Originally transcribed as Mary Riddock
Also signed as 166 Mrs Riddoch
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Wallace was born about 1830 in Lanarkshire, Scotland – the daughter of William Wallace, a power loom dresser.
She married John Napier on 1 July 1853 in Gorbals, Lanarkshire and they had two children, one who died in infancy.
What happened to John is unclear as he doesn’t appear on any census records with Mary.
Mary and her daughter Sarah worked as power loom weavers before they emigrated to Otago in 1874 on the Invercargill.
Later that year Mary married Peter Riddoch on 4 November in Dunedin.
Peter died at their home in Hanover St, Dunedin in 1878 after which Mary and Sarah went to live in Mechanic St, St Johns Wood in North East Valley where Mary signed the suffrage petition. She died at her home on 22 May 1930, aged 100 and is buried with Peter and her daughter in the Northern Cemetery.
Sources
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
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
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