Dame Mary Valentine Austin DBE ( Hall-Thompson; 29 July 1900 – 10 September 1986) was an Australian community worker and political activist. The daughter of Admiral Percival Hall-Thompson and his wife, Helen (née Deacon), she was educated in New Zealand at Marsden College, Wellington.
Affiliations Red Cross Society (Superintendent Regional Commandant, Victorian Division) Australian Liberal Party, Vice President, and later National Vice-president (1947–76) Victoria League, honorary life membershipAustralian Government Office for Women Faith, Hope, Charity site
Damehood She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1979 Birthday Honours (16 June 1979) for community and welfare services.
Family She married Ronald Albert Austin (1893–1965) on 9 June 1925. The couple had one child, Derrick Albert Austin, who was born in 1926.
Sources Draper, W J (ed.), Who's who in Australia, 1983, 14th edn, The Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, 1983 Draper, W J (ed.), Who's who in Australia, 1980, 23rd edn, The Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, 1980, vol 928, page 68
References
External links NLA profile Ancestry.com website info re Ronald Austin Ancestry.com website info re Mary Austin