Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Livingston was born about 1842 in Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland – the daughter of James Livingston.
She emigrated to New Zealand about 1863 and married Gilbert Ralston, a miner, on 19 November 1867 at 'Springfield', Caversham, Dunedin.
They had 10 children, one who died in infancy, and when Mary signed the suffrage petition they were living in Blue Spur near Lawrence.
In the 1900s they moved to Dunedin where Gilbert died in 1911.
Mary died on 22 May 1925, she is buried with Gilbert 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
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.
Community contributions