A Woman in a Thousand

August 1913. In a quiet London chapel, Marie Blennerhassett - widowed Baroness d’Erlanger, daughter of an Anglo-Irish father and a German mother - married the highly decorated Sir Henry Galway. Days later came his appointment as the incoming Governor of South Australia and they sailed to the other side of the world. Within months, Australia was at war.As vice-regal consort, Marie now found herself navigating one of the most turbulent times in South Australia’s history - as the public face of a marriage, a faith, and an empire. Marie Galway’s credentials as a daughter of the Empire were impeccable - yet beneath lay complexities she could not escape: her German heritage, her Catholic faith, and a detectable accent.Shaped by her belief in 'getting things done', Marie threw herself into wartime service. From Government House, and with 'no official status whatsoever', she founded South Australia’s Red Cross, supported hospitals for returning soldiers, and raised funds for occupied Belgium.Even as she worked tirelessly to ease the burdens of war for others, her own family was not spared - yet it fell to her to do what Sir Henry could not: earn the trust and affection of the South Australian public.Drawing on Marie’s memoirs and extensive archival research, Susan Neuhaus reveals a woman whose quiet navigation of divided loyalties offers a fresh perspective on identity, belonging, and loyalty in a world divided by war.The famed artist Hans Heysen - placed under house arrest for his own German heritage - described her simply as 'a woman in a thousand.' 6