Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Reynolds Stewart was born in 1866 in Henly, Oxfordshire, England – the daughter of James Stewart, a cabinet maker, and Barbara Cuthbertson.
She emigrated to Otago with her family in 1876 on the Corona and the family settled in Dunedin.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition she was living with her family in Fiefield St, Roslyn. Two of her sisters also signed (See 114 Joan F Stewart and 114 Barbara C Stewart)
Mary married William Samuel Lea, a head teacher, in 1904. They had one son and lived in Dipton and Garston in Southland.
William died in Garston in 1916, he is buried in the Winton Cemetery.
After William’s death Mary moved to Invercargill then to Feilding where her son worked as a teacher.
She died in Dunedin on 17 March 1957, she was cremated and her ashes scattered.
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
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Southland District Council https://www.southlanddc.govt.nz/