Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Mary Garland Florence Christopher was born in 1855 in New South Wales, Australia – the daughter of Captain Alexander McKenzie Christopher & Maria Florence Lucas McCallum. Her father died in 1862 & the family moved to Dunedin.
Mary married Andrew Christie on February 26th 1875 in the Otago Peninsula parish.
They had 11 children, 4 who died in infancy, and the family lived in Dunedin for a time before moving to South Otago where Andrew worked as a police officer.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Balclutha.
A few years later they moved to Mosgiel then to Christchurch where Andrew worked as a traffic inspector.
He died in 1936 & Mary died on September 25th 1937, they are buried together in the Bromley Cemetery.
Sources
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