May Brown

In 1906 May married James Burns, a Pine Creek miner, and together they worked the Wolfram and Waves mines. Six years later her husband died and the mine ceased production until his estate was settled and the Wolfram mine was transferred to her. May continued to operate the mines with her new husband Charles Brown until the outbreak of World War One. Stocks dropped, mining stock plummeted and mining almost ceased. May turned her hand to the hotel trade and was the first to win a lease in 1921 for the Victoria Hotel. May also bought the Pine Creek hotel and operated a caf?/boarding house in Darwin. May had an interest in politics and it is repute that she had used her wealth and connections to influence political and bureaucratic decision making on more than occasion. By 1934 May's lifestyle and circumstances changed she was forced to forfeit both her Wolfram Hill and Crest of the Wave mines for "non payment of rent". May still remained an activate member of the Darwin community but due to ill health she travelled to Sydney for medical treatment, there she died on 23 July 1939. Source: Northern Territory dictionary of biography. Darwin : Charles Darwin University Press, 2008.MinerBusiness WomanPublica