Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Margaret Smith was born on 11 August 1865 in Dunrossness, Shetland, Scotland – the daughter of Paul Smith, a mariner with the RN, and Barbara Gilbertson. (See 341 Barbara Smith) She emigrated to New Zealand in 1872 on the Euterpe with her family – they stayed on Stewart Island for a short time before settling in Bluff.
Mary married John Thomas McQuarrie , a labourer, in 1883.
They had eight children and lived, at first, in Winton before returning to Bluff where John died in 1925.
Mary died on 1 June 1955, they are buried in the family grave in the Bluff Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Invercargill City Council https://icc.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