Marie Louise Hamilton (Mack) Leyland (1870 - 1935)

Born 10 Oct 1870 in Hobart, Tasmania (Australia)

Ancestors

Wife of John Percy Creed — married 8 Jan 1896 (to 1915) in Mosman, New South Wales (Australia)

Wife of Allen Illingworth Leyland — married 1 Sep 1924 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Died 23 Nov 1935 at age 65 in Mosman, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Louise (Mack) Leyland is Notable.

Louise Mack was an Australian poet, journalist, war correspondent, newspaper editor, novelist, autobiographer/memoirist and public lecturer. Based in Belgium during the collapse of Artwerp, Louise became the first female war correspondent of the Second World War. Back in London after escaping occupied Belgium, Louise was acclaimed a war heroine.

Louise (Mack) Leyland was born in the Colony of Tasmania (1856-1900)

Louise (Mack) Leyland has Irish ancestors.

Marie Louise Hamilton Mack was born on 10th October 1870 in Hobart, Tasmania (Australia). Louise, as she was known, was the eldest daughter and seventh of thirteen children of Irish-emigrants, Reverend Hans Hamilton Mack, a Wesleyan minister, and Jemima James. ^[1] Her father's ministry resulted in the family moving to South Australia (Port Adelaide) in 1872 and to New South Wales (Morpeth, briefly to Windsor, and then to Mosman, on Sydney Harbour's northern shore). Louise, as were her four younger sisters, was educated by their mother and a governess before being sent to the Sydney Girls' High School. ^[2]

On 8th January 1896 in Mosman, aged 25 years, Louise married Irish-born barrister, Jack Creed. Jack was a university friend of Louise's brother, Sid. ^[3]

The World is Round, Louise's first novel, was published in 1896. From 1898 until 1901, she wrote "A Woman's Letter" for The Bulletin. Her only collection of poetry, Dreams in Flower, followed in 1901. By this time, any romance in her home had vanished with Jack's heavy drinking. However, whilst they had no children, divorce was scandalous in the day. ^[2]

Europe

Following the advice of Sid, Louise travelled to England and Europe, remaining for fifteen years, including six years based in Florence, Italy. Thirteen further novels were written during this time as well as writing for Review of Reviews and Lord Northcliffe's Daily Mail. ^[2]

In 1904, she fell in love with Tuscany and, soon afterward, with Italy's most famous writer and poet, Gabriele D'Annunzio. After falling pregnant, Louise realised he was simply a philanderer. She kept quiet about the baby girl and adopted her out to childless friends. She returned to London, sadder but wiser. ^[2]

The Great War

When war was declared by Britain against Germany for violating a peace treaty by invading Belgium, Louise was sent to Belgium by Lord Northcliffe in August 1914 as one of a team of war correspondents to report on German atrocities. The Kaiser immediately declared that any correspondents caught would be treated as spies. The team were ordered back to England, where Louise immediately gave up her apartment's lease, packed two trunks, her favourite books, the manuscript of her latest novel, a typewriter, and the signed letter of appointment by Lord Northcliffe and returned to Belgium. Louise was the first female war correspondent of the war, reporting for the Evening News and the London Daily Mail. ^[2]

Louise based herself in Antwerp, which was still free, and visited several towns that the Germans had already destoyed. Unable to get her stories out to England, however, gave her the idea to stay and write up her experiences as a book; the proceeds of which could raise money to help refugees. German soldiers entered Antwerp on 10th October, Louise's 44th birthday. She passed herself off as a Belgian maid and cut sandwiches for German soldiers in one of the restaurants in Antwerp; although her silence so as not to draw suspicion (she had a strong Aussie accent) drew attention. With the help of several patriots, Louise was smuggled into neutral Netherlands and then to London. Her eye-witness account of the German invasion of Antwerp and her adventures, A Woman's Experiences in the Great War, was published in 1915. A runaway best-seller, and its truthfulness confirmed from several sources, it was used as a reference for a Royal Commission into German atrocities. Donating the major share of her royalties, much money was raised for the Red Cross aid to refugees. ^[2]

return home

Returning to Australia in 1916 aboard the troopship/hospital ship Malawa, Louise was given a warm welcome and gave a series of talks about her war experiences ^[4][5] and frequently wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald, the Bulletin and other newspapers and magazines. Through her lectures she raised money for the Australian Red Cross Society.

She headed to New Zealand to raise funds there. Working for the Red Cross was a New Zealand ANZAC Captain who had been invalided out of the army following damage to his lungs from gas attacks, Allen Illingworth Leyland. She was in her mid-forties and he was in his mid-twenties. Allen had similar tastes in books, music and art to hers, and they soon began a relationship. But she believed she was still legally married to Jack. They moved in together and later moved to Melbourne. Louise kept the relationship quiet from her family. ^[2]

Still the adventurer, whilst mountain climbing in the Tararua Range, Otaki, New Zealand in 1920, Louise and two friends went missing for three days. ^[6]

In 1924 Louise heard that Jack had died and procured a copy of his death certificate, to discover he had died ten years previously. Louisa and Allen were duly married on 1st September 1924 in Melbourne. ^[7] After her mother passed away in 1930, Louise took Allen to Sydney and introduced him to her sisters. They then moved to Mosman from where she wrote a series of humorous but helpful articles for the Australian Women's Weekly, titled "Louise Mack Advises" and her final two novels were published. ^[2]

Finally finding true love, it was cruelly torn from Louise's heart when Allen died in 1932. That war was still hurting people. Her heart broken, Louise Mack passed away, medically as a result of a stroke on 23rd November 1935 at Mosman, New South Wales. She was just 65 years of age. ^[8] As Louise was virtually penniless, her equally well-known author sisters, Amy Harrison and Gertrude Mack, graciously paid for her cremation at the Northern Suburbs Crematorium. ^[9]

novels

Louise Mack

• The World is Round (1896)
• Teens: A Story of Australian School Girls (1897)
• Girls Together (1898)
• An Australian Girl in London (1902)
• Children of the Sun (1904)
• The Red Rose of a Summer (1909)
• Theodora's Husband (1909)
• In a White Palace (1910)
• The Romance of a Woman of Thirty (1911)
• Wife to Peter (1911)
• Attraction (1913)
• The Marriage of Edward (1913)
• The House of Daffodils (1914)
• The Music Makers: the love story of a woman composer (1914)
• Teens Triumphant (1933)
• Maiden's Prayer (1934) ^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Tasmania Birth Index #973435/1870; forename listed as Mary
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7} Phelan, Nancy. 'Mack, Marie Louise (1870–1935)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1986; accessed online 14 Jul 2019
3. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #1391/1896
4. ↑ Sunday Times (Perth, WA: 1902-1954) Sun 5 Sep 1915 Page 13 LOUISE MACK; accessed 14 Jul 2019
5. ↑ Queanbeyan Age and Queanbeyan Observer (NSW: 1915-1927) Fri 4 Jan 1918 Page 2 Louise Mack; accessed 14 Jul 2019
6. ↑ Evening News (Sydney, NSW: 1869-1931) Sat 10 Jan 1920 Page 8 AFTER THREE DAYS; accessed 14 Jul 2019
7. ↑ Victoria Marriage Index #10746/1924
8. ↑ New South Wales Death Index #23001/1935
9. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954) Tue 26 Nov 1935 Page 12 Death of Louise Mack; accessed 14 Jul 2019
10. ↑ Wikipedia profile: Louise Mack; accessed 14 Jul 2019