Mary Costello (pastoralist)

Mary Costello (née Scanlan) (6 January 1839 - 18 December 1924) was a pioneering pastoralist in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Mary Costello
Born6 January 1839
Scariff, County Clare, Ireland
Died18 December 1924(1924-12-18) (aged 85)
Hillston, New South Wales, New South Wales
OccupationPastoralist
Spouse(s)John Costello
ChildrenMichael, Mary Jane Gertrude, Kate, Ellen, Annie, John Patrick, Patrick
Parent(s)Patrick Scanlan and wife

Early life

Costello was born in County Clare in Ireland, the daughter of Patrick Scanlan and his wife. After immigrating to Australia in 1861,[1] she married John Costello at Grabben Gullen in New South Wales on 7 January 1865. They has two sons before leaving New South Wales for Kyabra Creek in western Queensland. There they had a daughter Mary and later another four children.[2]

Life in the Northern Territory

In 1882 Costello and her husband bought Lake Nash Station. After a year in Ireland, Mary settled her daughters into a convent in Townsville, they bought Valley of the Springs, another isolated property, in 1887.[3] After six years, the couple moved back to Lake Nash around 1891 with seven of their children. They were known for their "close and equitable partnership".[4]

Costello was well-read and politically informed. She was an enthusiastic correspondent. She and her daughters registered to vote in Warnardo in 1894. She was one of the first women in Australia to vote, as the Northern Territory and South Australia were the first to grant women the right to vote.[4]

Later life

The Costellos returned to New South Wales in 1902. They acquired property near Goulburn but both were foreclosed upon by creditors.[5][6] She died in 1924.[7] She is buried in Hillston.[2]

References
  1. "OBITUARY". Freeman's Journal. LXXV. New South Wales, Australia. 8 January 1925. p. 22. Retrieved 19 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. James, Barbara (2008). Northern Territory dictionary of biography (Rev. ed.). Darwin: Charles Darwin University Press. pp. 112–113. ISBN 9780980457810.
  3. "My-country Intelligence". North Australian (Darwin). IV (35). Northern Territory, Australia. 28 January 1887. p. 3. Retrieved 19 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Costello, Mary (1839-01-06). "Mary Costello". Northern Territory Library. hdl:10070/218094. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "QUEENSLAND PIONEERS". The Northern Miner. Queensland, Australia. 8 April 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 19 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "JOHN COSTELLO-PIONEER". The Charleville Times. Queensland, Australia. 12 September 1947. p. 18. Retrieved 19 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "MRS. MARY COSTELLO". The Hillston Spectator And Lachlan River Advertiser. XXXIV (51). New South Wales, Australia. 26 December 1924. p. 7. Retrieved 10 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
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