Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Gwyn was born about 1860 at Broad Bay on the Otago Peninsula – the daughter of James Gwyn, a farmer, and Elizabeth Farrant.
She married John Clearwater, also a farmer, in 1880 and they had eight children.
In the early days of their marriage they had to 'carve a home for themselves out of what was then practically virgin bush...the only means of transporting produce to Dunedin was by rowing boats'.
In their later years they retired from their hill farm and moved to a smaller property in the Broad Bay township where Sarah signed the suffrage petition.
In 1930 they celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary with a social and dance.
Sarah died at their home on 4 January 1936 and John died in 1938, they are buried together in the Broad Bay Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions