Susan Grace Benny | |
|---|---|
 Susan Grace Benny (SLSA B-60835) | |
| Born | Susan Grace Anderson (1872-10-08)8 October 1872 Adelaide, South Australia |
| Died | 5 November 1944(1944-11-05) (aged 72) North Adelaide, South Australia |
| Occupations | Councillor,Brighton Council |
| Known for | First woman elected to local government in Australia |
| Spouse | Benjamin Benny |
| Children | 5 |
Susan Grace Benny, née Anderson, (1872–1944) ofSeacliff, South Australia, generally referred to as Grace Benny or S. Grace Benny, was the first woman elected to local government in Australia when she was elected to theBrighton Council in 1919.[1] She represented theSeacliff ward from November 1919 until December 1921.
Benny was born in theCrown Inn Hotel,Currie Street, Adelaide on 8 October 1872 to Peter Anderson and Agnes Ellen Anderson, née Harriot.[2]
She grew up on the family's sheep station "Springfield", located nearStansbury,Yorke Peninsula. She married her cousin, solicitorBenjamin Benny (21 October 1869 – 10 February 1935), eldest son of the Reverend George Benny, on 16 July 1896, and moved to Adelaide where he worked.[2] The couple moved to Seacliff in Adelaide's south and raised three daughters and two sons.[3]
Benny was active in a range of community and political organisations, and during the First World War was the Honorary Secretary of the SeacliffCheer-Up Society. She was also a member of the local Progress Association, and spinning andcroquet clubs.[2]
Following World War I, Benny was a member of theLiberal Union Sturt District committee and president of the Brighton Women's Branch of the Liberal Union, and was elected president of the Women's Branch of the South Australian Liberal Union in 1918. During this time she argued strongly for equality of divorce for women, which became law in South Australia in 1918.[2]
Following the lead of her husband, who was mayor ofBrighton City Council 1903–1905, Benny became the first female local government councillor in Australia. In November 1919, on petition of ratepayers, she was appointed to represent the newly created South ward (later called Seacliff) of Brighton Council. She stood for election the following month, believing that there was work to be done in the area that only a woman could do. She was duly elected on 22 December 1919, and held this seat at the following election. In 1922 she stood unsuccessfully for mayor,[1] a defeat welcomed by at least one (Catholic) commentator.[4]
As a council member Benny successfully argued for public access to the beach, the installation of electric lights and the allocation of reserves for a children's playground and public garden. She also actively supported the abolition of segregated sea-bathing so that families could swim together.[2]
In 1921 Grace Benny was made aJustice of the Peace, hearing cases relating to state children, police matters and women.[2]
Her husband Benjamin Benny was elected to theAustralian Senate in 1919, resigning in January 1926 after suffering astroke. He was immediately sued for misappropriating various trust funds,[5] and in June 1926 was convicted of the fraudulent conversion of Treasury bonds to the value of £1,200, as well as various other trust funds.[6] He was sentenced to three years' gaol, struck off the roll of theSupreme Court, of which he was a practitioner,[7] and declared insolvent. The Benny home "Stoneywood", a 4.25 acres (1.72 ha) property overlooking the Seacliff foreshore reserve, was put up for sale in 1925.[8]
Following her husband's imprisonment, Benny was forced to rely on money she had inherited to support her children. Although she had never worked for a living, she moved into her husband's law offices inKing William Street, Adelaide and opened the "Elite Employment Agency", which enabled her to support her family through theDepression.[9]
Benjamin Benny died in 1935. On 23 February 1940 inMelbourne, Grace married Cecil Ralph Bannister. 20 years her junior, Bannister was a tramway worker and clerk before moving to Adelaide to live with Grace.[2]
Grace Benny died in North Adelaide on 5 November 1944 and was buried in the Scotch cemetery atMorphett Vale.[10]
