COVENY, Frederick Charles
Born 3 February 1894; died 4 December 1918; buried 6 December 1918; age 24
Frederick Charles COVENY was an unmarried English migrant who came to New Zealand as a child. His father, Robert Joseph Coveny and his mother Ada Florence WEEDON, had married in Bristol on 21 May 1893 and Fred was born there in 1894 and registered in the Barton Regis district. Two more children, Florence Efield and Nellie Elizabeth were born before their mother, Ada, died in the second quarter of 1900. Robert worked on the railways, and prior to his marriage he had already achieved the position of locomotive engine cleaner, which was an important step on a career path to becoming a locomotive driver.
In June 1902 Robert, with his three children, then aged eight, five and two, set off from Plymouth on the ship Whakatane. Fred had already started school at Avonmouth before they emigrated. Passenger records show his 30-year-old father had been working as an engine driver.
Fred’s father found employment on the railways on the West Coast and lived in Waimangaroa initially. Waimangaroa is on the coastal plain at the foot of the winding road up to the Denniston Plateau, and for many years was serviced by a branch railway line. Waimangaroa is where coal from the mines on the Denniston Plateau would be loaded onto railway wagons after descending from the mine via the Denniston Incline which began operation in April 1880. The coal was then transported by a short branch line from Conns Creek (at the foot of the Incline) to Waimangaroa, from where steam locomotives of New Zealand Railways took coal trains south to the port of Westport. Life in the small town would have been rough and ready for Robert and his family.
Railway workers moved around quite a lot and the Coveny family must have moved north to Mokihinui, a very small stop on the branch line to Seddonville, for a period as Fred was enrolled at Mokihinui school after leaving Denniston School where he was enrolled for just two days in 1903.
Fred’s father married a second time in July 1904, to Alice Jane JACKSON, when Fred was 10. Robert and Alice were very busy during the next decade or so, producing five sons and two daughters. The elder of Fred’s new sisters was named Ada, presumably after Fred’s mother. In 1906, after a brief stint at Mt Cook Boy’s School in Wellington. Frederick was sent to school in Motueka, under the guardianship of H. Haycock. By this time, he was in Standard VI, which was the last year in the primary education system. His separation from his family may have been to relieve pressure on accommodation for the rapidly increasing number of children.
In 1904 the family moved to Wellington and during the next decade or so lived at a number of addresses in and around the suburb of Newton while Robert worked as a greaser: 201 Hanson St in 1911, 23 Rintoul St in 1914, 424 Adelaide Road, Berhampore. Sometime during the First World War the family moved to 35 Devonshire Road, Miramar. Robert may have eventually worked at the Electric Light Power House, Evans Bay, which from 1924 supplied city-wide electricity. By 1928 however, still in Devonshire Road, Robert was working as a cleaner.
On 1 May 1915, when he was 21, Fred signed up for military service. He was working for the Duncan Brothers in Eureka (i), Waikato at the time. Fred was tall for the time at 5 ft. 10 inches, with a fair complexion, grey eyes and brown hair (ii). He indicated his occupation was a ship’s cook but his role at Eureka is unknown. Fred served in both Egypt and Gallipoli as a private in the Canterbury Infantry Regiment. After 422 days’ war service, he was discharged on 22 June 1916, three-quarters incapacitated with debility following dysentery and bronchitis.
Back in New Zealand Fred took up clerical positions, at first with the Government Statistician’s Office, then with the Government Life Insurance Department “where he had earned the highest esteem of his fellow workers” (iii). He was living at 17 Somerset Avenue, Newtown, with his maternal uncle and aunt, Charles and Fanny Weedon, and “On the outbreak of the present epidemic he was the first in Wellington to offer his services to the Public Health Department for duty in one of the temporary hospitals. He joined the Sydney Street Hospital on its opening, and subsequently on the opening of the St. John's Hospital did yeoman service there in tending the sick. Last Thursday he was unable to carry on his duties, and had to take to his bed. He rapidly became worse, and after a hard fight gradually sank. Deceased was 25 years of age, and leaves a father and two sisters, who have the sympathy of a large circle of friends ” (iv). Fred was buried two days later in the Anglican section of Karori Cemetery.
Born 3 February 1894; died 4 December 1918; buried 6 December 1918; age 24
Frederick Charles COVENY was an unmarried English migrant who came to New Zealand as a child. His father, Robert Joseph Coveny and his mother Ada Florence WEEDON, had married in Bristol on 21 May 1893 and Fred was born there in 1894 and registered in the Barton Regis district. Two more children, Florence Efield and Nellie Elizabeth were born before their mother, Ada, died in the second quarter of 1900. Robert worked on the railways, and prior to his marriage he had already achieved the position of locomotive engine cleaner, which was an important step on a career path to becoming a locomotive driver.
In June 1902 Robert, with his three children, then aged eight, five and two, set off from Plymouth on the ship Whakatane. Fred had already started school at Avonmouth before they emigrated. Passenger records show his 30-year-old father had been working as an engine driver.
Fred’s father found employment on the railways on the West Coast and lived in Waimangaroa initially. Waimangaroa is on the coastal plain at the foot of the winding road up to the Denniston Plateau, and for many years was serviced by a branch railway line. Waimangaroa is where coal from the mines on the Denniston Plateau would be loaded onto railway wagons after descending from the mine via the Denniston Incline which began operation in April 1880. The coal was then transported by a short branch line from Conns Creek (at the foot of the Incline) to Waimangaroa, from where steam locomotives of New Zealand Railways took coal trains south to the port of Westport. Life in the small town would have been rough and ready for Robert and his family.
Railway workers moved around quite a lot and the Coveny family must have moved north to Mokihinui, a very small stop on the branch line to Seddonville, for a period as Fred was enrolled at Mokihinui school after leaving Denniston School where he was enrolled for just two days in 1903.
Fred’s father married a second time in July 1904, to Alice Jane JACKSON, when Fred was 10. Robert and Alice were very busy during the next decade or so, producing five sons and two daughters. The elder of Fred’s new sisters was named Ada, presumably after Fred’s mother. In 1906, after a brief stint at Mt Cook Boy’s School in Wellington. Frederick was sent to school in Motueka, under the guardianship of H. Haycock. By this time, he was in Standard VI, which was the last year in the primary education system. His separation from his family may have been to relieve pressure on accommodation for the rapidly increasing number of children.
In 1904 the family moved to Wellington and during the next decade or so lived at a number of addresses in and around the suburb of Newton while Robert worked as a greaser: 201 Hanson St in 1911, 23 Rintoul St in 1914, 424 Adelaide Road, Berhampore. Sometime during the First World War the family moved to 35 Devonshire Road, Miramar. Robert may have eventually worked at the Electric Light Power House, Evans Bay, which from 1924 supplied city-wide electricity. By 1928 however, still in Devonshire Road, Robert was working as a cleaner.
On 1 May 1915, when he was 21, Fred signed up for military service. He was working for the Duncan Brothers in Eureka (i), Waikato at the time. Fred was tall for the time at 5 ft. 10 inches, with a fair complexion, grey eyes and brown hair (ii). He indicated his occupation was a ship’s cook but his role at Eureka is unknown. Fred served in both Egypt and Gallipoli as a private in the Canterbury Infantry Regiment. After 422 days’ war service, he was discharged on 22 June 1916, three-quarters incapacitated with debility following dysentery and bronchitis.
Back in New Zealand Fred took up clerical positions, at first with the Government Statistician’s Office, then with the Government Life Insurance Department “where he had earned the highest esteem of his fellow workers” (iii). He was living at 17 Somerset Avenue, Newtown, with his maternal uncle and aunt, Charles and Fanny Weedon, and “On the outbreak of the present epidemic he was the first in Wellington to offer his services to the Public Health Department for duty in one of the temporary hospitals. He joined the Sydney Street Hospital on its opening, and subsequently on the opening of the St. John's Hospital did yeoman service there in tending the sick. Last Thursday he was unable to carry on his duties, and had to take to his bed. He rapidly became worse, and after a hard fight gradually sank. Deceased was 25 years of age, and leaves a father and two sisters, who have the sympathy of a large circle of friends ” (iv). Fred was buried two days later in the Anglican section of Karori Cemetery.
The Evening Post also reported “Mr. Coveny was a member of the Returned Soldiers' Association, and was particularly well liked by all his comrades" (v).
A letter on Fred’s Army file records that his father had jointly been designated by Fred to administer Fred’s will and his estate was to go to two female relatives. Perhaps the beneficiaries were his sisters Florence and Nellie, but as there is no probate file in Archives New Zealand, it is not possible to be certain of this.
Family and friends continued to place In Memoriam or NZ Roll of Honour Notices in the local papers for many years after his death. These included notices inserted by his aunt and uncle.
Several years after the end of the war, a standardised war grave memorial was erected on Fred’s plot. The cost of this would have been subsidised by the NZ government, which continues to refurbish Fred and other servicemen’s plots from time to time. Fred’s plot was refurbished in 2016.
Fred’s father Robert died in 1934, and he was buried with Fred at Karori Cemetery, as was his step-mother Alice when she died in 1949.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 177 E
Sources:
(i) Eureka estate, established by the Waikato Land Association (later the New Zealand Land Association). The association was formed by Auckland speculators, including Thomas Russell and Frederick Whitaker, who bought 86,502 waterlogged acres (35,006 hectares) north-east of Hamilton in 1873.
(ii) Source - NZ Army military personnel file, available online at National Archives of New Zealand
(iii) Evening Post, 5 December 1918 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19181205.2.15?query=coveny
(iv) https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19181205.2.15?query=coveny
(v) https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19181204.2.87?query=coveny
A letter on Fred’s Army file records that his father had jointly been designated by Fred to administer Fred’s will and his estate was to go to two female relatives. Perhaps the beneficiaries were his sisters Florence and Nellie, but as there is no probate file in Archives New Zealand, it is not possible to be certain of this.
Family and friends continued to place In Memoriam or NZ Roll of Honour Notices in the local papers for many years after his death. These included notices inserted by his aunt and uncle.
Several years after the end of the war, a standardised war grave memorial was erected on Fred’s plot. The cost of this would have been subsidised by the NZ government, which continues to refurbish Fred and other servicemen’s plots from time to time. Fred’s plot was refurbished in 2016.
Fred’s father Robert died in 1934, and he was buried with Fred at Karori Cemetery, as was his step-mother Alice when she died in 1949.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 177 E
Sources:
(i) Eureka estate, established by the Waikato Land Association (later the New Zealand Land Association). The association was formed by Auckland speculators, including Thomas Russell and Frederick Whitaker, who bought 86,502 waterlogged acres (35,006 hectares) north-east of Hamilton in 1873.
(ii) Source - NZ Army military personnel file, available online at National Archives of New Zealand
(iii) Evening Post, 5 December 1918 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19181205.2.15?query=coveny
(iv) https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19181205.2.15?query=coveny
(v) https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19181204.2.87?query=coveny