Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Ann Sutcliffe was born in 1850 in Lancashire, England – the daughter of William Sutcliffe, a carpenter, and Naomi Pilling.
She came to New Zealand with her family in the 1850s and they settled in Dunedin.
Sarah married Frederick Hobcraft, a carpenter, on 28 February 1868 in Dunedin and they had seven children, three who died in infancy.
Frederick was declared bankrupt in 1873 after which he changed his name to Samuel Frederick but was again declared bankrupt in 1875.
Frederick died in 1885 and Sarah gave birth to a daughter the following year.
On 17 January 1887 she married John James Dunning , a cook for the Union Steam Ship company, and they had two sons, one who died in infancy.
When Sarah signed the suffrage petition they were living in McBride St, South Dunedin. Her sister Jane also signed the petition (See 38 Mrs Clark)
John died in 1901 and Sarah married again in 1904 to John William Curline, a widower who worked as a butcher.
John Curline died in 1930 – he is buried with his first wife in the Southern Cemetery.
Sarah died at her daughter’s home in Dunedin on 24 August 1932 – she is buried with her first two husbands in the Northern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/