Mary Bertha Raine

Mary Bertha Raine ( 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.

In 1900, at the age of 23, Carter sailed with her sister Daisy to Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia, on Jumna, arriving on 20 November.

On 5 May 1905, she married William Morris Thomas, becoming Mary Thomas. on William Street . The cafe did well, and Thomas soon bought a second one nearby , the Popular Cafe, and employed someone to manage it. with a capital value of £100,000, to manage her real estate portfolio. During the occupation by the US, there were regular fights between Australian and US servicemen, to the extent that in 1943 the Australian Army banned its soldiers from the Wentworth. The ban was lifted a week later, after Thomas wrote to Prime Minister John Curtin and Western Australian Senator Dorothy Tangney.

Marriage to Joe Raine On 3 December 1943, Mary Thomas married Arnold Yeldham (known as Joe Joe moved into the Wentworth with Mary, and also became her business partner. Mary inherited Joe's estate, worth £153,906, and donated it to the University of Western Australia (It is possible that she also donated some of her own money.) According to the Australian Women's Register the initial donation was £500,000.

The Raine Medical Research Foundation carries their name, but Raine instructed that none of the money she left was to be used for a building or monument in her or Joe's name.

In 2008, a bronze bust of Raine, created by Robert Hitchcock, was unveiled in the university's Winthrop Hall.