Obituaries Australia

Mrs. Marian [Marion] Piddington, who died in a Sydney private hospital last week, aged 81, was a pioneer in the work of marriage guidance. For 30 years she carried on, almost unaided, the Institute of Family Relations from an office in Phillip Street, Sydney. In a period when people were suspicious of any frank advocacy of sex education, Mrs. Piddington was educating parents and intending parents in the art of wise parentcraft. She gave personal interviews, lectured to classes, and sought support for her cause from politicians and leaders in the community. Mrs. Piddington's only son, Dr. Ralph Piddington, is a reader in social anthropology at Edinburgh University.