Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Symondson was born on 12 May 1854 in London, England – the daughter of Philip Symondson, a bell founder, and Sarah Meredith.
Sarah arrived in Canterbury in 1872 on the Lady Jocelyn.
In 1882 Sarah married Joseph Solomon and they had five children together. They had separated by June 1893 when Sarah charged Joseph with failing to provide his children with adequate means of support.
In October 1894 Sarah charged Joseph’s father Isaac Solomon of neglect. Her reasoning was that Isaac 'kept & maintained at his house the father of the children, who was an able bodied man, and if he were able to do that he ought also to be in a position to aid his helpless grandchildren'.
Sarah stated that she kept a clothes shop and registry office – the profits of which only paid the rent. She had not seen her husband for two months, but her friends helped her keep the children and she had also had money from the Benevolent Institution. Isaac replied that at his house there were three adults and 10 children plus a servant girl, and that he was also paying to keep another son in the asylum. If he did not keep Joseph he would starve as he could not find work. The case was dismissed.
Sarah continued charging Joseph with lack of maintenance until 1910 when the Magistrate pointed out that as Joseph was in the Benevolent Institute an order could not be made against him. They were next in court in 1911 when Joseph had work to go to in the country and was promising to pay.
Sarah’s 20 year old daughter died in 1907 and a son died in 1918 during the war in France.
Joseph died in 1935 at the Dunedin Hospital. Sarah died on 18 July 1947, she was cremated and her ashes scattered.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz