Mary Evans was born in 1920 in Melbourne, Australia. Her father had come home from World War 1 suffering from shell shock and the loss of his leg. When she was only seven, her father finally died. She, her mother and younger brother, David who had an intellectual disability, were cast out onto the streets.
By sheer chance Mary spots a pickpocket at the Queen Victoria Market and gives chase. The pickpocket is arrested. The owner of the stolen wallet is so grateful that he offers Mary's mother a job as a live-in maid. The Evans family take up residence in the Hansens' house in Hawthorn, a well to-do suburb of Melbourne. Mary finds it palatial in comparison to sleeping in the back alleys of North Melbourne. The Hansens insist that she begin school at a nearby private girls' school. Mary excels at school and her world becomes much more expansive. New people enter that world. The Great Depression hits just as Mary wins a scholarship. The Hansens are very community minded and determined to help those struggling. This along with the exposure to many places, ideas and people help Mary to weld together a framework of philosophy and ethics beyond her years.
