Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Emily Lord, known as Emily, was born about 1846 in England.
She married Richard Francis Peyton in 1866 in Auckland and they had a son the following year. What happened to Richard is unclear – he appears to have left the country.
Emily then lived in Greymouth with James Forrest Dowling, a boatman, and they had six children together between 1870 and 1881. James was declared bankrupt in 1874 and, in 1883, he died when a crane collapsed and fell on him. A concert was held to raise money to support the family after which Emily wrote to the paper expressing her gratitude 'to those who so freely and munificently gave their subscriptions on behalf of myself and children; and I beg to assure them that a vivid remembrance of their great kindness will be ever present to my mind to the end of my days'.
Emily re-married in 1889 to butcher Frederick Austin and when she signed the suffrage petition they were living in Greymouth.
Frederick died in 1913 and Emily died at her son’s home in Greymouth on 8 March 1915 – she is buried with Frederick in the Karoro Cemetery.
Her obituary said she 'was kindly disposed, charitable in all her actions, and was highly esteemed by all with whom she came in contact'.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/