Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Ann Griffin was born in 1868 in New Zealand – the daughter of William Edwin Griffin and Hannah Bates.
She grew up at Macraes, north of Dunedin where she was living when she signed the suffrage petition.
Mary married Frederick Charles Elsom, a blacksmith, on 17 May 1893 at her family home.
They had six children and lived at Macraes Flat.
Frederick died in Dunedin Hospital in 1905 and Mary died on 1 March 1959 – they are buried together in the Macraes Flat 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
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/