Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Shand was born on 30 November 1840 in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, Scotland – the daughter of George Shand, a farmer, and Margaret Gibb.
She emigrated to Otago with her family in 1852 on the Maori and they settled at East Taieri.
Mary married Thomas McLatchie, a farmer, on 3 July 1874 in the East Taieri Parish.
They had four children and lived, at first, near Milton before moving to the Owaka district in 1884 where Mary signed the suffrage petition.
Thomas died in 1894 and Mary died in September 1911, they are buried in the Owaka Cemetery.
Her obituary said she was 'a woman of sterling character'.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
NZ Yesteryears http://www.yesteryears.co.nz
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
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