COLOURFULWORLD

Monday 5 April 2021

Monday Mural - Mary Raine

I love murals and street art. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  Once you start looking you will find murals everywhere.  The "Monday Mural" meme goes live on Monday at 12,01AM, Perth,Western Australian time. Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters. Looking forward to your mural finds this week.  Thanks, Sami.

When I was in the city last Saturday 27th March to visit the Perth Home Expo, I then walked to the city centre a couple of blocks away and went into Raine Square - Perth's premier retail, dining and entertainment precinct in the corner of William and Murray Streets, just across Perth's Underground station.

As I was photographing some murals inside the centre, one of the staff members told me about a new mural just outside in Queens Lane - which can be reached via the relaxing courtyard.

The 13 x 13mt mural of Mary Raine which was unveiled on International Woman's Day - 8th March, began being painted on the 17th February (her birthday), by talented Perth artist Jerome Davenport (Ketones 6000).

Mary was a businesswoman, philanthropist and founder of the Raine Medical Research Foundation. The rags to riches story starts with her birth as Mary Carter in England in 1877. She moved to Australia, bought property with her savings from her barmaid job and became a wealthy woman with the property boom in the 1920's. 

She married Joe Raine when she was 66 years old and even though he was 13 years her junior he died with a stroke in 1957.  She left her property portfolio to the University of Western Australia to set up a trust for a medical research foundation, and since 1957 the trust has supported over 500 scientists to carry out important research into diseases for the benefit of the whole community. She died in 1960 having donated her estate worth about £1,000,000, to UWA, making it one of the largest private donations ever made to an Australian university.

On the top right corner are the words Bohemia Hotel and on the right is the Wentworth Hotel, which she had bought in 1927, to expand and refurbish, and which became her home, business headquarters and the flagship of her business empire.

The city block including the Wentworth Hotel, the Royal Hotel and Bohemia Hotel - all now owned by UWA, as part of Mary Raine's bequest, was redeveloped as what we now call Raine Square.





The Royal Hotel/Pub on corner of William and Murray streets - Raine square shopping precinct next to it (with golden tiles). The Wentworth hotel is at the end of this street

51 comments:

  1. ...a wonderful tribute to inspirational women. Thanks Sami for hosting.

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    1. Mary Raine was a woman ahead of her time. Thanks Tom

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  2. She sounds like quite a lady.

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  3. Australian history is so full of inspiring entrepreneurs who rose from nothing!

    be safe... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Mae, quite an inspirational woman for sure.

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  4. Dearest Sami,
    That lady came to Australia at the right time but she especially used her brains!
    What an inheritance for the University she left...!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Thanks Mariette, she was certainly a very intelligent woman with a good heart.

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  5. She is very worthy of such recognition.

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    1. Thanks Andrew, certainly is. And I had no idea about her until I read the story behind the mural.

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  6. Good to read about this lady.

    All the best Jan

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  7. That's so nice -- history in a mural.
    Great tribute, too.

    Thank you for hosting, Sami. :)

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    1. Thanks Dee, a great tribute mural for sure.

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  8. Great mural, Great to read.
    Thanks a lot for hosting.

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  9. Raine Square is Perth's premier retail, dining and entertainment precinct?!
    Also in 2019?

    Do you know Udo Jürgens? He wrote and sang the song "Mit 66 Jahren (da fängt das Leben an)" - "at age 66 (life starts)". Oh, boy, but a sad story...
    A barmaid.... wow.

    Great mural and such a nice sight. I´m still sad Moon and Sixpence is gone, though...

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    1. Not sure Iris, I know Raine Square now has some fancy cinemas, plenty of eateries, upmarket label shops...
      Yes I remember Udo Jurgens and his music. Amazing that starting as a barmaid she managed to achieve so much in life. Some places close other open, not sure why. Just last week we were talking about a lovely Greek restaurant in East Fremantle with a great view of the river and was looking for the address and it was also permanently closed. Not sure why, it was always full, very popular, Greek dance, plate throwing, lol.

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  10. What a beautiful one Sami! Thanks for hosting the mural blog.

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  11. What a lovely tribute to this special woman.

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  12. Mary sounds like a woman we would all love to have met. She is proof that individuals can make a difference.

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    1. Totally true David, she achieved so much from such humble beginnings. Thanks David.

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  13. A great mural, and thank you very much for all the details about it and for honouring the memory of this exceptional person represented in it. have a nice week

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    1. Thanks Arnaud, she certainly was amazing. Have a lovely week too.

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  14. It's a beautiful mural and great tribute.

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  15. It boogles my mind how long it takes for these women to be recognized!!
    I double-booked today's murals!! But I have so many to post.

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    1. Quite true Jackie, I had never even heard of her until this mural. I've seen your murals, it's great you have so many :)

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  16. That's very impressive. I find portraits hard on a good day. To do one at that scale is really overwhelming and powerful. And very difficult.

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    1. Yes, not easy at all Jeanie. What a pity that the mural was in a narrow lane and difficult to photograph with my camera.

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  17. She must have been quite a woman. It good to see here being recognized!

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  18. I love your history, not entirely different from our Hawaii. Cheers

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  19. Great mural.
    Have a nice week.

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  20. Excellent mural! Thank you for sharing her story.

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  21. That's a great one and such an interesting story. I love the history behind the murals. Sometimes it takes ages to find the right site to get the information. I didn't know Raine Square was named after her.

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    1. Thanks, I had no idea either, it was just a name until I saw the mural and researched her story.

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  22. Bravo to Mary Raine - that was a life well lived and great murals of her. I love how they started painting her on her birthday.
    Wren x

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    1. Thanks Wren. A well planned event for sure :)

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  23. Wow! This looks huge! It must have been challenging to photograph!

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    1. Thanks Ju-Lyn, not easy as the lane was a bit narrow. I could have probably climbed the stairs to see if it would look better from above, but just realized that when I saw the photos later.

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