COSTIN, Frank Thomas
Born 16 October 1877; died 23 November 1918; buried 24 November 1918; age 42
Frank COSTIN was an Australian, born in Queensland in 1877 to grocer Henry Gilbert Costin and his wife Emily née BALDWIN. Frank’s father had been born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1842 and married Emily, Frank’s mother, in Brisbane in 1868. Emily came from Stepney, London and was born about 1847. According to his descendants Henry Costin was a supporter of the separation of Queensland from New South Wales which took place in 1859 [i].
Frank was their fourth and youngest son. As well as three brothers Frank also had four sisters. His siblings were all born between 1869 and 1886 in Queensland. The older ones were:
Frank Thomas was then followed by:
Family sources show that Frank came to Wellington late in 1902 [ii] to help run its tram service, which was going through a period of extension and electrification. In 1905 when he first appeared on a New Zealand electoral roll in Newtown Frank was working as a tramway inspector and living at 9 Russell Terrace.
In 1907 Frank married a widow, Effie Amy PRINGLE née MUIR (born 1881) [iii]. They married in the Anglican Church in Newtown. Effie had married her first husband, Captain John Pringle, only in 1904, in Masterton, and together they had one son, Bertram Howard Pringle born on 3 October 1905. But in August 1906, aged 45, John Pringle, a self-employed saddler, died after a short illness:
Captain John Pringle, who served with the Fourth [and the Seventh] New Zealand Mounted Infantry in South Africa, died at Masterton on Saturday. Captain Pringle, who lived at Otaki for a long-time, was very well known in Wellington.
New Zealand Times 13 August 1906
His fellow soldiers from the South African war contributed to a memorial to John Pringle erected in Masterton Cemetery.
In his role as a new husband for Effie and a stepfather for Bertie, Frank appears on the next electoral roll in 1911 in Rintoul Street working as a stationer. By 1912 he was a bookseller in Berhampore. By 1914 the business was a grocery, perhaps housing the Costin family above or behind as the address given for his voter registration was 462 Adelaide Road, which is in the shopping centre in Berhampore.
Frank and Effie had two children, the first, Frank Grenville was born in 1908 (known as ‘Gundy’ on one of his school records) while the second, Joan Veronica, arrived in 1912. School records show the children attended schools in South Wellington, Berhampore in 1915/16 and Lyall Bay from July 1916.
In June 1915 while still living at 462 Adelaide Road, Berhampore, Frank attested for service in World War I. With dark brown hair and eyes and a dark complexion, Frank was 5ft 5 ½ inches tall and his army file shows that he had worked as a grocer and as a Wellington City Council driver. In the army Frank served as a quarter master and as a sergeant major but with arthritis and bronchial asthma, he was found to be fit only for home service.
Born 16 October 1877; died 23 November 1918; buried 24 November 1918; age 42
Frank COSTIN was an Australian, born in Queensland in 1877 to grocer Henry Gilbert Costin and his wife Emily née BALDWIN. Frank’s father had been born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1842 and married Emily, Frank’s mother, in Brisbane in 1868. Emily came from Stepney, London and was born about 1847. According to his descendants Henry Costin was a supporter of the separation of Queensland from New South Wales which took place in 1859 [i].
Frank was their fourth and youngest son. As well as three brothers Frank also had four sisters. His siblings were all born between 1869 and 1886 in Queensland. The older ones were:
- Ernest Henry born in 1869
- Arthur Henry born in 1871
- Edith Emily born in 1873
- Alfred Joseph born in 1875
Frank Thomas was then followed by:
- Cecilia Maria born in 1880
- Lucy born in 1884, and
- Florence Elsie born in 1886.
Family sources show that Frank came to Wellington late in 1902 [ii] to help run its tram service, which was going through a period of extension and electrification. In 1905 when he first appeared on a New Zealand electoral roll in Newtown Frank was working as a tramway inspector and living at 9 Russell Terrace.
In 1907 Frank married a widow, Effie Amy PRINGLE née MUIR (born 1881) [iii]. They married in the Anglican Church in Newtown. Effie had married her first husband, Captain John Pringle, only in 1904, in Masterton, and together they had one son, Bertram Howard Pringle born on 3 October 1905. But in August 1906, aged 45, John Pringle, a self-employed saddler, died after a short illness:
Captain John Pringle, who served with the Fourth [and the Seventh] New Zealand Mounted Infantry in South Africa, died at Masterton on Saturday. Captain Pringle, who lived at Otaki for a long-time, was very well known in Wellington.
New Zealand Times 13 August 1906
His fellow soldiers from the South African war contributed to a memorial to John Pringle erected in Masterton Cemetery.
In his role as a new husband for Effie and a stepfather for Bertie, Frank appears on the next electoral roll in 1911 in Rintoul Street working as a stationer. By 1912 he was a bookseller in Berhampore. By 1914 the business was a grocery, perhaps housing the Costin family above or behind as the address given for his voter registration was 462 Adelaide Road, which is in the shopping centre in Berhampore.
Frank and Effie had two children, the first, Frank Grenville was born in 1908 (known as ‘Gundy’ on one of his school records) while the second, Joan Veronica, arrived in 1912. School records show the children attended schools in South Wellington, Berhampore in 1915/16 and Lyall Bay from July 1916.
In June 1915 while still living at 462 Adelaide Road, Berhampore, Frank attested for service in World War I. With dark brown hair and eyes and a dark complexion, Frank was 5ft 5 ½ inches tall and his army file shows that he had worked as a grocer and as a Wellington City Council driver. In the army Frank served as a quarter master and as a sergeant major but with arthritis and bronchial asthma, he was found to be fit only for home service.
Frank Costin standing on far left
(With kind permission of Trish Costin and Adele Beveridge, great granddaughters of Frank Costin)
(With kind permission of Trish Costin and Adele Beveridge, great granddaughters of Frank Costin)
During his period of service the family moved to 198 Sutherland Road, Lyall Bay, and it was from there that Frank was taken when he got sick with influenza to the 67-bed St John’s temporary hospital in Dixon Street [iv]. His condition worsened and he died on 23 November, and was buried next day in the Public 2 section of Karori Cemetery. His occupation at the time was described as ‘clerk’ but it is not clear where he worked.
198 Sutherland Road, Lyall Bay
The headstone on Frank’s grave is surmounted by a cross.
The plaque on the headstone says:
‘In Memoriam.
Frank
Beloved husband of
Effie COSTIN
Died 23rd Nov 1918
Aged 42 yrs.’
Public Health contributed £7 towards the £10/15/0 cost of his funeral and it does not seem that the balance was subsequently paid [v]. The burial plot costs, however, were met by Effie on 7 May 1919.
The same year, Effie married Percy Cyril DORN, a returned serviceman. Percy was a New Zealander born in 1890 who worked as a Post and Telegraph stores clerk. The couple moved to Mt Eden in Auckland to bring up Effie’s children. She died aged 62 in July 1945.
The plaque on the headstone says:
‘In Memoriam.
Frank
Beloved husband of
Effie COSTIN
Died 23rd Nov 1918
Aged 42 yrs.’
Public Health contributed £7 towards the £10/15/0 cost of his funeral and it does not seem that the balance was subsequently paid [v]. The burial plot costs, however, were met by Effie on 7 May 1919.
The same year, Effie married Percy Cyril DORN, a returned serviceman. Percy was a New Zealander born in 1890 who worked as a Post and Telegraph stores clerk. The couple moved to Mt Eden in Auckland to bring up Effie’s children. She died aged 62 in July 1945.
From right Percy and Effie Dorn (nee Muir, then Pringle, then Costin), Bert Pringle (top), and Frank and Joan Costin
(With kind permission of Trish Costin and Adele Beveridge, great granddaughters of Frank Costin)
(With kind permission of Trish Costin and Adele Beveridge, great granddaughters of Frank Costin)
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson, with additional input by Trish Costin and Adele Beveridge
Grave Information:
Section: PUBLIC2
Plot: 315 I
Sources:
[i] Email dated 10 February 2018 from Adele Beveridge.
[ii] Email dated 10 February 2018 from Adele Beveridge. Frank’s name does appear on the electoral roll in Brisbane in 1903, but it is possible this was carried over from a prior registration.
[iii] Effie’s grandfather James Muir, a Scot, was one of the founders of the Wellington Independent newspaper (family sources).
[iv] Family information is that Frank had already had influenza earlier and not long after went fishing to help feed his family. He then had a relapse, having been weakened from this first contact.
[v] E Morris Junior funeral register for November 1918 held by Turnbull Library, Wellington.
Grave Information:
Section: PUBLIC2
Plot: 315 I
Sources:
[i] Email dated 10 February 2018 from Adele Beveridge.
[ii] Email dated 10 February 2018 from Adele Beveridge. Frank’s name does appear on the electoral roll in Brisbane in 1903, but it is possible this was carried over from a prior registration.
[iii] Effie’s grandfather James Muir, a Scot, was one of the founders of the Wellington Independent newspaper (family sources).
[iv] Family information is that Frank had already had influenza earlier and not long after went fishing to help feed his family. He then had a relapse, having been weakened from this first contact.
[v] E Morris Junior funeral register for November 1918 held by Turnbull Library, Wellington.