Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Ann Moutray was born about 1855 in Ireland – the daughter of William Hugh Moutray, a baker, and Jane Cochrane. (See 246 J Moutray)
She emigrated to New Zealand with her family in the late 1860s and she married Edward George Sweetman in 1874.
They had six children and when Sarah signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Dobson.
Edward worked as a carpenter and, in 1902, he was 'erecting the new schoolroom for the Church of England and fell off the roof or the building on to the ground, a distance of some fifteen feet'. He died a few days later from his injuries and is buried in the Karoro Cemetery, Greymouth.
Sarah later moved to Morrinsville where she died on 26 April 1920 – she is buried with her son in the Hamilton East Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/