ATYEO, Frederick George
Born 24 March 1896; died 20 November 1918; buried 21 November 1918; age 22
Frederick ATYEO overstated his age to join the army, served in Egypt and Gallipoli, was discharged medically unfit, re-enlisted 18 months later, and died of influenza at the war’s end.
Frederick, a single man from Christchurch, was born at 129 Montreal Street, Sydenham on 24 March 1896 (i). His father, William John Atyeo of Langport, Somerset, England was born in 1859 (ii). His mother Phoebe (née TOPP) of Woodend, Canterbury, New Zealand, was born in 1865.
They had married in St John’s Church Woolston on 20 June 1883. Frederick was their second son of three and their fifth child. He also had three sisters. His siblings were:
It is unclear how Frederick’s father came to New Zealand but he may have been attracted by the earlier migration of his brothers George, a Lyttelton carpenter and Alfred, station and postmaster at Doyleston (iv).
His father first appeared on the electoral roll in 1880/81 in Cheviot where he earned a living as a storekeeper in Sefton. By 1883 he had declared bankruptcy and moved to Sydenham. He took up work as a storeman by the time of the 1890 roll and was a commission agent by 1896.
William’s commission agent dealings took place in the horse racing industry where he worked as a ‘metallician’ or bookmaker well known for his ‘urbanity and fair dealing’, possessing ‘many good qualities… and the respect of all with whom he came in contact.’ (v) In 1896 William visited Australia, England, and America on racing business and England again in 1900. Newspaper reports followed both visits and in 1900 the racing community presented him with a travelling bag and a case of pipes at a social gathering (vi).
William and his wife were at different addresses in Montreal Street for some years raising their family while the children attended Sydenham School and connected with St Saviour’s Anglican church in the area.
Born 24 March 1896; died 20 November 1918; buried 21 November 1918; age 22
Frederick ATYEO overstated his age to join the army, served in Egypt and Gallipoli, was discharged medically unfit, re-enlisted 18 months later, and died of influenza at the war’s end.
Frederick, a single man from Christchurch, was born at 129 Montreal Street, Sydenham on 24 March 1896 (i). His father, William John Atyeo of Langport, Somerset, England was born in 1859 (ii). His mother Phoebe (née TOPP) of Woodend, Canterbury, New Zealand, was born in 1865.
They had married in St John’s Church Woolston on 20 June 1883. Frederick was their second son of three and their fifth child. He also had three sisters. His siblings were:
- Phoebe Elizabeth, known as Lizzie, born 22 March 1884.
- Anna born 5 February 1886, died when aged 7 in 1893 (iii).
- Vincent William born 1 October 1888.
- Elsie May born 27 June 1889.
- Leslie Charles born 24 March 1898.
It is unclear how Frederick’s father came to New Zealand but he may have been attracted by the earlier migration of his brothers George, a Lyttelton carpenter and Alfred, station and postmaster at Doyleston (iv).
His father first appeared on the electoral roll in 1880/81 in Cheviot where he earned a living as a storekeeper in Sefton. By 1883 he had declared bankruptcy and moved to Sydenham. He took up work as a storeman by the time of the 1890 roll and was a commission agent by 1896.
William’s commission agent dealings took place in the horse racing industry where he worked as a ‘metallician’ or bookmaker well known for his ‘urbanity and fair dealing’, possessing ‘many good qualities… and the respect of all with whom he came in contact.’ (v) In 1896 William visited Australia, England, and America on racing business and England again in 1900. Newspaper reports followed both visits and in 1900 the racing community presented him with a travelling bag and a case of pipes at a social gathering (vi).
William and his wife were at different addresses in Montreal Street for some years raising their family while the children attended Sydenham School and connected with St Saviour’s Anglican church in the area.
St Saviour’s Church, 200 Colombo Street, Sydenham, Christchurch
At some point, perhaps when her first children were less dependent, Phoebe established a nursing home known as ‘Kinloch’ at 129 Montreal Street and she continued this venture well into the first decade of the twentieth century. Many cities in New Zealand had small private facilities for providing nursing care where mothers gave birth and were looked after while they recovered and established infant feeding (vii).
The Atyeos were called on to provide very practical support when one of their daughters gave birth to a son on Christmas Day in 1905. Without a father on his 1908 birth registration, his school records show an earlier birth year and attendance at Shirley School when Phoebe was living in Fitzgerald Avenue, St Albans and then at Sumner School on her move to 101 Nayland Street. The lad was adopted by Frederick’s parents who raised him as one of their own (viii). They also supported other family members such as William’s brother, George, who died at their home at 13 Montreal Street in 1912 (ix).
Frederick took up tailoring on leaving school and would have served an apprenticeship. When he attested for the army in 1914, he was working for Costello tailoring in Christchurch city, and a single person.
Early in the war the minimum age to serve in the NZEF was 20; Frederick was only 18 in August 1914 when he enlisted but said that he was born in 1894 rather than 1896. On 15 October 1914 he was shipped to Egypt with the Main Body of the NZEF and served there in the Mounted Field Ambulance. Frederick was posted to the Egyptian Military Hospital from 1 February 1915 and on 12 May 1915 embarked for Dardanelles/Gallipoli. He was hospitalised with gastro enteritis on 10 August 1915 and on 20 November 1915 invalided back to New Zealand. He was medically discharged from the NZEF on 6 June 1916, (his dysentery resulting in debility). He then spent some time recuperating at home with his mother in Fitzgerald Avenue, after which he re-enlisted in the New Zealand Dental Corps on 25 June 1917 in Christchurch. However, his two attestations could have been for different soldiers: in one, Frederick was described as being 5’ 7 ½” tall, 157 lbs with fair complexion, grey eyes and brown hair, while on the second occasion he was described as being 5’ 9” tall, 176 lbs, fair-haired and blue-eyed.
Either way, he was still taller than his older brother Vincent who at 30, a coachbuilder and with a wife and child, attested in July 1918 at 5’ 5 ½”. (He was also fair-haired and blue-eyed). Vincent went on to serve overseas for a year and was discharged from the army in September 1919 (x). Their younger brother Leslie, a storeman and hotel keeper in later life, was called up in August 1916 (xi). However, as he has no army file, it would not appear he served (xii).
For his part, Frederick was sent for further training to Trentham Military Camp. He then contracted influenza and pneumonia; dying there on 20 November 1918 after 4 days in the military hospital. He was one of 78 deaths among servicemen at the camp (xiii).
Frederick was remembered in two memorial notices in the ‘Evening Post’ of 20 November 1919 from friends O Tomlinson and F O Champness who considered their pal ‘one of the best’.
The Atyeos were called on to provide very practical support when one of their daughters gave birth to a son on Christmas Day in 1905. Without a father on his 1908 birth registration, his school records show an earlier birth year and attendance at Shirley School when Phoebe was living in Fitzgerald Avenue, St Albans and then at Sumner School on her move to 101 Nayland Street. The lad was adopted by Frederick’s parents who raised him as one of their own (viii). They also supported other family members such as William’s brother, George, who died at their home at 13 Montreal Street in 1912 (ix).
Frederick took up tailoring on leaving school and would have served an apprenticeship. When he attested for the army in 1914, he was working for Costello tailoring in Christchurch city, and a single person.
Early in the war the minimum age to serve in the NZEF was 20; Frederick was only 18 in August 1914 when he enlisted but said that he was born in 1894 rather than 1896. On 15 October 1914 he was shipped to Egypt with the Main Body of the NZEF and served there in the Mounted Field Ambulance. Frederick was posted to the Egyptian Military Hospital from 1 February 1915 and on 12 May 1915 embarked for Dardanelles/Gallipoli. He was hospitalised with gastro enteritis on 10 August 1915 and on 20 November 1915 invalided back to New Zealand. He was medically discharged from the NZEF on 6 June 1916, (his dysentery resulting in debility). He then spent some time recuperating at home with his mother in Fitzgerald Avenue, after which he re-enlisted in the New Zealand Dental Corps on 25 June 1917 in Christchurch. However, his two attestations could have been for different soldiers: in one, Frederick was described as being 5’ 7 ½” tall, 157 lbs with fair complexion, grey eyes and brown hair, while on the second occasion he was described as being 5’ 9” tall, 176 lbs, fair-haired and blue-eyed.
Either way, he was still taller than his older brother Vincent who at 30, a coachbuilder and with a wife and child, attested in July 1918 at 5’ 5 ½”. (He was also fair-haired and blue-eyed). Vincent went on to serve overseas for a year and was discharged from the army in September 1919 (x). Their younger brother Leslie, a storeman and hotel keeper in later life, was called up in August 1916 (xi). However, as he has no army file, it would not appear he served (xii).
For his part, Frederick was sent for further training to Trentham Military Camp. He then contracted influenza and pneumonia; dying there on 20 November 1918 after 4 days in the military hospital. He was one of 78 deaths among servicemen at the camp (xiii).
Frederick was remembered in two memorial notices in the ‘Evening Post’ of 20 November 1919 from friends O Tomlinson and F O Champness who considered their pal ‘one of the best’.
Regimental No: 3/130a
Regiment/Service: New Zealand Medical Corps; New Zealand Dental Corps
Rank: Private
Military decorations: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Grave information: Karori Cemetery, Wellington, New Zealand; Section Soldiers, Plot 5 C
Sources: Digitised Record: http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE10647148; NZBDM and NZ Birth Certificate 1896/17635.
Researched & written by Barney Campbell and Jenny Robertson
(i) The ‘Press’ 13 April 1918, page 3.
(ii) In the 1861 England census, William Atyeo was aged 1 with five living siblings still at home; his mother Jane was 46 with his father William, 50, (a trained mason and bricklayer) working as a grocer in Langport where all their younger children had been born. Older brothers Frederick and George had left home.
(iii) The ‘Press’ 1 April 1893, page 1
(iv) Older brothers Frederick and Francis Atyeo migrated to Melbourne.
(v) The ‘Press’ 25 April 1896 page 4; ‘Otago Witness’ 22 March 1900, page 41. The first mention on Papers Past of W Atyeo bookmaking appears in the ‘Otago Witness’ 14 February 1895.
(vi) ‘Otago Witness’ 24 September 1896, page 33, the ‘Press’ 25 April 1893, page 4, ‘Otago Witness’ 22 March 1900, page 41.
(vii) See, for example, birth notices in the Star of 14 March 1908, the ‘Press’ of 3 February and 1 November 1905, and the ‘Lyttelton Times’ of 25 October 1906 and 24 July 1907.
(viii) See probate on Family Search website of William John Atyeo who died in 1940.
(ix) The ‘Press’ 12 February 1912 death notice for George Atyeo, brother of Wm J Atyeo, in his 73rd year. George worked as a builder around the Heathcote Valley, Lyttelton, and Christchurch. He married Jane LEES in 1898, the same year that she disappeared to Wellington for a time in pursuit of spiritualist goals. George wrote to the Superintendent of Police seeking enquiries to be made about her, but the police declined to become involved. (Source Archives NZ, Wellington office, ACIS 17627/256 Rec 1898/525 from ATYEO, George.) Jane signed the 1893 women’s electoral petition as Jane Atyeo and was registered as a voter under this name on the 1896 electoral roll in Heathcote Valley; it would appear that Jane and George were a couple for some years before their marriage. In 1900 Jane was again with George on a Christchurch electoral roll. Their child Winifred born/died in 1881 was acknowledged by George in her funeral notice (‘Press’ 22 November 1881, page 1) and there may be others (such as Vera Jane born in 1878/9) whose births were either unregistered or whose surname in BDM is mis-transcribed making it difficult to locate the record. A child school record in the Heathcote Valley for a child named Jane Atyeo gives this child a birth year of 1878 with George listed as her parent. George’s wife Jane moved to Wellington where she died on 7 October 1905 at 13 Barker Street (‘Evening Post’ 9 October 1905, page 1) after practising from around 1903 in the lower North Island as a clairvoyant, psychometrist, seer, and inspirational medium on marriage and health prospects. Jane Atyeo was buried in Karori Cemetery in Public 2, plot 21 G.
(x) The ‘Press’ 30 March 1917 page 5 reports Vincent Atyeo’s conviction for assaulting Henry Wilson in Christchurch.
(xi) The ‘Sun’ 26 August 1916, page 2.
(xii) Leslie Atyeo was reported in the ‘Press’ of 29 July 1916, page 5 as failing to attend drill and being fined 10 shillings with costs.
(xiii) http://www.lynly.gen.nz/HVUHMSC1918InfluenzaVictimsTrenthamCamp.pdf
Regiment/Service: New Zealand Medical Corps; New Zealand Dental Corps
Rank: Private
Military decorations: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Grave information: Karori Cemetery, Wellington, New Zealand; Section Soldiers, Plot 5 C
Sources: Digitised Record: http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE10647148; NZBDM and NZ Birth Certificate 1896/17635.
Researched & written by Barney Campbell and Jenny Robertson
(i) The ‘Press’ 13 April 1918, page 3.
(ii) In the 1861 England census, William Atyeo was aged 1 with five living siblings still at home; his mother Jane was 46 with his father William, 50, (a trained mason and bricklayer) working as a grocer in Langport where all their younger children had been born. Older brothers Frederick and George had left home.
(iii) The ‘Press’ 1 April 1893, page 1
(iv) Older brothers Frederick and Francis Atyeo migrated to Melbourne.
(v) The ‘Press’ 25 April 1896 page 4; ‘Otago Witness’ 22 March 1900, page 41. The first mention on Papers Past of W Atyeo bookmaking appears in the ‘Otago Witness’ 14 February 1895.
(vi) ‘Otago Witness’ 24 September 1896, page 33, the ‘Press’ 25 April 1893, page 4, ‘Otago Witness’ 22 March 1900, page 41.
(vii) See, for example, birth notices in the Star of 14 March 1908, the ‘Press’ of 3 February and 1 November 1905, and the ‘Lyttelton Times’ of 25 October 1906 and 24 July 1907.
(viii) See probate on Family Search website of William John Atyeo who died in 1940.
(ix) The ‘Press’ 12 February 1912 death notice for George Atyeo, brother of Wm J Atyeo, in his 73rd year. George worked as a builder around the Heathcote Valley, Lyttelton, and Christchurch. He married Jane LEES in 1898, the same year that she disappeared to Wellington for a time in pursuit of spiritualist goals. George wrote to the Superintendent of Police seeking enquiries to be made about her, but the police declined to become involved. (Source Archives NZ, Wellington office, ACIS 17627/256 Rec 1898/525 from ATYEO, George.) Jane signed the 1893 women’s electoral petition as Jane Atyeo and was registered as a voter under this name on the 1896 electoral roll in Heathcote Valley; it would appear that Jane and George were a couple for some years before their marriage. In 1900 Jane was again with George on a Christchurch electoral roll. Their child Winifred born/died in 1881 was acknowledged by George in her funeral notice (‘Press’ 22 November 1881, page 1) and there may be others (such as Vera Jane born in 1878/9) whose births were either unregistered or whose surname in BDM is mis-transcribed making it difficult to locate the record. A child school record in the Heathcote Valley for a child named Jane Atyeo gives this child a birth year of 1878 with George listed as her parent. George’s wife Jane moved to Wellington where she died on 7 October 1905 at 13 Barker Street (‘Evening Post’ 9 October 1905, page 1) after practising from around 1903 in the lower North Island as a clairvoyant, psychometrist, seer, and inspirational medium on marriage and health prospects. Jane Atyeo was buried in Karori Cemetery in Public 2, plot 21 G.
(x) The ‘Press’ 30 March 1917 page 5 reports Vincent Atyeo’s conviction for assaulting Henry Wilson in Christchurch.
(xi) The ‘Sun’ 26 August 1916, page 2.
(xii) Leslie Atyeo was reported in the ‘Press’ of 29 July 1916, page 5 as failing to attend drill and being fined 10 shillings with costs.
(xiii) http://www.lynly.gen.nz/HVUHMSC1918InfluenzaVictimsTrenthamCamp.pdf