Reilly, Betty Mary

Identity area

Type of entity

Person

Authorized form of name

Reilly, Betty Mary

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

      Other form(s) of name

      • Betty McCann

      Identifiers for corporate bodies

      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1910 – c. 2003

      History

      Betty Reilly was born on 15 November 1910. She married Frederick John Reilly in 1936 and was later divorced in 1948. Reilly joined the St Kilda Branch of the Communist Party of Australia in 1937. She volunteered to assist the Newtown strike committee during the 1941 textile strike. She then worked at Bonds mill in Camperdown but was subsequently sacked; and found work as a doffer at Australian Woollen Mills, when she began organising workers into the Textile Workers’ Union. Reilly was appointed shop steward and was active in the 1943 Sydney textile strike but (reluctantly) supported the CPA’s call to end strike action. She became secretary of the CPA Women’s Committee. Active in Union of Australian Women; employed by Women’s International Democratic Federation, Berlin, 1952-55; and remained active in the women’s movement and peace movement in Australia. Her published articles include “A Stitch in time: experiences in the rag trade” (Australian Left Review, no. 82 September 1982) and “Knowing we were right” (Australian Left Review, no. 85 Spring 1983).

      Places

      Melbourne; Sydney

      Legal status

      Functions, occupations and activities

      political activist; textile worker; trade unionist

      Mandates/sources of authority

      Internal structures/genealogy

      General context

      Relationships area

      Access points area

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Occupations

      Control area

      Authority record identifier

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Entered from deposit description on 17 April 2012

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          Working Lives website, http://workinglives.econ.usyd.edu.au/reilly.html (accessed on 17 April 2012)
          Ozleft website, http://members.optusnet.com.au/spainter/BReilly.html (accessed on 17 April 2012)

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