Biographical information provided by Gerry McGlinchy for the He Tohu exhibition:
Mary McAdam was born in 1836 in Glasgow. She was the daughter of James and Mary Couper. James was a glass manufacturer who was a member of the Chartist movement and a Glasgow Baillie.
On 04 Jan 1853 she married a man more than twice her age, William McAdam (1815-1881), also a pottery manufacturer, Chartist and Baillie . They had thirteen children, all born in Glasgow Mary Couper (1853-1855), William (1855-1900), Helen Baxter (1857-1859), Florence (1858-1929), Alice Hope (1860-1888), Gordon (1862-1939), Robert Couper (1864-1924), Douglas (1866-1934), Evelyn Maud (1867-1926), Kenneth (1870-1913), Constance Jane (1872-1951), Cora Hilda (1875-1904), Charles Campbell (1878-1957)
The family migrated to Port Chalmers on the Wanganui in November 1879.
William died eighteen months later and Mary remained in Dunedin caring for her children and grandchildren until her death on 16 March 1915.
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
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