Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Ann Boulton was born in 1849 in Hanley, Staffordshire, England – the daughter of David Boulton, a pot turner, and Olive Williamson.
She married Richard Fowler, a blacksmith on 13 November 1869 at Stoke on Trent – they had a daughter in 1872 who died in infancy.
In 1874 Mary and Richard emigrated to Otago on the Carnatic – they settled in Invercargill and had a further eight children.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition they were living in Bluff and she was working as a cook.
Richard died at their home in 1897 – Mary continued to work as cook for several years. About four years before her death she went for a trip to England.
She died at Bluff on 22 August 1923 and is buried with Richard in the Bluff Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Invercargill City Council https://icc.govt.nz
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