Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Johnstone was born about 1835 in Stirlingshire, Scotland.
She married Andrew McLaren, a butcher, on 4 April 1856 in Kilsyth, Stirlingshire and they had three children, one who died in infancy.
The family emigrated to Otago in 1863 on the Nelson – by 1865 they were living in Milton.
They had a further six children and were still in Milton when Mary signed the suffrage petition.
Andrew died in 1894 when he lost his footing while crossing a mill race and he drowned.
Mary died at her home in Milton on 15 May 1915, they are buried in the Fairfax Cemetery, Milton.
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