Sarah Deacon was born in 1861 in Riverhead, the fifth of eight children born to Eliza and Thomas Deacon.

A party at the Kumeu Public Hall on 23 May 1877 had musical items, presented to the accompaniment of Sarah’s mother, Eliza Deacon.  These included her sister Mary Deacon and Messers Sharp singing Mother I’ve come home to die and Sarah rendition of The Officer’s Funeral. These soirees preceded an evening of dancing which, on the evening of 23 May 1877, continued until dawn (page 195).

Some of Sarah’s personal possessions remain to this day:

Marriage

On 4 May 1897, Sarah, then aged 36, married James Nehemiah Griffin, aged 35, in her parent’s house in Riverhead. Witnesses were William Thomas Deacon Jnr and Mabel Deacon.

Spouse’s parents

James Nehemiah Griffin was born to the Reverend Willliam Thomas Griffin Jnr and Elizabeth Atkins in Henry County, Georgia, United States, in 1862. Henry County is just a few kilometres north of the town of Griffin.

Reverend William Thomas Griffin Jnr, son of William Thomas Griffin Snr and Mary Booker Barnett, was born on 16 April 1827 in Henty County, Georgia, and died on 2 October 1901 in Clayton County, Georgia age 74.

Rev Griffin’s first marriage produced a son, William Griffin. His second marriage, on 17 September 1857, was to “Lizzie” Elizabeth Margaret Atkins. Lizzie was born on 26 April 1938 to Joseph Atkins and Mary Adams in Oak Lawn Plantation, Henty County, Georgia. She died on 23 January 1919 aged 80. James Nehemiah Griffin was the second of Rev and Lizzie Griffin’s six children:

• 1860 – Clyde C Griffin
• 1862 – James Nehemiah Griffin
• 1868 – Joseph W Griffin
• 1869 – Albert Thomas Griffin
• 1874 – Jesse Griffin
• 1877 – Maggie Griffin.

Family oral history has it that James Griffin left his home at the age of 17 and went to sea. The 1880 Census for Henty County no children listed in the house of Rev William and Lizzie Griffin but has Jospeh, Albert, Jesse and Maggie living with William Griffin three houses away.James would have been 18 in 1880 and it seems he was no longer living at his parent home or with his siblings by then.

It is said that James Griffin travelled extensively and, at one point, managed a mine in China. He worked his way around the world as a seaman and had seen service on the American railroad.

Upon arrival in New Zealand James Griffin’s first employment seems to have been in the Henderson bush.  When James and Sarah married in 1897, James was listed at a bush contractor on his marriage certificate, working on a Reweti farm and employing bullock teams.

James Griffin succeeded Arthur Deacon as the manager of the Whitehorse Hotel also known as the Kumeu Hotel (Dunsford p 55). He remained there for about 10 years.

Sarah and James Griffin had four children during their marriage:

• Clyde Mabel Grace Griffin (1898-?)
  • married Lawrence Grace
• Ether Ruth Griffin (1900-1976) (signed birthday journal 8 Feb 1897)
  • married George Dunnet in 1928 (signed birthday journal 24 Jan 1897)
    • Donald Dunnet
    • Rodney Dunnet
• Roger Aiken Griffin (1903-1963)
  • married Florence Jessie Downey (1862-1975) in 1926
    • Judith
  • • Child 2
    • Ann
• Helen Tanzin Griffin (1905-2003)
  • married William Shanly in 1933
    • Helen Meril Shanly (1935-2017)
  • married Ralph Fergus Cahill (1906-74) in 1947
    • Joan Cahill (born 1948).

James Griffin’s death

On 15 October 1931, James Griffin died at the age of 79 from bronchitis and empyema at the Auckland Infirmary, Epsom, Auckland (Report of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1835-1974, Box 1448: 1930-39).  Family oral history suggests that upon his death, James Griffin’s daughters burnt the contents of travelling chest containing mementos of his travels before settling in New Zealand.

Sarah Griffin’s later years

Sarah’s youngest child, Helen Tanzin Griffin, married public servant, William Johnston Shanly, on 6 October 1933.  William and Helen Shanly had a daughter, Helen Meril Shanly, born on 3 April 1935.

By late 1936, William Shanly had left Helen Tanzin, his second wife. Sarah Griffin moved in to live with her daughter, Helen Tanzin (Big Helen) and her grand-daughter, Helen Meril (Little Helen). Sarah Griffin looked after the young Helen Meril while Helen Tanzin worked as a teacher at Manakau School.

On 13 March 1941, Helen Tanzin Shanly resigned from Manakau School.  The family of three — Sarah, Big Helen and Little Helen — moved to Putaruru (in the Waikato district) where Helen Tanzin taught at the Putaruru District High School.

Sarah’s death

Sarah Griffin died on 29 September 1943 at the age of 82.  She is buried at the Putaruru Cemetery, Waikato, New Zealand.

In 2017, Sarah Griffin’s great grand-daughter, Stephanie McKenzie planted daffodils at the foot of Sarah Griffin’s grave with half of the ashes of Sarah’s grand-daughter, Helen Meril Tidmarsh (nee Shanly).  Some of the happiest memories of Helen Meril Shanly were in her very early years with her grandmother Sarah Griffin.