involved with child welfare and served in an honorary position on a number of boards. In 1950 Tenison Woods was appointed chief of the office of the status of women in the division of human rights, United Nations Secretariat, New York. During her term two major conventions were adopted: the Convention of the Political Rights of Women (1952), the first international law aimed at the granting and protection of women's full political rights, and the Convention of the Nationality of Married Women (1957) which decreed that marriage should not affect the nationality of a wife. On 13 June 1959 Mary Tenison Woods was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for public service, especially with the United Nations. Previously she had been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 8 June 1950 for services to child welfare.

Details

Events

1916
Graduated from the University of Adelaide, (LLB)
20 October 1917
First woman to be admitted to the Bar in South Australia
1919
Became a partner in the reconstituted firm of Johnstone, Ronald & Kitson
1921
Kitson's application to become a public notary led to a change in the law: the existing Act did not include women as 'persons'
13 December 1924
Mary Kitson married barrister and solicitor, Julian Gordon Tenison Woods, they were to have one son
1925
Joined Dorothy Somerville in practice, as her former partners preferred not to work with a married woman
21 June 1927
Her husband's name was removed from the roll for misuse of trust funds. The couple separated.
1930s
She received grants from the Carnegie Corporation to research delinquency
1930s - 1950
After moving to Sydney with her son, she worked as legal editor with Butterworth's Book Company
1935 - 1940
Served on the New South Wales Board of Social Study and Training
1937
Published Juvenile Delinquency
1940 - 1945
Sat on the board of the Women's Australian National Services
1940 - 1950
Lectured part time at the University of Sydney on legal aspects of social work
1941 - 1949
Served on the New South Wales Board of Social Studies at the University of Sydney
1944
Wrote two articles for the Sydney Morning Herald highlighting problems at Parramatta and at the Gosford Boy's Home
1946
Founder of the New South Wales St Joan's Social and Political Alliance
1948
Nominated (unsuccessfully) to be the Australian representative on the United Nations Organization Status of Women Commission
1950 - 1958
Appointed Chief of the Office of the Status of Women in the Human Rights Division of the United Nations
8 June 1950
Appointed appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to child welfare.
13 June 1959
Appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for public service, especially with the United Nations Organization

Sources used to compile this entry: 'Mary Tenison Woods - Social and Political Activist', in Golding Centre for Women's History, Theology & Spirituality, ACU National, http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/research/whits/Requestedtranscripts
/reqtranscript06.html; O'Brien, Anne, 'Tenison Woods, Mary Cecil (1893-1971)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Australian National University, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120213b.htm.

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Newspaper Microcopy Reading Room

  • [Biographical cuttings on Mary Cecil Tenison Woods, barrister, legal author and editor and child welfare reformer], 1733285; National Library of Australia Newspaper Microcopy Reading Room. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Tenison Woods, M. C. (Mary Cecil), Juvenile delinquency : with special references to institutional treatment, Melbourne University Press in association with Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1937, 80 pp. Details
  • Tenison Woods, M. C. (Mary Cecil), Ex-servicemen's legislation, being the Re-establishment and Employment Act, 1945, Butterworth, Sydney, 1945. Details
  • Tenison Woods, M. C. (Mary Cecil), Price regulations : consolidated and annotated, being prices regulations as amended to date and continued in force by the Commonwealth Defence (Transitional Provisions) Act, 1946, Butterworth, Sydney, 1947, 144 pp. Details
  • Tenison Woods, M. C. (Mary Cecil), Landlord and tenant Commonwealth regulations, Butterworth, Sydney, 1947, 124 pp. Details
  • Tenison Woods, M. C. (Mary Cecil), Capital issues and economic organization regulations : ... as amended to date and continued in force by the Commonwealth Defence (Transitional Provisions) Act, 1946, Butterworth, Sydney, 1947, 94 pp. Details
  • Tenison Woods, M. C. (Mary Cecil), Landlord and tenant and land sales control legislation of New South Wales : being the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act, 1948 and War Service Moratorium Regulations, Butterworth (Australia), Sydney, 1948, 178 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • O'Brien, Anne, 'Mary Tenison Woods', in Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian women, Women's Redress Press Inc, Broadway, NSW, 1988, pp. 197-198. Details

Edited Books

  • Tenison Woods, M. C. (Mary Cecil) (ed.), Digest of war legislation in Australia : being a complete digest of acts of Parliament, regulations, rules and orders, by-laws, proclamations and notices of the Commonwealth and all States of Australia relating to or affected by the existing state of war and including reported decisions of the courts there on, Butterworth & Co (Australia), Sydney, 1939-1945. Details
  • Tenison Woods, M. C. (Mary Cecil) (ed.), Butterworths' digest of commercial legislation 1947 being a complete digest of Acts of Parliament, Regulations, Rules and Orders of the Commonwealth and all States of Australia which relate to commerce including notes on decisions of the courts, Butterworth, Sydney, 1947, 356 pp. Details
  • Tenison Woods, M. C. (Mary Cecil) (ed.), Butterworth's commercial legislation service : being a complete digest of acts of Parliament, regulations and orders of the Commonwealth and all States of Australia including notes on decisions of the courts, Butterworth, Sydney, 1948, 494 pp. Details
  • Tenison Woods, M. C. (Mary Cecil) and Jelbart, J. M. (John McClure) (eds), Digest of commercial legislation : being a complete digest of Acts of Parliament, Regulations, Rules and Orders of the Commonwealth and all states of Australia which relate to commerce, Butterworth, Sydney, 1946. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Press, Margaret M., Three women of faith : Gertrude Abbott, Elizabeth Anstice Baker and Mary Tenison Woods, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, SA, 2000, 143 pp. Details
  • Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press, Sydney, 1988, 258 pp. Also available at http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-78644. Details

Anne Heywood

Created: 29 September 2003, Last modified: 22 April 2009

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