Mary H. Plunkett (1848-1901) was born in Vienna, Maine, and died in Christchurch, New Zealand. Plunkett took Primary class with Mary Baker Eddy in September 1885 and soon afterwards, in November, helped establish A. J. Swarts' Spiritual Science University in Chicago. In April 1886, Plunkett was named president of The Michigan Mental Science College, which was located in Detroit, Michigan. Along with another one of Mary Baker Eddy's students, Emma Curtis Hopkins, Plunkett established the Emma Curtis Hopkins College of Christian Science in Chicago in August 1886. Together Plunkett and Hopkins created Truth: A Magazine of Christian Science as the official voice of the local Hopkins Metaphysical Associations. Plunkett moved to New York City in 1888, taking Truth with her and changing its name to The International Magazine of Christian Science. During that time, Plunkett was president of the Emma Hopkins University of New York. Due to a personal scandal, Plunkett emigrated to New Zealand around 1890, where she became a naturalized citizen in 1896. While in New Zealand, Plunkett and her second husband, A. Bentley Worthington (a notorious swindler whose real name was Samuel Oakley Crawford), established the Temple of Truth. They eventually disagreed over control of the doctrines and teachings of the Temple and separated in 1893. After the separation, Mary, under the name Sister Magdala, established the New Zealand School of Mental Science, which she operated with her longtime friend, Franc Garstin, until her death. Plunkett was found drowned in a fountain behind her home on June 7, 1901. A coroner's inquest determined that she had committed suicide while in a state of temporary insanity.

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