Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Hales was born in 1848 in Staffordshire, England – the daughter of George Hales, a brick and tile maker, and Eliza Woodfield.
She emigrated to New Zealand with her parents and they settled in Otago.
Mary married school teacher David Wassell in 1874 and they had seven children.
They lived first at Toi Tois, near Fortrose before moving to Charlton, south of Gore in 1889 where Mary signed the suffrage petition.
David died in February 1920 and Mary died at her daughter’s home in Dunedin on 2 November the same year – they are buried together in the Mataura Cemetery.
Their obituary said they “were old and esteemed residents of the district.”
Sources:
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/