Sarah Page ( Saunders; 26 August 1863 – 20 January 1950), also known as Sarah Saunders Page, was a New Zealand teacher, feminist, prohibitionist, socialist, social reformer, and politician.

Early life and family

Sarah Saunders was born in Waimea South,

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, New Zealand in 1863. She was one of ten children of Rhoda Saunders (née Flower) and

Alfred Saunders Alfred Saunders (12 June 1820 – 28 October 1905) was a New Zealand farmer, reformer, women's suffrage and temperance advocate and politician. He was Superintendent of Nelson Province and represented several electorate in the New Zealand Hous ...

, a radical politician, and grew up surrounded by

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

. Her brother was the journalist Samuel Saunders (1857–1943). Sarah McMurray, a woodcarver and craftswoman, was Sarah Page's cousin through her mother's sister, Susannah Silcock (née Flower). In 1896, she married Samuel Page, who was a science demonstrator at Canterbury Museum and like herself a Quaker. They were to have two sons, including Robert Page.

Politics

With Ada Wells, she was a dominating influence on the Canterbury Women's Institute. She was also active with the

National Council of Women of New Zealand The National Council of Women of New Zealand () was established in 1896, three years after women in New Zealand won the right to the vote, as an umbrella organisation uniting a number of different women's societies that existed in New Zealan ...

and was the organisation's secretary in 1905–06. She was an ardent critic of conscription and upset Prime Minister

William Massey William Ferguson Massey (26 March 1856 – 10 May 1925) was a politician who served as the 19th prime minister of New Zealand from May 1912 to May 1925. He was the founding leader of the Reform Party, New Zealand's second organised political ...

and the Minister of Internal Affairs,

George Warren Russell George Warren Russell (24 February 1854 – 28 June 1937) was a New Zealand politician from Christchurch. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Public Health in the wartime National government, and was responsible for the Ne ...

, with her criticism. Her son Robert Page was a conscientious objector and was imprisoned in 1918. Standing for the Labour Party, she failed to get elected to the

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council (CCC) is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Ma ...

in the 1919 local elections. The three candidates elected in the

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

ward, which included John Beanland and Ernest Andrews, were all from the right-leaning Citizens Association. Page was elected to the North Canterbury Hospital Board in 1922. When the Labour Party developed into a strong party in the 1920s, Page's extreme left views became less accepted and her influence faded.

Death

She died on 20 January 1950 and is buried at Sydenham Cemetery next to her husband, who died in 1944. She bequeathed £2,000 to the

Canterbury University College The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

's chemistry department where her husband had been employed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Sarah 1863 births 1950 deaths New Zealand feminists New Zealand women activists New Zealand schoolteachers 19th-century New Zealand people People from Nelson, New Zealand New Zealand temperance activists New Zealand socialists New Zealand social reformers Burials at Sydenham Cemetery New Zealand Labour Party politicians Members of district health boards in New Zealand New Zealand Quakers Quaker feminists New Zealand socialist feminists Quaker socialists Saunders family Activists from Christchurch