ROBINSON, Eva Katherine/Catherine
Born 20 August 1883; died: 16 November 1918; buried: 17 November 1918; age 35
Eva Katherine/Catherine ROBINSON was born on 20 August 1883 at the School House, Manuka Creek, Otago, daughter of Alexander & Mary Ann McDUFF. Her birth was announced in the Bruce Herald Newspaper on 24 August 1883.
Alexander & Mary had five other children: Alexander John (1874); Ada Maude Whyte (1875); Mary Ann (1878); Mabel (1880); William Peter (1890).
The children attended a number of schools as their father was a teacher and moved from school to school around Otago, Southland and Canterbury. Eva was a pupil at Clinton Public School in February 1891, having previously attended Taieri Ferry School. In September 1891 she was moved to Rangitata Island School in South Canterbury before transferring once again to Timaru Main School. In August 1893 Eva started at Redcliffs School, Waimate.
Alexander McDuff died in 1897 and was buried in Tapanui Cemetery in West Otago. In the 1905 Electoral Roll his wife Mary Ann & daughter Mabel were living in Leonard Street, Waimate, but by 1911 had moved to Bay View Road, St Kilda, Dunedin where Eva & William Peter joined their mother and sister. Mary Ann McDuff died on 27 June 1915 and was buried with her husband in Tapanui Cemetery.
On 13 September 1917 Eva married Stanley Stuart Llewellyn ROBINSON at the Registry Office, Dunedin. Stanley, aged 24, had been a fishmonger but in June 1917, three months prior to marrying Eva, he had signed up for active service and was about to be sent overseas.
His military personnel file records that Stanley claimed he had three children. The first - named as Robin SUTHERLAND - was said to have been born on 19 April 1909, when Stanley would have been only 16 years old. No child called Robin Sutherland is recorded as being born on that date in NZ, but a James Stanley Robinson was born to an Elizabeth and Stanley Robinson in 1909.
Another two children were named as Horace Stuart McDuff Robinson, born 27 July 1914, and Noel McDuff Robinson, born 25 August 1917. These were presumably his children by Eva Catherine McDuff. Neither were registered about the time they were born, and there are also no death records for either of them as infants/young children.
Eva, and the children, must have moved to Wellington to be near to Stanley when he was in the training camps at Featherston or Trentham. His father, Burleigh Robinson, was living in Frederick Street, Te Aro, so perhaps he took Eva and the children in. When she became ill with influenza Eva was taken to the temporary hospital at Alexandra Hall in nearby Abel Smith Street, where she died on 16th November. She was buried in the Anglican section of Karori Cemetery the next day, and Reverend Fancourt conducted the service. A death notice, referring to her as the wife of Private Stanley Robinson of the 31st Reinforcements was inserted in the Evening Post on 18 November, but no children were noted.
“Robinson – On the 16th November, 1918, of pneumonia, at the Alexandra Hall, Eva, wife of Private Stanley Robinson, 31st Reinforcements; aged 30 years.”
(Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 121, 18 November 1918)
When Stanley returned from active service he inserted an In Memoriam notice in the Evening Post, on 15 November 1919. The notice makes no reference to any children.
Eva’s plot was never paid for, and no grave/headstone constructed. In the late 1960’s her plot was resold and there is a plaque with another family name on the grave.
The fate of her children is not known. However, there is a birth record on NZ BDM online database for a Horace McDuff Robinson, which was registered in 1932, though the birth date is 1914. The recorded parents were Eva Catherine and Stanley Robinson. Horace was illegitimate so perhaps he wanted or needed to legitimize his birth when he was entering adulthood, or before his father died in July 1932 in Greymouth.
Researched and written by Beverley Hamlin
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 51 E
Sources:
1. Birth notice - Bruce Herald Newspaper births 1864-1905 from www.dunedinfamilyhistory.co.nz
2. New Zealand Births Deaths & Marriages historical – www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
3. Newspapers – www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
4. School Records – New Zealand Society of Genealogists – Kiwi Collection
5. Karori Cemetery – www.wellington.govt.nz › Services › Community & culture › Cemeteries
6. Robinson Family information – www.ancestry.co.uk
7. WW1 - Archway
8. New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 – www.ancestry.co.uk
Born 20 August 1883; died: 16 November 1918; buried: 17 November 1918; age 35
Eva Katherine/Catherine ROBINSON was born on 20 August 1883 at the School House, Manuka Creek, Otago, daughter of Alexander & Mary Ann McDUFF. Her birth was announced in the Bruce Herald Newspaper on 24 August 1883.
Alexander & Mary had five other children: Alexander John (1874); Ada Maude Whyte (1875); Mary Ann (1878); Mabel (1880); William Peter (1890).
The children attended a number of schools as their father was a teacher and moved from school to school around Otago, Southland and Canterbury. Eva was a pupil at Clinton Public School in February 1891, having previously attended Taieri Ferry School. In September 1891 she was moved to Rangitata Island School in South Canterbury before transferring once again to Timaru Main School. In August 1893 Eva started at Redcliffs School, Waimate.
Alexander McDuff died in 1897 and was buried in Tapanui Cemetery in West Otago. In the 1905 Electoral Roll his wife Mary Ann & daughter Mabel were living in Leonard Street, Waimate, but by 1911 had moved to Bay View Road, St Kilda, Dunedin where Eva & William Peter joined their mother and sister. Mary Ann McDuff died on 27 June 1915 and was buried with her husband in Tapanui Cemetery.
On 13 September 1917 Eva married Stanley Stuart Llewellyn ROBINSON at the Registry Office, Dunedin. Stanley, aged 24, had been a fishmonger but in June 1917, three months prior to marrying Eva, he had signed up for active service and was about to be sent overseas.
His military personnel file records that Stanley claimed he had three children. The first - named as Robin SUTHERLAND - was said to have been born on 19 April 1909, when Stanley would have been only 16 years old. No child called Robin Sutherland is recorded as being born on that date in NZ, but a James Stanley Robinson was born to an Elizabeth and Stanley Robinson in 1909.
Another two children were named as Horace Stuart McDuff Robinson, born 27 July 1914, and Noel McDuff Robinson, born 25 August 1917. These were presumably his children by Eva Catherine McDuff. Neither were registered about the time they were born, and there are also no death records for either of them as infants/young children.
Eva, and the children, must have moved to Wellington to be near to Stanley when he was in the training camps at Featherston or Trentham. His father, Burleigh Robinson, was living in Frederick Street, Te Aro, so perhaps he took Eva and the children in. When she became ill with influenza Eva was taken to the temporary hospital at Alexandra Hall in nearby Abel Smith Street, where she died on 16th November. She was buried in the Anglican section of Karori Cemetery the next day, and Reverend Fancourt conducted the service. A death notice, referring to her as the wife of Private Stanley Robinson of the 31st Reinforcements was inserted in the Evening Post on 18 November, but no children were noted.
“Robinson – On the 16th November, 1918, of pneumonia, at the Alexandra Hall, Eva, wife of Private Stanley Robinson, 31st Reinforcements; aged 30 years.”
(Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 121, 18 November 1918)
When Stanley returned from active service he inserted an In Memoriam notice in the Evening Post, on 15 November 1919. The notice makes no reference to any children.
Eva’s plot was never paid for, and no grave/headstone constructed. In the late 1960’s her plot was resold and there is a plaque with another family name on the grave.
The fate of her children is not known. However, there is a birth record on NZ BDM online database for a Horace McDuff Robinson, which was registered in 1932, though the birth date is 1914. The recorded parents were Eva Catherine and Stanley Robinson. Horace was illegitimate so perhaps he wanted or needed to legitimize his birth when he was entering adulthood, or before his father died in July 1932 in Greymouth.
Researched and written by Beverley Hamlin
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 51 E
Sources:
1. Birth notice - Bruce Herald Newspaper births 1864-1905 from www.dunedinfamilyhistory.co.nz
2. New Zealand Births Deaths & Marriages historical – www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
3. Newspapers – www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
4. School Records – New Zealand Society of Genealogists – Kiwi Collection
5. Karori Cemetery – www.wellington.govt.nz › Services › Community & culture › Cemeteries
6. Robinson Family information – www.ancestry.co.uk
7. WW1 - Archway
8. New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 – www.ancestry.co.uk