Sarah was born in 1845 in Worsley.1 Sarah's father was Peter Mather and her mother was Hannah Hodson. Her paternal grandparents were Ellis Mather and Ann Thornley. She had three sisters named Mary, Alice and Betty. She was the oldest of the four children. She had a half-brother and a half-sister, named John and Ann. She died at the age of 35 in 1880.