Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Coats was born on 6 October 1838 in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, Scotland – the daughter of James Coats, an agricultural labourer, and Helen Nisbet.
She married Alexander Hendry, an engineer, in 1862 and shortly after the couple emigrated to New Zealand.
They had eight children, one who died in infancy, and when Mary signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Castle St, Dunedin.
Soon after this the family moved to Timaru, then to Lyttleton, where Alexander worked as the engineer on the dredge Timaru.
He died suddenly in 1906 – Mary later moved back to Timaru where she died on 13 March 1928.
Mary and Alexander are buried with their daughter Annie in the Timaru Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
Timaru District Council https://www.timaru.govt.nz/services