Mary Maydwell Martin (20 July 1915 - 25 January 1973) was an Australian bookseller, founder of the Mary Martin Bookshop.

History

Martin was born in Adelaide to Ernest Montgomerie Martin AMIEE. (1878–1956) and his wife Lorna Gledstanes Martin, née Jacob, (1889–1973), both associated with the Unitarian Christian Church of

Wakefield Street Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square in the centre of the city, which has a grid street plan. It continues as ...

. Ernest was a son of vigneron Henry Maydwell Martin and nephew of

Anna Montgomerie Martin Anna Montgomerie Martin (8 November 1841 – 9 August 1918), always known as "Annie", but often signing her name "A. Montgomerie Martin", was a teacher and headmistress of Adelaide, South Australia. History Annie was born in Birmingham, England ...

; Lorna lost two brothers in

The Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

; a third was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

for bravery and later hounded for his Communist sympathies. Educator Caroline Jacob (1861–1940) was a great-aunt. In 1945 she founded the Mary Martin Book Shop on

Grenfell Street Grenfell Street () is a major street in the north-east quarter of the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. The street runs west-east from King William Street to East Terrace. On the other side of King William Street, it continues as Currie S ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. In 1947 she asked Max Harris to become a partner in the shop, which by then had moved to Alma Chambers, 13 Commercial Place. Harris agreed; he also made a news-sheet which he called ''Mary's Own Paper'', although it contained his own opinions. The shop expanded, and by 1955 it was located at 75 Rundle Street; by 1957 it was in a large part of the first floor of the Da Costa Building,

Gawler Place Gawler Place is a single-lane road in the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs north to south from North Terrace to Wakefield Street, parallel to and approximately midway between King William and Pulteney Streets. ...

. In 1962 Mary decided to move to India for good, having previously visited there in 1952, 1957, and 1961. Harris became the sole manager of the bookshop, and Mary sold her interests in the firm to him and Yvonne Harris. After living in Bombay for a time, Mary moved to Bangalore and established an Indian mail-order book business. Her sister Florence managed the finances from Australia. She also sold local arts and crafts to

Community Aid Abroad Oxfam Australia is an Australian, independent, not-for-profit, secular, community-based aid and development organization, and is an affiliate of the Oxfam International confederation. Oxfam Australia's work is divided into four broad categories c ...

. She hired T. R. Kesavamurthy as a servant, training him to become the manager of her book business. In 1965 she and Kesavamurthy moved to Kotagiri, where she hoped the climate would be good for her asthma. There, in addition to her work with books, she volunteered with the Nilgiris Adivasi Welfare Association. She was appointed the association's honorary treasurer, and wrote its Newsletter. A dispensary at Balwadi, India, was named after her, and a memorial fund to continue her welfare work was established in Adelaide, Australia. The Mary Martin chain was sold to Macmillans in the late 1970s.Samela Harris (2012)
A life of books – and Mary Martin's
''AdelaideNow'', 2 September 2012. Accessed 5 February 2014. As of 1998 there were four Mary Martin bookshops in Australia, and the Kesavamurthy family ran Mary Martin Booksellers from Coimbatore, India. Mary Martin Booksellers continues now with their Head Office in Singapore. Mary was also a foundation member of the South Australian branch of the Contemporary Art Society of Australia, and in 1939 won the Tormore prize for English Literature.

References

External links

Photo of Mary Martin with Max Harris
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Mary Maydwell Australian booksellers Australian women in business 1915 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Australian women

History

References

Further reading

External links