Jessie Rooke was born in London on September 10, 1845, to William Walker and Catherine Scollay.

Rooke moved to Melbourne, and in 1867, she married New Zealander Peter Charles Reid.

In 1898 Rooke toured Tasmania again with South Australian Elizabeth Nicholls.

[3] Although suffrage bills were defeated in both 1896 and 1897, the Electoral Act of 1903 granted Tasmanian women the right to vote.

[1][3] Rooke remained president of the WCTU until her death in 1906 from congestive heart failure.