Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sophie Jensen was born about 1852 in Denmark.
She emigrated to New Zealand in the 1870s where she married carpenter Anders Thomson in 1874.
They had 10 children, one who died in infancy, and they lived in Auckland and Christchurch before moving to Southland in the late 1880s.
They farmed on the Waimea Plains for seven years before moving to Gore where Anders returned to carpentry and Sophie signed the suffrage petition.
Anders died in 1910 and Sophie remained in Gore until, at least, 1925 when she appeared on the electoral roll.
She died in Christchurch on 5 June 1935 – she is buried with Anders in the Gore Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz