Biographical information provided for by Sarah Hewitt for the He Tohu exhibition:
Mary was born Mary Miller to William Miller (c1812-1879) and Maria Leitch (c1811-1847), in Paisley Scotland in 1835. They immigrated with their six children to Wellington from Glasgow in 1840 on the Blenheim. The family were one of the Scottish families brought out to New Zealand by Edward Gibbon Wakefield and the New Zealand Company. Her father ran the Commercial Hotel in Willis Street, Wellington for around 20 years (now the site of the Grand Hotel).
Mary married William Oliver of Napier in 1857 and moved there. They had at least eight children. William was a builder and director of the Napier Gas Company. He died in May 1882.
Mary died on 20 September 1927 at Napier aged 92.
Her daughter-in-law Mrs Mary Oliver, wife of her son William signed the petition above her. Another daughter-in-law, Fanny, wife her son James, also signed sheet 456 of the petition.