Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary McConnell was born on 19 March 1857 in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland – the daughter of James McConnell, a bootmaker, and Martha McClemont.
Mary emigrated to Otago with her family in 1875 on the Nelson.
Aboard the same ship was Mary’s future husband Thomas Riddle, a ships carpenter, and a widower with two young children.
They married the following year and had a total of 12 children.
Thomas was declared bankrupt in 1878, owing a debt of £97 14s, he then worked as a house carpenter.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Forbury Rd, Caversham, Dunedin.
Thomas died in 1910, the same day as his mother Janet. (See 57 Jane Ridel)
Mary died on 26 August 1911, she is buried with Thomas in the family grave 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