Sarah Page (née 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.
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Early life and family
Sarah Saunders was born in Waimea South, Nelson, New Zealand in 1863. She was one of ten children of Rhoda Saunders (née Flower) and Alfred Saunders, a radical politician, and grew up surrounded by Quakers. 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 and was the organisation's secretary in 1905–06. She was an ardent critic of conscription and upset Prime Minister William Massey and the Minister of Internal Affairs, George Warren Russell, with her criticism. Her son Robert Page was a conscientious objector and was imprisoned in 1918.