Biographical information provided for the He Tohu exhibition:
This is probably Ann Sanderson, wife of William. They emigrated from Workington, Cumbria, England to New Zealand in 1863 aboard the Tyburnia with their three children. The family first went to Thames to make their fortune from the gold rush. When this didn’t work out, the family moved to Great Barrier Island where William made money by chopping wood. They purchased land and built a home and a stone dairy on the island in 1864. The Sandersons were the first Pākehā settlers at Blind Bay, Okupu, Great Barrier Island. Their youngest child, William Junior, was born on the island in 1866. William Senior died in 1898 and is buried at Sunbeam Bay, Okupu.
See also: Sanderson Family of Great Barrier Island.
