According to Tania Rei's Māori women and the vote (1993), Mary Cross was one of a small number of Māori women who are known to have signed the 1893 petition.
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Ann Newtown/Merire Mina was born about 1840 on Stewart Island – the daughter of George Newton, a sealer, and Anne Whartutu.
She married Thomas Cross, a mariner and oyster fisherman, in 1862 and they had nine children.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Bluff.
Mary died at her home on 1 November 1912 and Thomas died in 1915, they are buried together in the Bluff Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Invercargill City Council https://icc.govt.nz