Former journalist, teacher and colourful cafe owner Mary Seddon, relates her early life in Wellington and growing up in the shadow of her grandfather, New Zealand Premier Richard Seddon.
Richard J. Seddon was Liberal Premier of New Zealand when women gained the vote in September 1893. In 1906 her grandfather died, and her father was then corralled by his colleagues into politics. Whilst growing up she remembers the hushed voices of her aunts that wallowed in "Seddon worship". In the 1930s at the age of three or four she was sent away to her Aunt Mary.
After school Mary took Ancient Greek and Anglo Saxon at university. As a girl of 19 years of age she was very aware of the lack of men anywhere (unless wounded) and a real shortage of clothing. During the war university students were "man-powered" during the Christmas holidays so her father arranged for Mary to see a doctor who recommended she be placed in an outdoors role due to health.
Mary found herself living and working on a government vegetable farm near Shannon, with 17 other girls in a camp originally built for 40 men to guard the local power plant. She explains the girls were “rolling in it” earning two guineas per week with few living expenses, so in their first week they spent their money on make-up and facials. In the second week they started to talk about men.
Mary relays a story about how one night they all ventured out to a party hosted by respectable engineers’ wives in the local township that serviced the power station, only to find no men present. The oldest girl on camp, Marina (who was 21), called the Commandant of Linton [Military Camp] under the pretence she was a matron of a camp of Land Girls and invited his boys to these regular Saturday socials.
When referring to the American Marines, Mary describes them as "horrid and condescending". She explains how her mother successfully “collared” an American General for art equipment and tried for petrol (so she could go golfing), though was offered an aide who took her instead. Once at the club they bumped into Bryan Silk, who happened to be the golf champion of New Zealand at the time, and out-played the fancy well dressed American golfer fom New York.
Mary worked in parliament as a file clerk for Major Jerry Skinner, Minister of Rehabilitation and says she got kissed by Bob Semple on VJ night. During the war her father was Chairman of the War Pension’s Board and a part of the Home Guard based at Wadestown. The Majestic Cabaret on Willis Street was the “in place” to go, recalls one evening she was there when an earthquake occurred and describes the reaction of the American soldiers. Mary describes tensions between the American MPs and New Zeland troops in a fight on Manners Street.
Once her university degree was complete, Mary started a filing role at the foreign office and describes the women who’d taken up positions there as “crackerjacks”. Once men began returning home however Mary explains every woman was sacked and the old order restored (even though they were less qualified) which she believed to be very unfair.
Mary began her journalism career doing film reviews for The Truth (who described her as their cultural expert), talks about the kind of paper it was and comments that she liked to think she was “read in every privy from Kaitaia to the Bluff”. In 1958, Cvitanovich says, Mary took on the Monde Marie, a café and folk music venue in central Wellington.