suffrage_petition
Surname: 
Luke
Given names: 
Jacobina
Given address: 
Ellice Street
Sheet No: 414
Town/Suburb: 
Mt Victoria
City/Region: 
Wellington
Notes: 

Biographical information provided by Briar Barry for the He Tohu exhibition:

Jacobina Luke (nee McGregor) was the wife of Wellington mayor John Pearce Luke and great-grandmother of Wellington city councillor Nicola Young.

Nicola Young described her great-grandmother as a tiny but energetic 4ft 9in (1.45 metres) tall, 'formidably sensible and a real people person.' She also said that her name, Jacobina, was a family name, 'as in Jacobites, supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie.'

When New Zealand entered the First World War Jacobina and the governor-general's wife Lady Liverpool, the prime minister's wife Christina Massey, and Alexander Godley's wife Louisa, led a drive for women to sew and donate goods. She was awarded a CBE for her war work and her husband was knighted in 1921, largely for the couple's role in combatting the 1918 flu epidemic.

The couple donated the decorative iron gates of Brooklyn's Central Park and their name lives on in Luke's Lane, where the family had a foundry. 

Related images:

Jacobina Luke

Image reference: Portrait of Mrs J P Luke. S P Andrew Ltd :Portrait negatives. Ref: 1/1-014801-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23113697 

Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.

Community contributions

No comments have been posted about Jacobina Luke

What do you know?