Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Ann Douglas was born about 1847.
She married Joseph Rodgers/Rogers, a miner from Malta, in 1867 and they had 10 children, two who died in early childhood.
In 1875 their 2 ½ year old son Matthew drowned in nearby Moke Creek, 'it was a common custom for the child to cross over it on a plank to meet his father when coming from the claim to meals' At the time 'the stream was greatly swollen' and Matthew apparently fell into the creek.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition the family had moved to Queenstown where Joseph died in 1900, he is buried in the Queenstown Cemetery.
Mary re-married in 1902 to James Peterson - what happened to James is unclear.
Mary died on 28 September 1937 in Christchurch, at the age of 90, she is buried in the Sydenham Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Queenstown Lakes District Council http://cemeteries.qldc.govt.nz/
Christchurch City Council http://heritage.christchurchcitylibraries.com