Mrs Beadle

Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley

Mary Jane Halley was born in 1864 in New Zealand - the fifth child of William Halley and Catherine Young.

When Mary was just one year old her father drowned and left her mother destitute. Money was collected to help the family which reached a total of £6 6s 6d.

In June 1866 her mother re-married to Palmer Bass the proprietor of the Great Britain Hotel in Milton and a further three children were born.

In January 1870 Mary’s mother was charged with having no visible means of support and was sentenced to one month imprisonment. The children were charged with being destitute and neglected children. Two local residents had arranged with Mary’s mother to take charge of and educate Mary and her elder sister and they were liberated. The constable gave evidence that 'in consequence of information received, he proceeded to a paddock adjoining the township, where he found the last prisoner and her children lying in the open air in the midst of a heavy rain and with no covering except an old blanket. He found that they had that day been turned out of their house' due to complaints regarding Catherine’s drinking.

The following year Mary was sent to the Industrial School for five years.

She married Walter Beadle, a coach builder, in 1888 and they had seven children.

When Mary signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Clerk St, North East Valley, Dunedin.

Walter died in 1927 and Mary died on 7 August 1937, they are buried in the family grave in the Andersons Bay 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

Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz

Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz