suffrage_petition
Surname: 
Cross
Given names: 
Mary
Given address: 
Bluff Harbour
Sheet No: 341
Town/Suburb: 
Bluff
City/Region: 
Southland
Notes: 

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

Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.

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