Mary Jane SmithsonAge: 701892–1962
- Name
- Mary Jane Smithson
- Given names
- Mary Jane
- Surname
- Smithson
| Birth | 30 April 1892 Woodend, Victoria, Australia |
| Australian History | 1892 Note: Gold is discovered at Coolgardie, Western Australia. |
| Australian History | 1893 (Age 8 months) Note: The Corowa Conference (the 'people's convention') calls on the colonial parliaments to pass enabling acts, allowing the election of delegates to a new constitutional convention aimed at drafting a proposal and putting it to a referendum in each colony. |
| Australian History | 1894 (Age 20 months) Note: South Australia becomes the first Australian colony, and the second place in the world, to grant women the right to vote, as well the first Parliament in the world to allow women to stand for office. |
| Australian History | 1895 (Age 2) Note: The premiers, except for those of Queensland and Western Australia, agree to implement the Corowa proposals. Note: Waltzing Matilda is first sung in public, in Winton, Queensland Note: Banjo Paterson publishes The Man from Snowy River |
| Australian History | 1896 (Age 3) Note: The Bathurst Conference (the second 'people's convention') meets to discuss the 1891 draft constitution |
| Australian History | 1897 (Age 4) Note: In two sessions, the Second National Australasian Convention meets (with representatives from all colonies except Queensland present). They agree to adopt a constitution based on the 1891 draft, and then revise and amend it later that year. Note: Catherine Helen Spence became the first female political candidate for political office, standing for election as a representative for South Australia. |
| Australian History | 1898 (Age 5) Note: The Convention agrees on a final draft to be put to the people. Note: After much public debate, the Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian referendums are successful; the New South Wales referendum narrowly fails. Later New South Wales votes 'yes' in a second referendum, and Queensland and Western Australia also vote to join. |
| Australian History | 1899 (Age 6) Note: The decision is made to site the national capital in New South Wales, but not within 100 miles of Sydney. Note: The Australian Labor Party holds office for a few days in Queensland, becoming the first trade union party to do so anywhere in the world. Note: The first contingents from various Australian colonies are sent to South Africa to participate in the Second Boer War. |
| Australian History | 1900 (Age 7) Note: Several delegates visit London to resist proposed changes to the agreed-upon constitution. Note: The constitution is passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom as a schedule to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, and is given royal assent |
| Australian History | 1901 (Age 8) Note: (01 Jan) Australia becomes a federation on 1 January. Edmund Barton becomes Prime Minister; the 7th Earl of Hopetoun becomes Governor-General Note: The first parliament met in Parliament House, Melbourne Note: Immigration Restriction act was introduced- The White Australian Policy Note: The Australian National Flag was flown for the first time |
| Australian History | 1902 (Age 9) Note: The Franchise Act guarantees women the right to vote in federal elections (by this stage, most states had already done this). However, it excludes most non-European ethnic groups, including Aboriginal people, unless already registered to vote on State roles. Note: King Edward VII approved the design of the Australian flag. Note: Breaker Morant is executed for having shot Boers who had surrendered |
| Australian History | 1903 (Age 10) Note: The High Court of Australia is established with Samuel Griffith as the first Chief Justice. Note: The Defence Act gives the federal government full control over the Australian Army Note: Alfred Deakin elected Prime Minister |
| Australian History | 1904 (Age 11) Note: A site at Dalgety, New South Wales chosen for the new national capital Note: Chris Watson forms the first federal Labor (minority) government |
| Australian History | 1906 (Age 13) Note: Australia takes control of south-eastern New Guinea |
| Australian History | 1908 (Age 15) Note: Dorothea Mackellar publishes My Country Note: The Dalgety proposal for the national capital is revoked, and Canberra is chosen instead |
| Australian History | 1909 (Age 16) Note: The first powered aeroplane flight in Australia is made. |
| Australian History | 1910 (Age 17) Note: Andrew Fisher forms the first federal majority Labor government. |
| Australian History | 1911 (Age 18) Note: The Royal Australian Navy is founded Note: The Northern Territory comes under Commonwealth control, being split off from South Australia Note: The first national census is conducted. Note: Australian Capital Territory proclaimed. |
| Australian History | 1912 (Age 19) Note: Australia sends women to the Olympic Games for the first time Note: Walter Burley Griffin wins a design competition for the new city of Canberra |
| Australian History | 1913 (Age 20) Note: Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth cross the Blue Mountains. Note: Matthew Flinders refers to New South Wales by the name 'Australia'. |
| Australian History | 1913 (Age 20) Note: The foundation stone for the city of Canberra is put in place |
| Australian History | 1914 (Age 21) Note: Australian soldiers are sent to the First World War. This was first time Australians had fought under the Australian flag, as opposed to that of Britain's. |
| Australian History | 1915 (Age 22) Note: (25 APRIL)Australian soldiers land at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey on 25 April. Note: Jervis Bay Territory comprising 6,677 hectares surrendered and becomes part of the Australia Capital Territory. Note: Surfing is first introduced to Australia Note: Billy Hughes became Prime Minister |
| Australian History | 1916 (Age 23) Note: Hotels are forced to close at 6 p.m., leading to the beginning of the 'six o'clock swill' Note: Australia suffers heavy casualties in the Western Front Battle of the Somme. Note: The Returned Sailors� and Soldiers� Imperial League of Australia, the forerunner to the Returned and Services League of Australia is founded Note: The Labor government under Billy Hughes splits over conscription. First referendum on conscription is rejected |
| Australian History | 1917 (Age 24) Note: Second referendum on conscription is rejected. Transcontinental railway linking Adelaide to Perth is completed. Note: Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade launches last cavalry charge in modern warfare to capture Beersheba from the Ottoman Turks. |
| Australian History | 1918 (Age 25) Note: (08 AUG) Battle of Amiens Note: Australian troops spearhead 8 August offensive against Hindenberg Line - the 'black day of the German Army'. Note: On 12 August, Australian commander General Sir John Monash is knighted in the field of battle by King George V Note: First World War ends - 60,000 Australians dead. Note: The Darwin Rebellion takes place, with 1,000 demonstrators demanding the resignation of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John A. Gilruth. |
| Residence | 1919 (Age 26) Glenferrie, Victoria, Australia Address: 53 Liddiard Street Note: Home Duties |
| Australian History | 1919 (Age 26) Note: Prime Minister Billy Hughes signs Treaty of Versailles: the first signing of an international treaty by Australia. Australia obtains League of Nations mandate over German New Guinea. |
| Birth of a son #1 | 21 June 1920 (Age 28)
son -
John Carr Potts
|
| Death of a son | 21 June 1920 (Age 28)
son -
John Carr Potts
|
| Australian History | 1920 (Age 27) Note: The airline Qantas is founded |
| Birth of a son #2 | 9 September 1921 (Age 29) Camberwell, Victoria, Australia
son -
Frederick John Potts
|
| Australian History | 1921 (Age 28) Note: Edith Cowan becomes the first woman elected to an Australian parliament |
| Australian History | 1922 (Age 29) Note: The Smith Family charity is founded in Sydney |
| Birth of a daughter #3 | 6 April 1923 (Age 30) Camberwell, Victoria, Australia
daughter -
Jean Dulcie Potts
|
| Australian History | 1923 (Age 30) Note: Vegemite is first produced |
| Residence | 1924 (Age 31) Deepdene, Victoria, Australia Address: 22 Norbert Street Note: Home Duties |
| Australian History | 1926 (Age 33) Note: The first Miss Australia contest is held |
| Australian History | 1927 (Age 34) Note: The tenth parliament is formally opened in Canberra, finalising the move to the new capital |
| Birth of a daughter #4 | 29 February 1928 (Age 35) Camberwell, Victoria, Australia
daughter -
Lorna Dorothy Potts
|
| Australian History | 1928 (Age 35) Note: Bert Hinkler makes the first successful flight from Britain to Australia, and Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first flight from the United States to Australia. The Shrine of Remembrance is built. |
| Australian History | 1929 (Age 36) Note: Western Australia celebrates its centenary Note: Labor returns to office under James Scullin. The Great Depression hits Australia. |
| Australian History | 1930 (Age 37) Note: Batsman Don Bradman scores a record 452 not out in one cricket innings Note: Phar Lap wins his first Melbourne Cup |
| Residence | 1931 (Age 38) Deepdene, Victoria, Australia Address: 22 Norbert Street Note: Home Duties |
| Australian History | 1931 (Age 38) Note: Sir Douglas Mawson charts 4,000 miles of Antarctic coastline and claims 42% of the icy mass for Australia |
| Australian History | 1932 (Age 39) Note: The Sydney Harbour Bridge opens Note: The Labor government falls and Joseph Lyons becomes Prime Minister |
| Australian History | 1933 (Age 40) Note: Western Australia votes at a rerefendum to secede from the Commonwealth, but the vote is ignored by both the Commonwealth and British governments |
| Residence | 1936 (Age 43) Deepdene, Victoria, Australia Address: 22 Norbert Street Note: Home Duties |
| Australian History | 1936 (Age 43) Note: The last Thylacine dies |
| Australian History | 1937 (Age 44) Note: The radio series Dad and Dave begins |
| Australian History | 1938 (Age 45) Note: Sydney hosts the Empire Games, the forerunner to the Commonwealth Games |
| Australian History | 1939 (Age 46) Note: (April) Prime Minister Lyons dies in office and is replaced by Robert Menzies and the first Menzies Government Note: (September) Australia enters the Second World War following the German Invasion of Poland. The 2nd Australian Imperial Force is raised. Note: The first flight is made by an Australian-made warplane, the Wirraway Note: Victoria is devastated by the Black Friday bushfires |
| Australian History | 1940 (Age 47) Note: A team of scientists, under Howard Florey, develops penicillin Note: Fascist Italy enters war, Royal Australian Navy engages Italian Navy in the early stages of the Battle of the Mediterranean. |
| Australian History | 1941 (Age 48) Note: 3 Divisions of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force join operations in the Mediterranean. After initial successes against Italy, 2nd AIF suffered defeat against the Germans in Greece, Crete, and North Africa. Note: Apr-Aug, Australian garrison (Rats of Tobruk) halt advance of Hitler's panzers for the first time during the Siege of Tobruk. Note: Menzies resigns and John Curtin becomes Prime Minister in the Curtin Government of 1941-45. |
| Australian History | 1942 (Age 49) Note: Feb, Fall of Singapore. 15,000 Australians become Prisoners of War of the Japanese Note: 1942-43 - Japanese air raids - almost 100 attacks against sites in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland. Note: The Royal Australian Navy and 6th and 7th Divisions of 2nd AIF are recalled from Mediterranean Theatre to participate in the anticipated Battle of Australia. Note: 1942-3 - Sparrow Force engages in guerilla campaign in Battle of Timor Note: Battle of the Coral Sea - United States and Royal Australian Navy halt advance of the Japanese towards Port Moresby (Australian Territory of Papua) Note: Battle of Kokoda Trail - Australian soldiers halt Japanese march on Port Moresby Note: Aug-Sep, Australian forces inflict the first defeat on the Imperial Japanese Army in the Battle of Milne Bay. Note: Jul-Nov, Australia's 9th Division plays crucial role in the First and Second Battle of El Alamein, which turned the North Africa Campaign in favour of the Allies. Note: National daylight saving is introduced as a war time measure. Note: The UK Statute of Westminster is formally adopted by Australia. The Statute formally grants Australia the right to pass laws that conflict with UK laws. |
| Australian History | 1943 (Age 50) Note: Australia wins its first Oscar, with cinematographer Damien Parer honoured for Kokoda Front Line! documentary. Note: 2,815 Australian Pows die constructing Japan's Burma-Thailand Railway Note: 1943-44 - Australian forces engage Japan in New Guinea, Wau, and the Huon peninsula. |
| Australian History | 1944 (Age 51) Note: Cowra breakout, mass escape of Japanese prisoners of war occurs in NSW. Note: Japanese inflict Sandakan Death March on 2,000 Australian and British prisoners of war - only 6 survive. The single worst war crime perpetrated against Australians. Note: Australian forces battle Japanese garrisons from Borneo to Bougainville. Note: The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is introduced, providing subsidised medicine to all Australians |
| Australian History | 1945 (Age 52) Note: the Liberal Party of Australia is established with Robert Menzies as its first leader. Note: Australian forces lead Battle of Borneo Note: (7 May) Nazi Germany surrenders Note: (July) Prime Minister Curtin dies and is replaced by Ben Chifley and the Chifley Labor Government Note: (1 August) Japan Surrenders Note: Australia becomes a founding member of the United Nations Note: The Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race is held for the first time |
| Australian History | 1946 (Age 53) Note: Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell introduces the major post-war immigration scheme Note: Norman Makin, is voted in as the first President of the United Nations Security Council. |
| Australian History | 1948 (Age 55) Note: Minister for External Affairs, Dr. H.V. Evatt is elected President of the United Nations General Assembly. Note: Australia becomes a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. |
| Birth of a granddaughter #1 | 31 July 1949 (Age 57) Kew, Victoria, Australia
granddaughter -
Jennifer Lorna Kneale
|
| Australian History | 1949 (Age 56) Note: Construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme begins Note: All indigenous ex-servicemen and any Indigenous Australians who are eligible to vote in State Elections (NSW, VIC, SA and TAS) are given an unrestricted right to vote in Federal Elections. Note: The Nationality and Citizenship Act is passed. Rather than being identified as subjects of Britain, the Act established Australian citizenship for people who met eligibility requirements. Note: Menzies returns to power as leader of the new Liberal Party Menzies Government. |
| Australian History | 1950 (Age 57) Note: 1950-53 - Australian troops are sent to the Korean War to assist South Korea. Note: Voters reject a referendum to change the Constitution to allow the Menzies Government to ban the Communist Party |
| Birth of a grandson #2 | 26 August 1951 (Age 59) Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia
grandson -
Gregory Kneale
|
| Death of a grandson | 26 August 1951 (Age 59) Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia
grandson -
Gregory Kneale
|
| Marriage of a son | Frederick John Potts - View family 14 November 1951 (Age 59) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
son -
Frederick John Potts
daughter-in-law -
Valerie Walker Wigley
|
| Australian History | 1951 (Age 58) Note: Australia signs the ANZUS treaty with the United States and New Zealand |
| Australian History | 1952 (Age 59) Note: First nuclear test conducted in Australian territory by the United Kingdom off the coast of Western Australia. |
| Residence | 1954 (Age 61) Badger Creek, Victoria, Australia Address: "Glen Violet", Don Road Note: Home Duties |
| Australian History | 1954 (Age 61) Note: Elizabeth II and Prince Philip make a royal visit; the Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov defects, leading to the Petrov Affair and another split in the Labor Party |
| Australian History | 1955 (Age 62) Note: Democratic Labor Party splits from Australian Labor Party over concerns of Communist influence in the labour movement Note: Australia becomes involved in Malayan Insurgence Note: Hotels in New South Wales no longer have to close at 6 p.m., ending the 'six o'clock swill' |
| Australian History | 1956 (Age 63) Note: Television in Australia is launched. Note: Melbourne holds the Olympics Note: performing artist Barry Humphries introduces Edna Everage to the Australian stage |
| Australian History | 1957 (Age 64) Note: The song 'Wild One' makes Johnny O'Keefe the first Australian rock'n'roller to reach the national charts. Note: Slim Dusty's Australian country music hit Pub With No Beer becomes the first Australian song to attain international chart success. |
| Death of a husband | 16 February 1960 (Age 67) Healesville, Victoria, Australia
husband -
William Robert "Bill" Potts
|
| Burial of a husband | 19 February 1960 (Age 67) Box Hill, Victoria, Australia
husband -
William Robert "Bill" Potts
|
| Australian History | 1962 (Age 69) Note: Robert Menzies' Commonwealth Electoral Act provided that all Indigenous Australians should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections, removing remaining restrictions applying in QLD, WA and NT. Note: Malayan Insurgence ends |
| Death | 29 June 1962 (Age 70) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Burial | 1 July 1962 (2 days after death) Box Hill, Victoria, Australia Bill and Mary's Headstone at Box Hill |
| Family with parents - View family |
| father | |
| mother | |
|
Marriage: 1889 |
|
|
2 years #1 elder sister |
Mabel Agnes Smithson
Birth 1891 Benalla, Victoria, Australia Death 1974 (Age 83) Victoria, Australia |
|
16 months #2 herself |
Birth 30 April 1892 Woodend, Victoria, Australia Death 29 June 1962 (Age 70) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Family with William Robert "Bill" Potts - View family |
| husband |
Birth 26 October 1891 29 33 Frankston, Victoria, Australia Death 16 February 1960 (Age 68) Healesville, Victoria, Australia |
|
6 months herself |
Birth 30 April 1892 Woodend, Victoria, Australia Death 29 June 1962 (Age 70) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| #1 son |
John Carr Potts
Birth 21 June 1920 28 28 Death 21 June 1920 |
|
15 months #2 son |
Frederick John Potts
Birth 9 September 1921 29 29 Camberwell, Victoria, Australia Death 2 July 1992 (Age 70) Burwood, Victoria, Australia |
| #3 daughter | |
| #4 daughter |
Jean Dulcie Potts
Birth 6 April 1923 31 30 Camberwell, Victoria, Australia Death 8 August 1967 (Age 44) Albury, New South Wales, Australia |
| #5 daughter | |
| #6 daughter |
|
Mary Jane Smithson has 0 first cousins recorded
Father's family (0)
Mother's family (0)
| Australian History | Gold is discovered at Coolgardie, Western Australia. |
| Australian History | The Corowa Conference (the 'people's convention') calls on the colonial parliaments to pass enabling acts, allowing the election of delegates to a new constitutional convention aimed at drafting a proposal and putting it to a referendum in each colony. |
| Australian History | South Australia becomes the first Australian colony, and the second place in the world, to grant women the right to vote, as well the first Parliament in the world to allow women to stand for office. |
| Australian History | The premiers, except for those of Queensland and Western Australia, agree to implement the Corowa proposals. |
| Australian History | The Bathurst Conference (the second 'people's convention') meets to discuss the 1891 draft constitution |
| Australian History | In two sessions, the Second National Australasian Convention meets (with representatives from all colonies except Queensland present). They agree to adopt a constitution based on the 1891 draft, and then revise and amend it later that year. |
| Australian History | The Convention agrees on a final draft to be put to the people. |
| Australian History | The decision is made to site the national capital in New South Wales, but not within 100 miles of Sydney. |
| Australian History | Several delegates visit London to resist proposed changes to the agreed-upon constitution. |
| Australian History | (01 Jan) Australia becomes a federation on 1 January. Edmund Barton becomes Prime Minister; the 7th Earl of Hopetoun becomes Governor-General |
| Australian History | The Franchise Act guarantees women the right to vote in federal elections (by this stage, most states had already done this). However, it excludes most non-European ethnic groups, including Aboriginal people, unless already registered to vote on State roles. |
| Australian History | The High Court of Australia is established with Samuel Griffith as the first Chief Justice. |
| Australian History | A site at Dalgety, New South Wales chosen for the new national capital |
| Australian History | Australia takes control of south-eastern New Guinea |
| Australian History | Dorothea Mackellar publishes My Country |
| Australian History | The first powered aeroplane flight in Australia is made. |
| Australian History | Andrew Fisher forms the first federal majority Labor government. |
| Australian History | The Royal Australian Navy is founded |
| Australian History | Australia sends women to the Olympic Games for the first time |
| Australian History | Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth cross the Blue Mountains. |
| Australian History | The foundation stone for the city of Canberra is put in place |
| Australian History | Australian soldiers are sent to the First World War. This was first time Australians had fought under the Australian flag, as opposed to that of Britain's. |
| Australian History | (25 APRIL)Australian soldiers land at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey on 25 April. |
| Australian History | Hotels are forced to close at 6 p.m., leading to the beginning of the 'six o'clock swill' |
| Australian History | Second referendum on conscription is rejected. Transcontinental railway linking Adelaide to Perth is completed. |
| Australian History | (08 AUG) Battle of Amiens |
| Residence | Home Duties |
| Australian History | Prime Minister Billy Hughes signs Treaty of Versailles: the first signing of an international treaty by Australia. Australia obtains League of Nations mandate over German New Guinea. |
| Australian History | The airline Qantas is founded |
| Australian History | Edith Cowan becomes the first woman elected to an Australian parliament |
| Australian History | The Smith Family charity is founded in Sydney |
| Australian History | Vegemite is first produced |
| Residence | Home Duties |
| Australian History | The first Miss Australia contest is held |
| Australian History | The tenth parliament is formally opened in Canberra, finalising the move to the new capital |
| Australian History | Bert Hinkler makes the first successful flight from Britain to Australia, and Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first flight from the United States to Australia. The Shrine of Remembrance is built. |
| Australian History | Western Australia celebrates its centenary |
| Australian History | Batsman Don Bradman scores a record 452 not out in one cricket innings |
| Residence | Home Duties |
| Australian History | Sir Douglas Mawson charts 4,000 miles of Antarctic coastline and claims 42% of the icy mass for Australia |
| Australian History | The Sydney Harbour Bridge opens |
| Australian History | Western Australia votes at a rerefendum to secede from the Commonwealth, but the vote is ignored by both the Commonwealth and British governments |
| Residence | Home Duties |
| Australian History | The last Thylacine dies |
| Australian History | The radio series Dad and Dave begins |
| Australian History | Sydney hosts the Empire Games, the forerunner to the Commonwealth Games |
| Australian History | (April) Prime Minister Lyons dies in office and is replaced by Robert Menzies and the first Menzies Government |
| Australian History | A team of scientists, under Howard Florey, develops penicillin |
| Australian History | 3 Divisions of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force join operations in the Mediterranean. After initial successes against Italy, 2nd AIF suffered defeat against the Germans in Greece, Crete, and North Africa. |
| Australian History | Feb, Fall of Singapore. 15,000 Australians become Prisoners of War of the Japanese |
| Australian History | Australia wins its first Oscar, with cinematographer Damien Parer honoured for Kokoda Front Line! documentary. |
| Australian History | Cowra breakout, mass escape of Japanese prisoners of war occurs in NSW. |
| Australian History | the Liberal Party of Australia is established with Robert Menzies as its first leader. |
| Australian History | Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell introduces the major post-war immigration scheme |
| Australian History | Minister for External Affairs, Dr. H.V. Evatt is elected President of the United Nations General Assembly. |
| Australian History | Construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme begins |
| Australian History | 1950-53 - Australian troops are sent to the Korean War to assist South Korea. |
| Australian History | Australia signs the ANZUS treaty with the United States and New Zealand |
| Australian History | First nuclear test conducted in Australian territory by the United Kingdom off the coast of Western Australia. |
| Residence | Home Duties |
| Australian History | Elizabeth II and Prince Philip make a royal visit; the Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov defects, leading to the Petrov Affair and another split in the Labor Party |
| Australian History | Democratic Labor Party splits from Australian Labor Party over concerns of Communist influence in the labour movement |
| Australian History | Television in Australia is launched. |
| Australian History | The song 'Wild One' makes Johnny O'Keefe the first Australian rock'n'roller to reach the national charts. |
| Australian History | Robert Menzies' Commonwealth Electoral Act provided that all Indigenous Australians should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections, removing remaining restrictions applying in QLD, WA and NT. |
| Photos |