Mrs John George Sage was born as Elizabeth Ann Cazaly in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England on 3 August 1865 and she was later baptised in St Jude's, Islington, London on 20 June 1869.

She was the daughter of Francis Wilmot Cazaly (1832-1904), a warehouseman originally from Chichester, Sussex, and his wife Sophia Lucker (b. 1833) of Sonning, Oxfordshire; her father was of French-Huguenot extraction.

She had nine known siblings: Jane Louisa (b. 1858), Francis Edwin (b. 1860), Edward Lewis (b. 1862), Alice Sophia (b. 1864), Alfred Thomas (b. 1867), George Wilmot (b. 1868), Kathleen Maria (b. 1871), Charles Frederick (b. 1874) and Charlotte Helen (b. 1876).

Elizabeth and her family settled in Islington, London a few years after her birth and they are shown on the 1871 census as residents of 16 Woodville Road; the 1881 census shows them living at 44 Forest Road, Hackney and Annie is then described as an underclothing apprentice (shirt seamstress).

She was married in St John's Church, Hackney on 2 November 1890 to John George Sage (b. 1867), a corn chandler, and her local address was given as 3 Church Road, West Hackney; the newly married couple appeared on the 1891 census as residents of 253 Queen's Road, Hackney.

They would go on to be the parents of nine children: Stella Anna (b. 1891), George John (b. 1892), Douglas Bullen (b. 1893), Frederick (b. 1895), Dorothy Florence (b. 1897), Anthony William (b. 1899), Elizabeth Ada (b. 1901), Constance Gladys (b. 1904) and Thomas Henry (b. 1907).

Elizabeth and her family moved to Norfolk sometime around the turn of the century where her husband became a publican and ran the New Inn in Gaywood, Norfolk; the family appeared at that address on the 1901 census. By 1911 the family home was 246 Gladstone Street in Peterborough, Northamptonshire and her husband was described as a baker; they had moved there around 1910 and taken over a bakers and confectioners from a Mr Plant.

In April 1911 her husband and eldest son travelled to Winnipeg, Manitoba where they both worked as cooks with the Central Pacific Railway. After some months, Mr Sage and his son had saved sufficient money to embark out in a venture of their own and he purchased a fruit farm at Jacksonville, Florida, which he intended to cultivate for pecans. He sent a postcard to his wife which shows how taken he was with Florida:

John returned to Britain aboard the Corsican, arriving in London 1 September; his son George followed two months later. A plan was hatched to bring the whole family across the Atlantic. John's enthusiasm was evidently not shared by Annie who did not want to leave England, having a fear of water; her daughter Dorothy (Dolly) had fallen into a well in the back yard of the family home and almost drowned. Annie also appears to have been rather timid by nature too.

It was originally intended that the family would travel aboard the Philadelphia but the coal strike forced them to take passage on Titanic instead. After bidding their farewells to many well-wishers the family travelled by train to Southampton and board Titanic on 10 April 1912 as third class passengers (ticket number 2343 which had cost £69, 11s).

It is likely that the family was able to reach the deck shortly before the Titanic went down as there are reports that Stella had got into a lifeboat but left it when other members of her family were unable to join her.

The whole family were lost in the sinking; out of the eleven-strong crowd only Anthony William's body was recovered.