Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Dalgarno Paterson was born about 1843 in Aberdeen, Scotland, the daughter of Walter Paterson and Agnes Bruce.
Mary married James Meston, a gardener, on 10 April 1868 in Aberdeen.
They had five children in Scotland, one who died in infancy, before the family emigrated to Otago in 1879 on the Oamaru.
A further four children were born in New Zealand.
The family lived, at first, in Halfway Bush near Dunedin before James became manager of the City Dairy Produce Company in 1888. He was declared bankrupt in 1890.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition she gave her address as York Place, but she was living at Mangatua on the Taieri Plains near Dunedin. Her daughter Elsie also signed the petition.
About 1895 the family moved to South Dunedin where they ran a store.
Mary and James celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in 1928. At that time, they were living in Northcote in Auckland with their daughter Elsie and her family.
Mary died on 14 December 1929 and James died in 1942. They are buried together in the Birkenhead/Glenfield Cemetery, Auckland.
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
Auckland Council https://www.aucklandcouncil.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