Sarah Edwards was born in 1849 in Winchester. Her parents were John and Eliza. John was a butcher. She was the eldest of four children. For some unexplained reason, she came to Australia on the Burlington in 1867 when she was 18. I guess people were expected to be a lot "more mature" back then, but still. Why?? Had she been naughty? Disgraced the family? She was educated and she kept in touch with her family (which was good for my dad because he obtained some early photos of Sarah through a family member in Winchester). One of her prized possessions was a glass photograph of her family in Winchester - she kept it with her all her life (note that her younger brother had not yet been born).
On 26 February 1870 she married Augustus John Hollebone in Orange (of all places!). She had nine children plus adopted the son of her daughter (Her last child was born after this son - I like to think that she didn't want Ernest to feel left out or suspect anything, but he was born only two years after her daughter!!). She was involved in a "performing group" - which involved acting and singing (on one occasion a duet with her husband called 'Gypsy Countess'). At the end of her life she lived with her youngest daughter. Sarah gave the photo to one of her granddaughters before her death. She died on 17 July 1915, age 66. One daughter had died age 4, but the remaining children, with the possible exception of one, died after her. Later two of her sons, including Ernest, died as a result of illness sustained through the Great War...
(Relationship to SNR = Great-great-great-grandmother)
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