Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Ann Gordon was born on 21 April 1849 in Tasmania, Australia – the daughter of Edmund William Gordon, a shoemaker, and Phoebe Davis.
She came to New Zealand and, on 17 February 1877 in Dunedin, Mary married Oliver Lucas, a carpenter from Mauritius.
They had four children, two who died in infancy and childhood.
Oliver was declared bankrupt in 1878 – he disappears from the records in the mid-1880s.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition she was living in William St, South Dunedin working as a laundress. Her sister Elizabeth also signed the petition (See 137 E J Morton)
Mary died at her home on 1 June 1902, she is buried in the Southern Cemetery.
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
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Libraries Tasmania https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au
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