Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Murray Sinclair was born on 26 February 1836 in Leslie, Fife, Scotland – the daughter of George Sinclair, a grocer, and May Heron.
She emigrated to Otago with her family in 1857 on the George Canning and they settled in Dunedin.
Mary married John Wallace, also a grocer, at her parent’s home in Cargill St on 14 June 1861.
Mary and John had nine children and had a grocery shop in George St, Dunedin.
The business was sold in 1879 and another business was opened in Great King St, shortly after John was declared bankrupt and the shop was sold.
The family moved to Albany St where Mary signed the suffrage petition, at that time John was working as a storeman.
John died in 1897 in Arrowtown, Central Otago while travelling for business and Mary died at her home in Drivers Rd on 27 June 1936, at the age of 98.
They are both buried in the family grave in the Northern 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
NZ Yesteryears http://www.yesteryears.co.nz
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
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