Maker: Dorothy Moore

Panel number: 381

Petition sheet number: 461

Person honouring: Leanore James

Relationship to maker: Not applicable

Marie Leanora Howard James, who was also known as Nellie Stone, was born in England in 1868.

Leanore married Henry James in 1885. Initially, they lived in Wellington, but later moved to Hawke’s Bay, where they had a family of a son and two daughters.

In 1890, Leanora began an affair with a man called Joseph Barry and together they moved to Sydney, Australia, where they assumed the alias of Bentley. Leanora and Joseph had a child together.

In 1900, Leanora married Constable James Baker, but in 1905, she was convicted of bigamy and, after a sensational trial, was sent to prison for two years.

Leanora moved to England in 1923, but returned to New South Wales in 1930. She died in the same year, aged 62.

Panel materials: Given fabrics to help with picture.