Biography contributed by Sue Hay (great-great-granddaughter)
Sarah Cameron was born on 2 May 1841 at Kilmallie, Scotland, the daughter of Dougald (or Dougall) and Catherine (nee McMillan) Cameron. Her mother died in May 1843. Sarah sailed for Australia in 1858 with her father, his second wife Mary, and three brothers John, Angus and Alexander. Her future husband, John Kennedy, sailed on the same ship with his family, and they were married in Portland Bay, (Victoria), Australia on 6 March 1860. Shortly after the couple and their families sailed for Nelson. The voyage took a week.
Sarah and John Kennedy settled in the Big Bush (Wairau Plains, Grovetown) where they remained until their deaths. The Salvation Army commenced in Blenheim in 1884 with an expression at Grovetown and John and Sarah officially signed up as members in 1885. After her death on 5 October 1917 and subsequent burial at Omaka Cemetery, Blenheim several Salvationists spoke of her ‘good life’ at a Salvation Army memorial service. A brief Obituary noted ‘Marlborough has lost one of its oldest and most respected citizens’.
Sarah had twelve children, with the Obituary noting eleven were alive at the time of her death: Mr John Jack Kennedy (San Francisco); Mr Malcolm Kennedy (with the forces in Egypt); Mr Donald Kennedy (Palmerston North); Mr Angus Kennedy and Mr Charles Kennedy (Grovetown); Mrs Margaret Hodson (Blenheim); Mrs Catherine McIsaac (married to Richard McIsaac III, Renwick); Mrs Sarah Iremonger (Wellington); Mrs F Southgate (Kakanui); Mrs Ella Robinson (Rapaura) and Mrs Olive Phipps (Grovetown). Sarah Kennedy was survived by 30 grandchildren and great grandchildren at the time of her death. (Deceased: Dugald Kennedy).
Sources
Marlborough Express, Volume LI, Issue 237, 6 October 1917
The War Cry 20 October 1917
Obituary, source unknown