Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Jane Anne Pickens was born in 1866 in Victoria, Australia — the daughter of John Ennis Pickens and Rebecca Taylor.
Her mother died in 1871 and her father re-married the same year.
The family came to New Zealand in the 1870s and Sarah married James Shiels, a farmer, on 19 April 1892.
They had five children, one who died in infancy and lived in Romahapa then in Kaka Point in South Otago.
James died at Kaka Point in 1930 and Sarah died on 17 October 1947 at her residence 'Te-Rata'.
They are both buried in the Romahapa Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz