Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ellen James was born in 1869 in Northamptonshire, England – the daughter of James James, an agricultural labourer, and Martha Tee.
She emigrated to Canterbury with her family in 1874 on the Carisbrooke Castle and the family settled in Invercargill.
Ellen married Matthew Latta, a butcher, in 1891 and they had seven children.
When Ellen signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Owaka.
Matthew died in Christchurch in 1931 and Ellen died on 9 September 1942 in Owaka, they are buried together in the Owaka Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/