1. In 1859, in the 70-year-old Colony of New South Wales, her court case, although largely ignored by historians, was nevertheless an achievement: women did not have the vote; and Mary Hyde lived in a male-dominated society governed by British law where women had little power.
Mary Hyde stipulated in her will that any bequests made to her daughters and granddaughters were to be given to them in their own right and that their husbands should not have any say.
Mary Hyde attempted to give her daughters and granddaughters control over their own inheritances.
Mary Hyde was born in Halesowen, Worcestershire, England in 1779, the eldest child of Edward Mary Hyde and Sarah Blunn.
Mary Hyde had a younger brother John who was born two years later.
Mary Hyde came under John's "protection" and fell pregnant almost immediately, and they went on to have two children.
Mary Hyde was often "keeping the home fires burning" as John was away for months at a time either whaling or otherwise working his trade as a ship's captain.
Three days after the birth Black again sailed, and Mary Hyde was left to care for her newborn alone until he next returned.
Back in January 1801, when John Black had returned to Sydney from one of his long voyages, Mary Hyde became pregnant with their second child.
Mary Hyde was left at home as the sole parent of two children under the age of three, and one only 3 months old.
Mary Hyde was not left completely destitute when Black sailed in January 1802.
Mary Hyde had the house and shop on the land leased in Black's name, and what remained of the money and supplies that Black had left behind before he had sailed.
About 1805 Mary Hyde began a new relationship with a business associate of her late partner.
Mary Hyde was the former convict, and one of early Sydney's great characters, businessman Simeon Lord, who in addition to becoming a magistrate happened to be one of the most litigious men in the colony.
In 1807 Mary Hyde sent her daughter, Mary Hyde Ann, to England with Simeon Lord's adopted daughter Joanna and her husband Francis Williams, to be placed into the care of the child's grandfather, Reverend John Black.
Mary Hyde married her partner Simeon Lord on 27 October 1814 at St Philip's Church, Sydney.
When her husband Simeon Lord died in 1840, Mary Hyde had a mourning brooch made containing her husband's woven hair in a gold setting with a border of half-pearls.
Mary Hyde became one of the wealthiest women in the colony.
Mary Hyde then lived about another 24 years as a widow, and continued to reside in the family home until her death.
Mary Hyde employed many local people in the milling and dressing of cloth, and in the making of hats, stockings, leather, shoes, candles and harnesses, until the business had to be closed due to the flooding of part of her Botany property and the loss of the stream which drove the mill.
The Supreme Court directed a new trial unless Mary Hyde agreed to reduce the amount of the damages that she had been awarded, to which she consented.
Historical research would need to be done to establish if Mary Hyde has an even more important place in Australian history.
Mary Hyde died on 1 December 1864 at the age of 85 in the family home of "Banks House" at Botany.
Mary Hyde was the matriarch of a large, notable, Australian family, and had already settled large amounts of her estate on her children before she died.
Mary Hyde stipulated that any bequests made to her daughters and granddaughters were to be given to them in their own right and that their husbands should not have any say.
Mary Hyde attempted to give her daughters and granddaughters control over their own inheritances.
Mary Hyde was colonial treasurer in the third Martin ministry from December 1870 to May 1872.