Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 43, September 1999
Mary Fennell was born in Paeroa in 1902, and was the second daughter of John and Mary Walls, who had the butcher shop in Arney Street. She had two sisters, Janet and Molly, and a brother, Jack.
In her early years she lived for long periods with her Aunt, Helen Bullians, ( a sister of her mother), who had a draper shop in Karangahake. She left Paeroa to work in Auckland, where she married William Patrick Fennell, who was a barrister and solicitor. They had two children, the late John of Auckland and Clare of Paeroa.
Mary moved back to Paeroa to live with her mother, where she kept the books for the butcher shop, and did the phoning for orders etc. Her husband died in Auckland in 1946.
She was a member of the Paeroa Historical Society since its inception in 1964, and was a committee member since 1970. She died on 18 June 1989, aged 87 years.