Sarah Ennor

Biography contributed by Abigail Ennor

Sarah Alderson was born in 1864  in Hartlepool, Durham. Her parents, Jane Horsley (neé Thompson) and John Alderson had married the year before. This was the second marriage for Jane Horsley, who had married Robert Horsley in 1853 and had two daughters, Esther and Elizabeth- Sarah’s half sisters.  

According to the 1871 Census, Jane and John now had Sarah, aged seven, a son, John Thomas aged one as well as the two daughters from Jane’s first marriage. John was a grocer and tea dealer. They lived in Stranton, Hartlepool.

The family emigrated to New Zealand in 1876 with assisted passage aboard the Fern Glen, arriving in Hawkes Bay on 9 December.

Sarah’s parents, Jane and John Alderson, died in 1889 and 1893 respectively and are buried in the old Napier cemetery. Sarah’s youngest brother William would sadly join his parents in 1894 at only 16-years-old.

In 1885, Sarah married John Sampson Trehane Ennor. He had arrived from Linkinhorne, Cornwall in 1876 aboard the City of Auckland. A labourer, he established his own stonemasonry business in 1899. By the 1930s there would be three generations of Ennor stonemasons working in Napier. The story of John Sampson Trehane Ennor and his descendants was written about in the article 'A legacy in brick and stone' from Heritage New Zealand.

Sarah and John lived in Napier for the rest of their lives going on to have five sons and four daughters.

Tragically, Hector died at aged 12. He Fell from the crow’s nest on the HMS Challenger while on a school trip. An investigation found the death to be accidental.

Sarah’s sons, John Vivian and Frederick Percival Ennor, fought in World War I. Both were injured but survived the war.

Involvement in the Congregational Church remained an important aspect of Sarah’s life. This sentiment was felt by her children and grandchildren. Son Harrold went on to be the secretary of the Beresford Street Congregational Church in Auckland for over 50 years and grandson Graham wrote two books on the Beresford Street Congregational Church history.

Sarah died in 1933 at the age of 69. A lengthy obituary was published in both the local Hawke’s Bay papers and the Auckland Star. Sarah was remembered as a kind woman who was deeply involved in her church and as an 'esteemed resident of Napier'.

Sarah was buried in the Old Napier Cemetery. She shares the plot with her parents and brother, as well as her young son Hector. Her husband John Sampson Trehane Ennor would be interred in the same plot in 1943 and her daughter Catherine in 1983.

Sources

Obituary, Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 265, 21 October 1933, p. 6 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBTRIB19331021.2.17

Sad Accident, Hastings Standard, 31 March 1905, p. 3 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAST19050331.2.15

Ancestry.com The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 4919; Folio: 35; Page: 4; GSU roll: 848015.

Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Marriage Index, 1840-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Ancestry.com. Australia and New Zealand, Find a Grave Index, 1800s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Ancestry.com The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 4919; Folio: 35; Page: 4; GSU roll: 848015

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/203716730/john-sampson_trehane-ennor

Siers, Judy, A legacy in brick and stone Heritage New Zealand, Win 2009; n. 113 pp. 20-22

Ennor, G., These hundred years: a short history of the Beresford Street Congregational Church, Auckland, N.Z., 1852-1952. 1952

Ennor, G., Faithful Witness: the story of St James Presbyterian Church, Wellington Street and later in Beresford Street, Auckland, New Zealand. 1990