Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Stewart Bruce was born on 8 July 1835 in Edinburgh, Scotland – the daughter of Robert Bruce, a warehouse porter, and Catherine McPhail.
She married Joseph Haig, a boot closer, on 20 August 1861 in Edinburgh and they emigrated to New Zealand soon after.
The family settled in Dunedin and had six children.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Castle Street.
Joseph died at their home in St Kilda in 1913 and Mary died on 27 July 1916, they are 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
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