Mary Ann Hobbs, second wife of Joseph Dunkley, was born June 28, 1847 in Cheltenham, England. She was a twin born to Ann Owen Hobbs and William Hobbs, her twin sister, Caroline, and she were the youngest of the family. Her brothers were Charles, Henry, William, James, and Thomas.

The father of Mary Ann Hobbs died when the twin girls were a few months old. When they were About three years old two Mormon Elders were preaching in Cheltenham about a new gospel Which had been restored in America. Charles and William hopes attended the meeting to be amused But become interested in the message of the missionaries and persuaded their mother to attend the Meetings. Ann Owen Hobbs, the mother of Mary Ann, was converted the first time she heard the gospel. She was baptized along with most of her family.

When Mary Ann and Caroline were seventeen years of age the Family began to make preparation To come to America. Two of her brother, William and Henry came first to "Blaze the Trail for the family.

Mary Ann with her mother, twin sister Caroline and two remaining brothers sailed for the U.S. In May 1864 on the Monarch of the Sea. One brother, Thomas had died when a young boy.

Ann Owen Hobbs and her children endured many hardships on the ocean and crossing the plains. The teenage twins, Mary and Caroline, missed the conveniences of their home in England.

In Franklin, Idaho, Mary Ann went to live at the home of Joseph Dunkley and his wife, Margaret Leitch, on 12 Nov 1864, 1864, Mary Ann was sealed to Joseph Dunkley and became his second wife.

On April 17, 1866, while her husband, Joseph, was standing guard on Franklin's "Little Mountain" guarding the Mormon Community from unfriendly Indians, Mary Ann gave birth to a baby girl. Through the neglect of a midwife she died in "Child-Birth". She was buried in the Franklin Cemetery The baby girl lived and was named Margaret Mary Ann.