Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Magdalene O’Connell was born in 1858 in Victoria, Australia – the daughter of William O’Connell, a shopkeeper, and Ellen Butler.
She travelled to Otago with her parents in 1862 and they settled in Dunedin.
Mary did not marry and when she signed the suffrage petition she was living in Brown St working as a tailoress.
Her mother had died in 1878 and her father re-married in 1893 which appears to have caused a rift in the family.
He moved to Christchurch and when he died in 1896 he left his children one shilling each.
The will was contested in court and judgement found in favour of the family.
Mary continued living in Brown St until her death on 2 November 1935, she is buried in the family grave in the Southern 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
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions