Jane de Lambert

Signed family name

Lambert

Signed given name

Jane de

Given address

Dee Street Oamaru

Sheet number

Town/Suburb

Oamaru

City/Region

Otago

Notes

Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley

Jane French Gray was born in 1850 in Ceylon – the daughter of French Gray and Susan Jane Warburton. She married Josias John de Lambert, a tea importer in 1873 and they had five children before they sailed for New Zealand in 1882.

The family settled in Oamaru where they had a further three children.

In 1887, shortly before the birth of their last child, Josias committed suicide by drinking hydrogen cyanide. He appeared to have financial difficulties and when his estate was settled he owed £90.

When Jane signed the suffrage petition she was living in Dee St, Oamaru.

She died on 15 August 1919 at Waimate while visiting her daughter – she is buried with Josias in the Old Oamaru Cemetery.

Her obituary said her 'life among us furnishes an admirable example of self-help and courage. About 35 years ago she arrived with her husband from Ceylon, where her youth was spent, and although the early loss of her husband imposed upon her the responsibility of a numerous family, all of them young, she faced the situation bravely and despite her domestic cares found time to assist in a most practical manner in all social efforts.' She was 'especially interested in St. Luke’s Church and for many years has been an indefatigable Guild worker.'