suffrage_petition
Surname: 
Passmore
Given names: 
Mary L.
Given address: 
Bradshaw S.D.
Sheet No: 36
Town/Suburb: 
South Dunedin
City/Region: 
Dunedin
Notes: 

Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley

Mary Lauchlan Passmore was born on 19 May 1867 in Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, Scotland – the daughter of James Passmore, a rope spinner, and Jane Linster.

Mary’s family emigrated to Otago in about 1873 where the family lived at Whare Flat, Burnside, then finally at South Dunedin. Mary did not marry.

Mary held painting classes at her home in Bradshaw St which were advertised in the paper in 1902. In 1903 her pupils held the first exhibition of their work in the Wesleyan Church Hall in Cargill Rd.

Mary moved her studio to  Stafford St in 1905, then later to the Exchange where it was known as “Miss Passmore’s School of Arts & Crafts”.

In 1908 Mary’s paintings in the Otago Art Society exhibition were favourably mentioned in a newspaper article and she offered weekly classes in Milton in 1911.

Mary went travelling in 1914 visiting Italy, France and England where she studied art for about nine months. Her studio suffered water damage when the Stock Exchange buildings caught fire in 1933 but were soon operating again.

Mary continued teaching until 1941 when her classes were suspended due to ill health.

Mary died on 7 April 1843, she was cremated and her ashes were scattered. Her name is inscribed on her parent’s headstone in the Southern Cemetery.

Sources

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.

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