Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary McDonald Cuddie was born in 1859 in Otago – the daughter of Thomas Cuddie, a farmer, and Mary Parkinson.
Her father died in 1871 and Mary married Thomas Dryden on 28 March 1872 at West Taieri.
They lived at Saddle Hill and Portobello before settling at Milburn where Mary signed the suffrage petition.
They had 12 children, their first child died in infancy.
Thomas was declared bankrupt in 1885 and their house at Milburn was sold.
In 1893 Thomas, who was a contractor at the Milburn Lime and Cement Company’s works, died due to a blasting accident when their youngest child was only eight weeks old. Some of their sons were also working at the quarry at the time.
Mary opened a general store in Milburn in 1899 which appeared to run for about four years.
Sh died at her son’s home in Wairoa, Hawkes Bay on 22 June 1935, she is buried with Thomas in the Fairfax Cemetery, Milton.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/