Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary McDiarmid was born in 1855 at Woodside Farm, West Taieri – the daughter of Francis McDiarmid, a farmer, and Janet Milne.
Her parents arrived on the Philip Laing in 1848 and soon after they settled at Woodside, which Mary’s father named.
Mary was born in a 'little wattle-and-daub hut in which the family lived for many years'.
Mary died on 5 April 1938 at her residence “Busholme”, Woodside and she is buried in the family grave in the West Taieri Cemetery.
Mary's sister, Elizabeth McDiarmid, also signed the suffrage petition (see 77 Eliza McDiarmid).
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
Going Abroad http://www.ngaiopress.com/drhocken.htm