Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah was born about 1840 on Stewart Island, probably the daughter of Edward Edwards and Hinekino/Mary or Mere.
In 1864 her husband William Parker, a boatman employed at the Pilot Station, drowned while travelling in an open boat from Bluff to Stewart Island. The boat was overturned by a squall and two of the men drowned.
Sarah re-married on 13 September 1867 at Bluff to Arthur Sinclair who worked on the pilot boat.
They had a daughter in 1878 and when Sarah signed the suffrage petition they were living in Bluff and Arthur was the railway foreman on the Bluff Wharf.
Their daughter had a son in 1894 who they adopted.
Sarah died at her home in Bluff on 7 September 1918, her obituary said 'reference was made to her strong faith, which gave her a saintly character, and made it a privilege to know her.' Arthur died in 1933, they are buried together in the Bluff Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Invercargill City Council https://icc.govt.nz
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
