Sarah McMurray

New Zealand craftswoman and woodcarver

Robert McMurray
​
(m. 1872)​
Children6Parent(s)Simon Bonnet Silcock and Susannah FlowerRelativesSarah Page (cousin)Signature

Sarah Ann McMurray (née Silcock, 26 August 1848 – 14 September 1943)[1] was a New Zealand woodcarver and craftswoman.[2]

Biography

McMurray was born in Nelson, New Zealand, on 26 August 1848, the daughter of Susannah Silcock (née Flower) and Captain Simon Bonnet Silcock.[3] McMurray was the third of 14 children.[4] Sarah Page, a prohibitionist, was McMurray's cousin through her mother's sister, Rhoda Saunders (née Flower), who married politician Alfred Saunders.[5][better source needed]

She married Robert McMurray on 12 September 1871.[6] They had six children.[7] They lived for some time in dense forest in the Inangahua Valley on the West Coast of the South Island. In the 1880s they moved to a farm in Awahuri in the North Island. Later moving again to Wanganui.[3]

She took up relief carving as a hobby and despite being over 50 years old she enrolled in a local technical college to develop her wood carving skills.[8][3] She was prolific and elaborately carved most of the furnishings in her house.[9][3]

She was among the signatories to New Zealand's 1893 women's suffrage petition.[7] In 1914 her and husband Robert McMurray moved to Palmerston North.[3] She continued her woodcarving in Palmerston North working in the garden shed.[3] She worked mainly in kauri.[3] She also handmade toys for her children and grandchildren one of which is in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[10]

Death

McMurray died at her home on Ada Street in Palmerston North on 14 September 1943, aged 95.[11][12] She is buried at Terrace End Cemetery next to her husband, who died in 1927.[7][13][14]

References

  1. ^ "Sarah McMurray person overview and related information". Museum of New Zealand.
  2. ^ "McMurray, Sarah, 1848–1943". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Orwin, P. M. (1992). Macdonald, Charlotte (ed.). The Book of New Zealand Women (Repr. (twice) ed.). Wellington: Williams. pp. 392–393. ISBN 0908912048.
  4. ^ "92 and Still Going Strong". Manawatu Times. Vol. 65, no. 201. 26 August 1940. p. 5 – via Papers Past.
  5. ^ "Rhoda Saunders". Geni.com. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  6. ^ "MARRIED". Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. No. 43. 27 September 1871. p. 6 – via Papers Past.
  7. ^ a b c "S. A. McMurray &#124". New Zealand History.
  8. ^ "92-YEAR-OLD PIONEER". Wanganui Chronicle. No. 203. 29 August 1940. p. 8 – via Papers Past.
  9. ^ "TALENTED AGE!". Manawatu Times. No. 218. 16 September 1935. p. 6 – via Papers Past.
  10. ^ "Toy policeman". Museum of New Zealand.
  11. ^ "DEATH". Manawatu Times. No. 219. 15 September 1943. p. 1 – via Papers Past.
  12. ^ "Grand Old Lady of 95 Years Passes". Manawatu Times. No. 226. 23 September 1943. p. 2 – via Papers Past.
  13. ^ "Cemetery and cremation search". Palmerston North City Council. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  14. ^ "DEATH". Manawatu Standard. No. 241. 8 September 1927. p. 1 – via Papers Past.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sarah McMurray.
  • Photographs of Robert and Sarah Ann McMurray, Manawatu Heritage
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
  • Te Papa (New Zealand)