Mary Ann Moore-Bentley, also known as Mary Ling (6 January 1865 – 1 September 1953) was an Australian writer and parliamentary candidate.

Born in Braidwood

Braidwood, New South Wales

Braidwood is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Palerang Shire. It is located on the busy Kings Highway linking Canberra to Batemans Bay on the coast. It is about 200 kilometres south west of Sydney and about 60 kilometres inland from the coast...

 to English-born Methodists George Bentley and Mary Ann, née Moore, young Mary and her two younger brothers was primarily educated at home by her mother. She and her sister visited the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879, but when their money ran out they were forced to work as domestic servants. In 1880 the family settled at Marrickville

Marrickville, New South Wales

Marrickville, a suburb of Sydney's Inner West is located 7 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia and is the largest suburb in the Marrickville Council local government area...

 and Mary became a nursemaid to the children of Colonel Charles Roberts. She married postal clerk Henry Hill Ling on 3 September 1889 at the Salvation Army

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....

 barracks in Burwood

Burwood, New South Wales

Burwood is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Burwood is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of Burwood Council....

; they separated in 1897 and divorced in 1906.

Moore-Bentley's first novel was rejected in 1890; she published A Woman of Mars; or, Australia's Enfranchised Woman in 1901. A Georgist, she joined the Single Tax League

Single Tax League

The Single Tax League was an Australian political party that flourished throughout the 1920s and 30s.Based upon the ideas of Henry George, who argued that all taxes should be abolished, save for a single tax on unimproved land values, the Single Tax League was founded shortly after World War I, and...

 in 1901 and was appointed to its council, although she only attended two meetings. In 1903, under the name "Mary Ann Moore Bentley", she was one of four women to contest the 1903 federal election, the first at which women were eligible to stand, although she was not formally supported by the league. Contesting the Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 in New South Wales, she described herself as "the working woman's candidate" and support free trade

Free trade

Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...

, abolition of state parliaments and a state bank

State bank

A state bank is generally a financial institution that is chartered by a state. It differs from a reserve bank in that it does not necessarily control monetary policy , but instead usually offers only retail and commercial services.A state bank that has been in operation for five years or less is...

 in addition to Georgism. She received 18,924 votes (6.1%), outpolling the other New South Wales Senate candidate, Nellie Martel

Nellie Martel

Ellen Alma "Nellie" Martel, née Charleston was an English-Australian suffragist and elocutionist.-Life:...

, by 400 votes.

By 1906, Moore-Bentley's relations with her brothers, her nearest neighbours at Bangor

Bangor, New South Wales

Bangor is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bangor is located 28 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire in the area commonly called Menai...

 where she lived, grew tense. A Psychological Interpretation of the Gospel (January 1917) received a US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 publication in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 and Moore-Bentley sailed to America later that year; she was repatriated at government expense in 1918 and blamed her disappointing time in America on the "Secret Service" and the Australian government's misrepresentation of her anti-conscription

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 activities. She retired to Menai, writing poems and children's stories. In 1943 she was committed to the Mental Hospital at Stockton

Stockton, New South Wales

Stockton is a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located from Newcastle's central business district. It is the only suburb of Newcastle that lies north of the Hunter River.-Geography:...

 in Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

, where she died in 1953. Her memoir, Journey to Durran Durra 1852–1885, which was written around 1935, was published in 1983.