Originally transcribed as Mary Cranford
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Crawford was born in Tapanui, South Otago in 1869 – the daughter of James Crawford, a farmer, and Marion Peebles.
When she signed the suffrage petition she was living in Tapanui.
She married Frank Lischner, a butcher, on 19 June 1895 at the Tapanui Presbyterian Church during a snowfall.
'In spite of the cold, the church was well filled by both old and young. On reaching the church door after the wedding the whole party were greeted by a shower of snowballs from a group of ill-mannered men standing around.'
They had five children and lived in Tapanui, Mary died there on 24 December 1939 and Frank died in 1945.
They are buried together in the Tapanui Cemetery.
Sources
Clutha District Council https://www.cluthadc.govt.nz
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Archives http://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives