Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Ann Finch was born in 1851 in Dunedin –the daughter of John Finch, a farmer, and Elizabeth Shaw.
She appears to have had a daughter in 1875- she married James McGrouther in 1878 and they had two sons.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition they were living at 'Melville Bank', Tokomairiro.
James died at their home in 1896 - he is buried in the Fairfax Cemetery, Milton.
Mary re-married in 1903 to John Robinson, a farmer and widower. They lived at Lovell’s Flat before moving to Milton and then to Woodlands in Southland where John died in 1932.
After this Mary went to live with her son in Milburn, she died in the Milton Hospital on 17 January 1940 and is buried with John in the Woodlands Cemetery.
Her obituary said she 'did much to alleviate sickness in the district, and she was often called upon in such cases.'
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
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