{{Short description|Australian politician (1880–1952)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Mary Quirk | honorific_suffix = | image = Mary Quirk (1880-1952), NSW politician.png | caption = | office1 = Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly | constituency1 = Balmain | predecessor1 = John Quirk | successor1 = John McMahon | term_start1 = 14 January 1939 | term_end1 = 22 May 1950 | birth_name = Mary Lilly May Deal | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1880|12|7}} | birth_place = Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1952|3|4|1880|12|7}} | death_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | spouse = {{marriage|John Kelly|1898|1926|reason=died}}<br/>{{marriage|John Quirk|1927|1939|reason=died}} | party = Labor (to 1950)<br/>Independent (1950) | other_party = Lang Labor | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = Domestic servant<br/>Shop assistant | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Mary Lilly May Quirk''' ({{nee|'''Deal'''}}; 7 December 1880 – 4 March 1952) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1939 to 1950, winning the seat of Balmain after the death of her husband John Quirk. She was associated with the Lang Labor faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and stood against endorsed ALP candidates on several occasions.
==Early life== Quirk was born on 7 December 1880 in Coonamble, New South Wales. She was the second child born to Emma Margretta (née White) and Julius Franz Frederick Deal.<ref name=adb>{{cite news|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/quirk-mary-lilly-11473|title=Mary Lilly Quirk (1880–1952)|first=Leanne|last=Blackey|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|volume=16|year=2002}}</ref>
Quirk moved to Sydney as a child where her father worked as a butcher in Balmain. She attended Rozelle Superior Public School. After leaving school she worked as a domestic servant until her marriage to John Kelly in 1898. She later worked as a shop assistant, including with Grace Bros, and was a member of the Shop Assistants' Union of New South Wales. She was widowed in 1926 and remarried the following year to John Quirk, a long-serving member of state parliament.<ref name=adb/> She effectively acted as her husband's campaign manager.<ref name=widow/>
==Politics== Quirk's second husband died in December 1938.<ref name=adb/> She was elected to his seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the 1939 Balmain state by-election, defeating two "independent Labor" candidates.<ref name="Mary Quirk NSW Parl">{{Cite NSW Parliament |id=1345 |former=Yes |access-date=8 May 2019 | title = Mrs Mary Lily May Quirk (1880-1952)}}</ref> Her preselection was carried out by the Lang Labor faction of the ALP, and she reportedly defeated eight other candidates including former state attorney-general Joe Lamaro.<ref name=widow>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/247434682|title=Member's Widow Runs for Balmain|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|date=23 December 1938}}</ref> She pledged her personal support to ALP leader Jack Lang, who backed her candidacy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/139834978|title=Balmain By-Election: Deceased Member's Widow as Lang Candidate|newspaper=Cootamundra Herald|date=23 December 1938}}</ref>
Quirk was the second woman elected to the Legislative Assembly, after Millicent Preston-Stanley, and the first from the ALP.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/81944085|title=Balmain By-Election: Mrs Quirk Wins|newspaper=Singleton Argus|date=16 January 1939}}</ref> She joined Lang's breakaway Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist) in 1940, which rejoined the official ALP the following year. She was re-elected at the 1941, 1944 and 1947 state elections.<ref name="Mary Quirk NSW Parl"/> In April 1950, following a lengthy preselection process, Quirk was defeated for ALP preselection in Balmain by John McMahon. An initial ballot was overturned by the party's disputes committee.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18483679|title=Mrs. Quirk Loses Again|newspaper=The Sunday Herald|date=30 April 1950}}</ref> She resigned from the ALP on 23 May 1950 to seek re-election as an independent.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18169135|title=Mrs. Quick Stands As Independent|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=23 May 1950}}</ref> She was unsuccessful, losing to McMahon at the 1950 state election.<ref name=adb/>
==Personal life== Quirk had one son and three daughters from her first marriage; her son predeceased her. After leaving parliament she was a director of a children's home. She died on 4 March 1952 at Sydney Hospital, aged 71.<ref name=adb/>
==References== {{reflist}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|au-nsw-la}} {{succession box | title=Member for Balmain | before=John Quirk | after=John McMahon | years=1939 – 1950 }} {{s-end}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quirk, Mary}} Category:1880 births Category:1952 deaths Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Category:20th-century Australian politicians Category:Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Category:19th-century Australian women Category:20th-century Australian women politicians Category:People from Coonamble