Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
May/Mary Beath Yates was born in 1874 in New Zealand – the daughter of John Yates, a draper, and Mary Beath. (See 47 Mary Yates)
She grew up in Dunedin and when she signed the suffrage petiton Mary was living with her family in George Street.
She had a daughter in 1896 and she married James Borthwick, a teacher, on 2 January 1900 at her parents’ home in Dunedin.
They had one son in 1902 before Mary died at her home in Dunedin on 20 December 1909 – she is buried in the Andersons Bay Cemetery.
Where and when James died in unclear.
Sources :
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
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