Originally transcribed as S O Kane
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Ann Jeffs was born in 1850 in Buckinghamshire, England – the daughter of Benjamin Jeffs and Elizabeth Cato.
Soon after Sarah’s birth she emigrated to Lyttleton with her family on the Charlotte Jane, arriving on 16 December 1850.
Her family settled in Christchurch and Sarah married Daniel O’Kane, a carter, in 1872.
They had five children – in 1887, while the family were living in Palmerston, Daniel was declared insolvent – his 10 draught horses and wagon were sold by public auction.
Daniel died in Melbourne in 1891, as the result of an accident, and when Sarah signed the suffrage petition she was living in Filleul St, Dunedin.
Sarah died at her home on 22 November 1909, she is buried with her brother William in the Southern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
NZ Yesteryears http://www.yesteryears.co.nz
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz