Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Maria Smith Bain was born about 1846 in Westray in the Orkney Islands – the daughter of John Bain, a shoemaker, and Elizabeth Burgar.
She married cabinet maker, Alexander Jack on 25 November 1870 in Edinburgh and they had two children.
The family emigrated to Otago in 1874 on the Mairi Bhan and they settled in Dunedin.
They had a further five children and when Maria signed the suffrage petition, they were living at Sawyers Bay, near Dunedin.
They retired to Whanganui where Alexander died in 1926, and Maria died on 19 October 1961 – they are buried together in the Aramoho Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/