Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Martin was born about 1825 in Northern Ireland.
After her parents died in the late 1830s Sarah emigrated to New Zealand with her siblings in 1840 on the Lady Nugent.
After a time in Wellington the family settled in the Tokomairiro district.
Sarah married Lewis Dawson, a carter, on 3 December 1856 and they had five children.
In 1859 the family’s home was washed away in a large flood.
Lewis appears to have had a drinking problem - he died in 1886. The results of an inquest were 'death by and in consequence of excessive drinking'. He is buried in the Fairfax Cemetery, Milton.
Sarah remained in Milton, where she signed the suffrage petition, before going to Gisborne to live with her daughter.
She died at her daughter‘s home on 23 February 1914 and is buried in the Makaraka Cemetery, Gisborne.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
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