Ini was born in Levin and was the oldest of Lucy and Harry Jacob’s five children. Ill health hindered her pursuit of education; she worked instead on her parents’ home and property. She subsequently became a housekeeper for Dr Francis in Otaki and then was engaged as a seamstress in a shirt factory in Levin. In later life Ini looked after her mother in Levin.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation with Joanna Selby, 5 August 2004.
Non-fiction
- "Lucy Jacob." Hine Tamatea Morgan, Joanna Hoana Selby, Cynthia Tohe Bell & Arohaana Sciascia. Biography of New Zealand Women: Ko Kui ma te Kaupapa. Ed. Charlotte MacDonald, Meremere Penfold and Bridget Williams. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams, 1991. 325-327.
- A biographical account of Ngāti Raukawa kuia Lucy Winiata who saw the building of the first Ngatokowaru wharetupuna at the turn of the century and the rebuilding of the new meeting house some seventy years later. In 1919 she married Harry Jacob and they worked at the Otaki Māori Racing Club. She was a member of the Patriotic Society during World War Two and was a faithful member of the Anglican Church. Her commitment to her Māoritanga was very strong and she was actively involved in the establishment of new branches of the Māori Women’s Welfare League in Ngāti Raukawa. Her performances of waiata and patere were noteworthy and in 1962 she recorded a patere written by her grandmother.