Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Bryson Cadzow was born in 1866 in New Zealand – the daughter of Robert Cadzow, a farmer, and Janet Bryson.
She married William James Morgan on 25 February 1888 at Knox Church, Dunedin and they had a son the following year.
In 1890 William placed an advertisement in the paper stating 'I will not be responsible for any debts contracted by my wife...or any of her associates'. He withdrew the notice a few weeks later and was 'prepared to meet any claims which may be brought against her.'
William may be the first officer of the USS Company’s Mahinapua who died in Lyttleton in 1891 as, on 1 July 1892, Mary re-married to William John Roberts, a carpenter.
They had two children and when Mary signed the suffrage petition the family were living in High St, Dunedin.
William died in 1942 and Mary died on 4 January 1955, she was cremated and her ashes buried with William in the Andersons Bay Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/