Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Thomson was born in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland about 1844, the daughter of William Thomson, an ironmonger, and Mary Kerr.
Mary married William Downie Stewart, a solicitor and widower with four children. The wedding took place in Victoria, Australia on 24 February 1881. Shortly after they travelled to William’s home in Dunedin. They had one daughter.
William died in 1898. Mary apparently didn’t get on very well with her step children; shortly after William’s death she moved to England with her daughter Ethel.
Mary died in England.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
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
Trove https://trove.nla.gov.au