Biography contributed by Tim Brosnahan
While living in Leithfield, Canterbury, Marie (and her older sister Honora) signed the petition of the Suffragettes Movement to get voting rights for women.
When she was 44 years old she married Barney McNamara who lived three miles down the road from her at Balcairn. He was a widower with three children though they never had children together. She had been a dressmaker in Leithfield but after they married they moved to Rakaia where he got a job as a stock agent for Pyne Gould Guinness. When he died in 1949, she moved to Worcester Street in Christchurch to be closer to her siblings. She died 28 January 1964 and is buried at Bromley cemetery in Christchurch.
Image
Maire Toohey
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