Biographical information provided by Natalie Marshall for the He Tohu exhibition:
Sarah Ann Wills, daughter of Ann and Albert Wills, was born on 28 March 1857 in New Plymouth. Sarah moved to Woodville in 1885 to keep house for her brother and in the following year she married baker Arthur Sowry (1861-1934), the eldest son of Joseph Sowry who had been instrumental in the settlement and development of Woodville (Arthur's step-mother, Rhoda Sowry, signed sheet 499 of the suffrage petition). The couple lived in Woodville until about 1897 when they moved with their children to Wellington, living in Newtown and Melrose where Arthur worked as a carpenter. The couple had two daughters and four sons from 1888 to 1900. After the birth of their sixth child, Sarah had a stroke and afterwards used a wheelchair. She died on 31 July 1909 in Wellington Hospital.
