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Biography: Anstice, Sophia

Sophia Anstice

Sophia Anstice

Wearing her customary black garb, Sophia Anstice poses for a studio portrait. An enterprising businesswoman, she established a chain of successful drapery and dressmaking stores in the Nelson region after the illness and subsequent death of her first husband forced her to become the family breadwinner.

Using this item

Nelson Provincial Museum, Tyree Studio Collection

Reference: 40031

Permission must be sought from Nelson Provincial Museum before any re-use of this image.

How to cite this page

C. B. Malone. 'Anstice, Sophia', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/39845/sophia-anstice (accessed 24 June 2026).