Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Anne Smith was born on 7 February 1856 in Ednam, Roxburgshire, Scotland – the daughter of John Gibson Smith, a school teacher, and Mary Waddell. (See 362 M Smith)
She emigrated to Bluff with her family in 1864 on the Sevilla.
Mary was a school teacher – she was teaching at Riverton in 1879 before she left for the Invercargill Middle School in 1880.
The pupils presented her with 'a handsome work-box and album as a slight mark of affection and esteem for her as their teacher.'
When Mary signed the suffrage petition she was living with her widowed mother and sisters in Tay St, Invercargill. Mary was the headmistress of the Middle school for 15 years.
On 25 May 1895 Mary drowned in the Waihopai Stream, she appeared to have slipped down the bank and 'been rendered unconscious.'
Mary is buried in the family grave in the Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill.
The school committee said Mary was 'a capable and efficient teacher, who had endeared herself to the pupils of the school and won the respect and esteem of successive committees.'
Sources
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Invercargill City Council https://icc.govt.nz