Maker: Sam Hughes (aka Wonky Stitches NZ)

Panel number: 346

Petition Sheet Number: 414

Person honouring: Jacobina Luke

Relationship to makers: None

Lady Jacobina Luke, CBE, was born Jacobina McGregor in Easington, County Durham, England in 1860. Jacobina was a family name, “as in Jacobites, supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie,” says her great-granddaughter, Wellington City Councillor, Nicola Young.

In 1880, Jacobina married John Pearce Luke, an engineer. They had five children.

Young says Jacobina was a tiny but energetic 4ft 9in tall, “formidably sensible and a real people person”. Her husband became Wellington’s mayor in 1913. An article said: “Mrs Luke, the mayoress, all energy and fire, manages to keep her head in a wonderful way. She is in her element – revels in it. She’s been seen writing with one hand, telephone in the other, conversing with someone at the other end, and gesticulating in the room, directing – parcels, bundles …”

When New Zealand entered WW1, Jacobina, with Lady Liverpool (governor-general’s wife), Christina Massey (prime minister’s wife), and Louisa Godley (general’s wife), made a call for women to sew and donate goods. Her CBE was awarded for her war work; husband John was knighted in 1921, largely for their role in combating the 1918 flu epidemic.

Aged 76, Lady Jacobina Luke died in March 1937 and was buried at Karori cemetery.

There is a full-length portrait of Mrs J P Luke at Wellington’s Alexander Turnbull Library. I hope my panel portrays the respect and honour for an amazing woman, and the impressive difference she made with her dedication, volunteer efforts, and kindness.

Panel materials: A mixture of hand-me down lace I already had and new-to-me lace, sourced from second-hand shops. Hand stitched using a lot of my Nana’s threads (she was an avid sewer); a stamp I already had to ink the page number. I also used a printed photo of Jacobina from the NZ History website – then hand stitched her image onto the panel. I added embellishments from my stash to represent the sewing machine and scissors that she may have used in her sewn donations.