Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Mary Jane Yates was born in 1865 in Staffordshire, England, the daughter of Charles Yates, a bricklayer, and Jane Whitfield.
She emigrated to New Zealand with her family in 1874 on the Atrato. She married James Ford, a builder, on June 20th 1888 at the First Church Manse.
They had two children, and when Mary signed the suffrage petition they were living in Granville Tce, Belleknowes.
Mary died on November 6th 1945, and James died ten years later. They are buried in the family grave in the Southern Cemetery.
Sources
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