Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Ann Menogue was born about 1839 in County Clare, Ireland.
She married John MacDonald/McDonald, a mariner, on 12 May 1858 in Hobart, Tasmania.
They had two children before they moved to New Zealand and settled in Bluff where Mary signed the suffrage petition.
A further eigth children were born in Bluff – from the mid 1870s the family lived on top of Motupōhue, also known as Bluff Hill.
John worked as a signalman for the port and, as there was no road up the hill, all supplies had to be carried on their backs.
Mary Ann’s photo can be seen here https://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/collections/3234/objects/936187/photograph-mary-ann-macdonald
About 1905 John retired, due to ill health, and the family moved down the hill to Bluff.
John died in 1907 and Mary died at her daughter’s home, at Thornbury near Riverton, on 27 September 1920, they are buried together in the Bluff Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Invercargill City Council https://icc.govt.nz
Libraries Tasmania https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au
Bluff Maritime Museum https://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/collections/3234/bluff-maritime-museum
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