Mary Raine
(1877-1960) businesswoman and philanthropist
Mary Bertha Raine (née Carter, also known as Mary Thomas during her first marriage, 17 February 1877 – 3 February 1960) was an Australian businesswoman and philanthropist. Her bequests to the University of Western Australia created and funded the Raine Medical Research Foundation.
Early life
Raine was born Mary Carter in London on 17 February 1877 to Charles and Mary Carter. She was the oldest of thirteen children.
After finishing school at 14, she became a probationary teacher in London.
She took singing lessons, and at age 17 found work as a singer, including at Drury Lane and the Adelphi Theatre, which lasted until she lost her ability to sing after contracting typhoid fever. During this time she continued to work in one of her father's shops.
After she lost her singing voice, Carter worked at The Scotch House, a boys' and men's outfitter, doing clerical work and filling in for sales staff.
Travel to Australia
By 1900, Britain was at war with the Boer republics, resulting in financial difficulty for London businesses, including The Scotch House and Charles Carter's. Prompted by a desire to improve her lot in life, and a comment from her father about his having to maintain his daughters "for the rest of my life", Mary booked a passage to Australia.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Mary Raine” as (1877-1960) businesswoman and philanthropist. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as (1877-1960) businesswoman and philanthropist. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q21536584. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1877, 1960 and 1900.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Mary Raine”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Mary Raine primary sources, Mary Raine archive and Mary research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mary Raine”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Mary Raine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.