Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Jane Smith Sparks was born on 20 April 1838 in Hutton, Berwickshire, Scotland – the daughter of Walter Sparks, a tailor, and Helen White.
Her mother appears to have died soon after her birth and her father re-married in 1846.
Her step-mother died in 1860 and a few years later Jane, accompanied by her father and three half siblings, emigrated to New Zealand.
Jane married William Latham on 17 August 1871 in Dunedin and they had two daughters.
William died in 1885 at their home in Serpentine Avenue – he is buried in the Southern Cemetery.
When Jane signed the suffrage petition she was still in Serpentine Avenue working as a tailoress and she supplemented her income by taking in boarders.
She moved to Wellington with her daughters sometime after 1896 – she died at her home on 14 January 1929 and she is buried in the Karori Cemetery.