Biographical information provided by Stefanie Lash for the He Tohu exhibition:
Mrs Yandle, who signed the Women’s Suffrage Petition with two of her daughters, was a celebrated and in-demand Auckland taxidermist, a very unusual occupation for a lady at that time.
Born Sarah Jane Turle in 1843 in Somerset, she married William James Yandle in 1863, and they arrived in New Zealand in 1866. They had nine children. William worked variously as a furrier, a dog breeder and a butcher, having several scrapes with bankruptcy, before Jane revived their taxidermy business in 1877 and took over its management. She was a specialist in the taxidermy of birds.
William was charged with domestic violence against Jane several times, eventually being ordered by a judge to leave Auckland.
Jane Greacen, their daughter, followed her mother into the taxidermy trade.
Her daughters Eunice and Jane also seem to have signed the suffrage petition. Yandle signatories from Hobson Street appear on sheets 374 and 403.
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
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