DUMBLE, Frederick
Born 21 March 1876; died 23 November 1918; buried 24 November 1918; age 43
Frederick was born in Blenheim on 21 March 1876. His parents, John and Elizabeth DUMBLE, were originally from St Austell, Cornwall in England. Elizabeth, nee TILLER, was born in 1834 and died in 1908 aged 74. John, recorded as a pedlar in Frederick’s birth certificate, was born in 1835 and died aged 70 in 1912 in New Zealand.
They had two children in Cornwall before coming to New Zealand: Bessie in 1860 and Alfred in 1862. Six others were born in Blenheim: William Charles (1865), Annie (1867), Albert John (1869), John Edward (1871), Jane (1873), and Frederick.
Their parents arrived in New Zealand around 1865, according to a report in the Evening Post of 2 August 1901 which said they had both been granted annual old age pensions of 8 pounds (John) and 13 pounds (Elizabeth).
In 1868 they were recorded as living in Big Bush, Marlborough. By 1875 John was advertising his Temperance Boarding House for several years in Blenheim newspapers. He offered comfortable accommodation for boarders and visitors in Maxwell Road, Blenheim, with good stabling, horse feed etc.
Reports about John also appeared several times in the local press. On 31 December 1880 he was charged with a breach of the Vagrancy Act at the Magistrate’s Court in Havelock, by running a pretended game of chance. On 17 November 1884 he was also charged with assault and indecent language, but he did not appear in court. The magistrate proceeded with the case anyway. The charge followed an altercation with the borough poundkeeper, who had objected to John grazing his horse across a footpath. Several witnesses confirmed the charges. He was fined 40 shillings and 14 shillings costs on the charge of indecent language. He was bound over to keep the peace for 6 months for 25 pounds with one surety of 10 pounds, but the charge of assault was dismissed.
On 12 February 1888 a rates-due notice was placed on his premises in Main St.
There may have been other issues for the family to deal with - when Elizabeth died in 1908 the following notice appeared in The Evening Post of 7 December:
DUMBLE - On Saturday, the 5th December, at Porirua, Elizabeth, wife of John Dumble, of Wellington, in her 72nd year. At rest. Private interment.
Three years prior to her death, Frederick (her son) had been ordered to pay 2/6d a week towards maintenance of his mother as an inmate of a mental hospital.
Frederick married Lillian Annie FRITH (known as Lilly) on 26 April 1905 in Wellington. Lilly was born in 1883 in Christchurch. Her parents were William Frith and Sophia Mary SKELTON; she had five siblings.
In the 1900 Electoral Roll Frederick was listed as living in Elizabeth Street, Mt Victoria. He was described as a grocer. By 1905 he and Lilly were living at 97 Adelaide Road, and Frederick’s occupation listed as clerk.
They had two children: Violet Elizabeth, who was registered in 1906 (died 1987 in Wellington); and Frank who was registered in 1909 (died 1998 in Tawa).
There are several reports of Magistrate’s Court decisions concerning Frederick:
In 1918 Frederick died of influenza and pneumonia on 23 November, aged 42, at the Sydney St Temporary Hospital in Wellington (after transferring from Pipitea Street).
A death notice the Evening Post 25 November 1918 announced his passing:
DUMBLE - On the 23rd November, 1918, at Sydney-street Temporary Hospital, of influenza and pneumonia, Frederick Dumble; aged 42 years
Lilly did not remarry and died suddenly aged 37 in 1924. She is buried in Karori Cemetery with Frederick.
Grave Information:
Section: PUBLIC2
Plot: 361 L
Researched and written by John Boyd and Beverley Hamlin
Sources:
1. New Zealand Births Deaths & Marriages historical – www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
2. Newspapers – www.paperspast.natlib.gov.nz
3. Karori Cemetery – www.wellington.govt.nz > Services > Community & Culture > Cemeteries
4. New Zealand Electoral Rolls and family information – www.ancestry.co.uk
Born 21 March 1876; died 23 November 1918; buried 24 November 1918; age 43
Frederick was born in Blenheim on 21 March 1876. His parents, John and Elizabeth DUMBLE, were originally from St Austell, Cornwall in England. Elizabeth, nee TILLER, was born in 1834 and died in 1908 aged 74. John, recorded as a pedlar in Frederick’s birth certificate, was born in 1835 and died aged 70 in 1912 in New Zealand.
They had two children in Cornwall before coming to New Zealand: Bessie in 1860 and Alfred in 1862. Six others were born in Blenheim: William Charles (1865), Annie (1867), Albert John (1869), John Edward (1871), Jane (1873), and Frederick.
Their parents arrived in New Zealand around 1865, according to a report in the Evening Post of 2 August 1901 which said they had both been granted annual old age pensions of 8 pounds (John) and 13 pounds (Elizabeth).
In 1868 they were recorded as living in Big Bush, Marlborough. By 1875 John was advertising his Temperance Boarding House for several years in Blenheim newspapers. He offered comfortable accommodation for boarders and visitors in Maxwell Road, Blenheim, with good stabling, horse feed etc.
Reports about John also appeared several times in the local press. On 31 December 1880 he was charged with a breach of the Vagrancy Act at the Magistrate’s Court in Havelock, by running a pretended game of chance. On 17 November 1884 he was also charged with assault and indecent language, but he did not appear in court. The magistrate proceeded with the case anyway. The charge followed an altercation with the borough poundkeeper, who had objected to John grazing his horse across a footpath. Several witnesses confirmed the charges. He was fined 40 shillings and 14 shillings costs on the charge of indecent language. He was bound over to keep the peace for 6 months for 25 pounds with one surety of 10 pounds, but the charge of assault was dismissed.
On 12 February 1888 a rates-due notice was placed on his premises in Main St.
There may have been other issues for the family to deal with - when Elizabeth died in 1908 the following notice appeared in The Evening Post of 7 December:
DUMBLE - On Saturday, the 5th December, at Porirua, Elizabeth, wife of John Dumble, of Wellington, in her 72nd year. At rest. Private interment.
Three years prior to her death, Frederick (her son) had been ordered to pay 2/6d a week towards maintenance of his mother as an inmate of a mental hospital.
Frederick married Lillian Annie FRITH (known as Lilly) on 26 April 1905 in Wellington. Lilly was born in 1883 in Christchurch. Her parents were William Frith and Sophia Mary SKELTON; she had five siblings.
In the 1900 Electoral Roll Frederick was listed as living in Elizabeth Street, Mt Victoria. He was described as a grocer. By 1905 he and Lilly were living at 97 Adelaide Road, and Frederick’s occupation listed as clerk.
They had two children: Violet Elizabeth, who was registered in 1906 (died 1987 in Wellington); and Frank who was registered in 1909 (died 1998 in Tawa).
There are several reports of Magistrate’s Court decisions concerning Frederick:
- Like his father, he appeared to like a gamble. The New Zealand Times of 24 February 1905 reported that he was sued for 2 pounds 8s as the amount due to complainants for a bet he placed on their behalf but which they did not receive. The suit failed as the transaction was deemed to be illegal.
- The Evening Post of 7 August 1905 reported that he was ordered to pay 2/6d a week towards maintenance of his mother as an inmate of a mental hospital.
- The Magistrate’s Court on 24 September 1908 convicted and fined him for leaving a vehicle standing in street without proper control and ordered him to pay 20s plus 7s costs.
In 1918 Frederick died of influenza and pneumonia on 23 November, aged 42, at the Sydney St Temporary Hospital in Wellington (after transferring from Pipitea Street).
A death notice the Evening Post 25 November 1918 announced his passing:
DUMBLE - On the 23rd November, 1918, at Sydney-street Temporary Hospital, of influenza and pneumonia, Frederick Dumble; aged 42 years
Lilly did not remarry and died suddenly aged 37 in 1924. She is buried in Karori Cemetery with Frederick.
Grave Information:
Section: PUBLIC2
Plot: 361 L
Researched and written by John Boyd and Beverley Hamlin
Sources:
1. New Zealand Births Deaths & Marriages historical – www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
2. Newspapers – www.paperspast.natlib.gov.nz
3. Karori Cemetery – www.wellington.govt.nz > Services > Community & Culture > Cemeteries
4. New Zealand Electoral Rolls and family information – www.ancestry.co.uk