Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert
Sarah Jane Cooper was born in 1858 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England to coal miner Joseph and his wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth followed her husband to Auckland arriving in January 1866 on the Ballarat with their three children, including Sarah Jane. Her husband, Joseph arrived some months before the family.
In 1879, Joseph and Elizabeth’s youngest daughter, Sarah Jane married Emilius Le Roy, and, also moved to Great Barrier to settle in Port Fitzroy on land that Emilius’ father had purchased at Rarohara Bay from the mining company.
Emilius Le Roy was the son of well-known Auckland sailmaker and tentmaker Emilius and Catherine Le Roy. Le Roy, born in Guernsey about 1827, was a sailmaker who joined the Royal Navy before settling in Auckland in 1850. He established a sail making business in the town, as well as operating a schooner between Sydney and Auckland
Emilius and Sarah Jane built a two-storey home there and had 10 children.
- Emilius (1880–1901)
- Elizabeth May (1881–1963)
- Daisy Catherine (1883–1950)
- Elsie Annie Lavinia (1885–1926)
- Vera Tabel (1886–1886) 13 days
- Ada Marie (1888–1973)
- Amy Alice (1888–1976)
- Selwyn Joseph (1891–1962)
- Olive Winifred (1894–1963)
- Dorothy Ruth (1896–1951)
In 1884 Emilius became the Postmaster at Port Fitzroy and held the position for forty years. A school was also operated from the Le Roy property. Their eldest son Emilius drowned in 1901 in Fitzroy Harbour when his sailing boat capsized whilst he was checking crayfish pots.
Sarah Jane died in 1906 aged 47 years and was buried in the small Quoin Island Cemetery on Great Barrier. Emilius married again in 1911 to Elizabeth Craig. They had one child Agnes Dalziel (known as Girlie). Elizabeth died in 1917 aged 46. In 1920, at the age of 62, Emilius married again, to Louisa Sarah Willcocks. This marriage ended in divorce in 1928 on the grounds of mutual separation.
Emilius died in December 1944 and was buried in the Quoin Cemetery with Sarah Jane and their infant daughter Vera. Emilius left a will, leaving a one-fifth share of his farm and the fishing launch to his only surviving son Selwyn, and the balance in equal shares to those children living at his death.
S. Jane is sister to 380 A.M. PADDISON Gt Barrier and the sister-in-law of 397 R Le ROY Parnell
Sources
Aotea Great Barrier Island historic heritage survey
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19956, 26 May 1928, Page 14
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11776, 4 October 1901, Page 5
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19276, 15 March 1926, Page 8
Historical BDMs
Archway probate Emilius