Mary (Mollie) Turner Shaw (1906-1990)

Mary (Mollie) Turner Shaw was born at Wooriwyrite in the Western District to grazier Thomas Turner Shaw and his wife Agnes Hopkins.

She was educated at Clyde then attended Oxford University, but partying rather than studying meant she left without a degree. When her family’s fortunes changed in the 1930s, she had to make a living. And so she found her way to architecture.

She worked during the day and studied at night. Admitted to the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects (RVIA) in 1937, she became the first woman architect employed by the Commonwealth government. She was elected a fellow of the RVIA in 1965.

In her sixties, Mollie turned her attention to history, her first book, On Mount Emu Creek (1969) building on her knowledge of her family’s experiences as Western District pastoralists. More were to follow. Of her work she said, ‘The Country is as important to my story as the human characters.’

Mollie joined the RHSV and from 1971 to 1974 served on its Council. She was made a Fellow of the Society in 1974. Among her many contributions to the RHSV were her editing of Marnie Bassett’s final publication and the plans she drew in 1975 for RHSV’s new premises at City Mutual.

On her death at St Kilda in 1990, her obituarist in the RHSV’s History News wrote that ‘members of the Society will miss her friendship and expertise, which she so readily gave to young and old alike.’

Kaleidoscope exhibition text, February 2022. Full entry to follow.