Address and town/suburb previously listed as Oamaru. New details confirmed by electoral roll.
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Wixon was born about 1843.
She married John Duffie/Duffy, a waggoner, in 1863 in New Zealand.
They had 14 children, six who died in infancy or early childhood, before John died in 1888 at their home in Hampden in North Otago.
He is buried in the Hampden Cemetery with three of their children.
The family was left 'unprovided for' so a concert and dance was held at the Hampden Mechanics’ Institute to raise money.
Mary remained in Hampden where she signed the suffrage petition.
She lost two sons during the First World War, both dying in 1918.
Mary went to live with her daughter in Dunedin in later years where she died on 7 January 1926, she is buried 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
Waitaki District Council https://www.waitaki.govt.nz/Services/Cemeteries
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