Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Dickson was born about 1854 in Australia – the daughter of James Dickson, a joiner, and Margaret Swinton.
She came to New Zealand with her family in the early 1860s and they settled in Milton in Otago.
Mary married William McHutcheson, a postmaster, on 22 October 1875 at her parents’ home and they had nine children - the eldest was stillborn and another child died aged three days.
They lived at 'Telegraph Villa' in Naseby until 1887 when William was posted to Riverton.
They moved again in 1891 to Balclutha then, in 1892, to Bluff where Mary signed the suffrage petition.
Mary died on 22 December 1918 at her home in Dunedin and William died in 1940, they are buried with their daughter in the Andersons Bay Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions