Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Ann Beckingham was born about 1850 in Berkshire, England she married William Heppelthwaite in Surrey in 1873.
William and Sarah had four children before they came to New Zealand about 1880 and a further three children were born after their arrival.
William started working as a dairyman and the family lived in Filleul St when they first arrived, running the Myrtle Dairy in Filleul St in 1882. The next year the Heppelthwaites were running a store in Cargill Rd.
When Sarah signed the petition she was working as a shopkeeper in Cargill Rd and continued to do so until they moved to Lyttleton in about 1909.
William died in 1922 and is buried in the Lyttleton Cemetery. In 1926 Mrs Heppelthwaite was in the court news charged with obstructing an inspector of factories and refusing to give her name.
Sarah died on 11 August 1934 in Wellington.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Free BDM https://www.freebdm.org.uk