Mary MCLEAN

MCLEAN, MARY (b. Bolong, Shoalhaven NSW, 1857; d. Sydney, NSW, 9 Jan 1943). Missionary school-teacher.

Daughter of Scottish farmers at Berry, NSW Mary McLean was a trained teacher who resigned to care for her mother. In 1891 she responded to an appeal for additional missionaries at the Church of Scotland's Madras Zenana Mission. The NSW Presbyterian Women's Missionary Association was formed primarily for her support.

She was a highly successful missionary teacher, becoming superintendent of the Madras and then Sholinghur Mission. The latter expanded with a hospital as well as schools. The aim of conversion always dominated—during famines McLean deplored the difficulty of teaching and converting starving people. She was invalided home but allowed to return in 1919, she reluctantly retired in 1923. In retirement she supported the church's missions and retained her passion for India. In 1952 the Mary McLean School opened at Sholinghur.

NSW Presbyterian, 3 Feb 1943, 13; F Timms, Mary McLean (Robert Dey, 1943)

JUDITH GODDEN