Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Mary Donaldson was born about 1857 in South Australia – the daughter of Thomas Alexander Donaldson and Agnes Craig. (See 130 Agnes Donaldson)
She came to New Zealand with her family in 1862 on the Alycone and they settled in Palmerston in North Otago.
Mary married Andrew Paterson, a carpenter, on 13 November 1878 in the Palmerston parish.
They had seven children, one who died in infancy. In the 1880’s the family moved to Dunedin and when Mary signed the suffrage petition they were living in Eden Street, near Harbour Terrace. Andrew died in 1918 and Mary died at her home on 16 June 1950 – she is buried with Andrew 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
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
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