Mary, the only daughter, and the Lass of Gowrie, should have been the gayest girl on the Taieri Plains, but she suffered from shyness, a common failing of the Grants. When Mary was about seven the children had a governess, Miss Hughes, who was leaving and returning to England. It was decided to send Mary with her. Why the little girl was sent is a mystery. Whether Elizabeth had relatives in Kent, whether her family had broken off with her when she married, and she hoped the child would heal the breach is speculation. The fact is that Mary lived for two years with Miss Hughes' family, but did not visit any relatives. Then the news came that her mother was dead. Miss Hughes then brought her back to Gowrie, in fact it was whispered that Miss Hughes hoped to become the mistress of Gowrie. In that she was disappointed, for, by the time she returned, Peter had married Mary Osbourne.
All Mary remembered of her trip was seeing an iceberg as they sailed round the Horn, seeing the Crystal Palace in London, and learning to spell RHUBARB, from seeing it written in a shop window.
On her return, Mary was sent with her brothers to school at Oamaru. Later she attended Otago Girl's High School, but did not like it, owing probably to insufficient grounding.
So Mary returned to Gowrie, and remained there until her marriage. There was much work to be done, and many sick people to be nursed. Mary took her share, and was with her Grandfather, Charles, when he passed away. Her early acquaintance with sadness gave her a kindliness and sympathy, and where there was trouble, there was Mary Carruthers, as she became. On her Father's third marriage, she left home. She then married Robert Carruthers, and had two daughters and a son who served in the First World War, and rose to the rank of captain.