BARRELL, Mary

Mary was born in 1819 with the maiden name Rae.  She arrived in Melbourne around 1848.  She married a man called William Barrell, who as it seems, abandoned her after their child died; there are records of Barrell pursuing her husband through the courts for child support and later abandonment.

The loss of her child in 1862 and the abandonment by her husband shortly after meant that Barrell was now a woman alone on the Victorian goldfields during the height of the gold rush. She was a pedlar of cures on Macarthur Street and practiced folk magic, fortune telling and traditional healing methods in the Ballarat Cemetery for the poor women of Ballarat. In doing so she attracted the ire of James Oddie, for receiving funds from the benevolent asylum while earning an income from charms and fortune telling and from several local men, one of whom attempted to murder her. She represented the survival of traditional British folk customs surrounding the practice of ‘cunning women’ and is buried along side her son in Ballarat’s old cemetery.

A story on her life was published in the courier here., https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/5628924/mary-barrell-the-popular-maligned-soothsayer-of-ballarat/?cs=62&fbclid=IwAR1WfTdW2ZA9mGjULRaTx7JAV3PwfAtpBBOj4SHNox2vxzCqOPrh_xYzcx8

also I was interviewed on her story here https://wildhunt.org/2018/10/folklorist-shares-the-untold-story-of-australian-fortune-teller-mary-barrell.html

and we did an episode on her life with Tales from Rat City here. https://talesfromratcity.com/2018/11/09/episode-nine/

Mary is buried at the Ballarat Old Cemetery with her 3 year old son William Barrell.  Location F2 Section 27 Row 2