Sarah Jane Mattocks was born in 1829 in Warwickshire, England. She worked as a silk marker before marrying Thomas Kirk, a bookkeeper on Christmas Day, 1850.
In 1862, the Kirk family emigrated to New Zealand. When they first arrived in Auckland, they lived in great poverty and their eldest son died at that time. The couple would eventually be parents to nine children, although sadly a pair of twins died as babies. Thomas supported the family by breaking stones at Mount Eden for building roads.
In 1874, the Kirk family moved to Wellington where Thomas was hired as a professor of natural sciences at Wellington College. The family lived on Tinakori Riad and there was no running water in their cottage and so they carried water from Premier House across the road.
Sarah was part of the first congregation that came together in 1878 to establish the Baptist church in Wellington. There were nineteen of them at the start. The women of the church fundraised and their church building on Vivian Street opened the following year.
Sarah was an early member of the Wellington Ladies’ Christian Association. This group sought to support immigrant women, manage poor relief efforts, support women in jail and evangelism. The group began the Alexandra Nursing home and a few years later opened a Home for Destitute and Friendless Women in Newtown. Sarah became president of the Wellington chapter of the WCTU in February 1895, a role she would keep for nearly a decade. Sarah organised classes for young working girls to learn to read ad write. She would bring their WCTU meetings directly to girls working in the Match Factory in Riddiford Street.
In 1904 at the age of 73, Sarah declined to be re-elected to the WCTU. She died on 15 January 1916 at her home in Pirie Street. Sarah was buried at Karori Cemetery with her husband who had died in 1898. There are eight members of the family interred in this plot.
The Kirk family and their wider family are full of interesting people. More stories to come.
Plot: *Public/K/3
By Julia Kennedy
