Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Stewart was born in 1872 in New Zealand – the daughter of Hugh Stewart and Rebecca Gillon. (See 72 R G Stewart)
When Mary signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Gore and she was working with her mother and sisters (See 72 Minnie Stewart and 72 Rebecca Stewart) in the Gore Coffee Palace. Mary married James Thomas Henderson, a bootmaker, in 1902 and they had seven children.
The family lived in Invercargill where, in 1932, James was declared bankrupt – he died two years later.
Mary died at her home in Invercargill on 18 October 1945 – she is buried with James in the Invercargill Eastern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
