Find Ancestors

Looking for any information about Grace after she moved to New Zealand around 1907-1908. Grace was my great-grandmother's sister.
Grace was married to a Samuel Cousins when they moved to NZ with my great-grandmother as a family.

If anyone has information on her life in NZ I would be pleased to know.

Address: 49 Great North Road, Auckland



New Zealand Army WWI Nominal Rolls, 1914-1918

Name:Samuel Albert Cousins<<Occ: Fruiterer

Regimental Number:14076

Relative Name:Mrs Grace Ethel Cousins

Relative Relationship:Wife

Embarkation:1916




New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981

Name:Grace Cousins<<Married

Electoral Year:1914

District:Grey Lynn

Region or Province:Auckland Great North Road, Auckland

No husband, Im guessing he was in service



Her husbands death:


1923/4806 Cousins Samuel Albert 41Y Order Product

New Zealand Army WWI Roll of Honour, 1914-1919
Name:Samuel Albert Cousins (Private)

Death Date:24 Jun 1923

Regimental Number:14076
Roll Section:
Section 2 - Died after discharge





Grace remarried


1924/2004 Grace Ethel Cousins Jabez Fitness Order Product

Address: 95 Clonbern Road


New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981

Name:Grace Ethel & Jabez Fitness <<Labourer

Electoral Year:1938

District:Remuera
Region or Province:Auckland



Her husbands death, not seeing her death at the moment

1944/28380 Fitness Jabez 60Y Order Product


Her son appears on the NZ ER up to 1946 but cant see him after



Australia Birth Index, 1788-1922

Name:Walton A Cousins

Birth Date:1904

Father's Name:Samuel A Cousins

Mother's Name:Grace E

Birth Place:New South Wales

Registration Year:1904

Registration Place:Kaoomba, New South Wales
Registration number:3822


His marriage

1924/7120 Rose Hallier Walter Albert Cousins

They had two more children in NZ


1907/778 Cousins Roland Grace Ethel Samuel Albert - Order Product
1907/9397 Cousins Eileen Maud Grace Samuel - Order Product


Eileen's marriage


1928/7593 Eileen Maude Cousins Albert James McDonald

........and Rolands death


1956/19303 Cousins Roland 51Y Order Product



You can order certificates from this site


https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/home/

This looks like Walton' wife



London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906
Name:Rose Adelaide Hallier

Baptism Date:22 Apr 1900

Father's Name:William Hallier

Mother's Name:Mary Ann Hallier

Parish or Poor Law Union:Bermondsey Christ Church

Borough:Southwark
Register Type:Parish Registers





UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960

NameRose Hallier

Gender:Female

Age:21

Birth Date:abt 1901

Departure Date:12 Jan 1922

Port of Departure:Southampton, England

Destination Port:Wellington, New Zealand

Ship Name:Athenic

Search Ship Database:
Search the 'Athenic' in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping Line:Shaw Savill & Albion Co, Ltd

Official Number:115239
Master:J E Crossland

Lorraine, take a look at this

http://www.ennever.com/getperson.php?personID=I31264&tree=Ennever1

Samuel Albert Cousins divorced Grace in 1919 and got custody of two of the children:
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19191219.2.21&srpos=7&e=-------10--1----0samuel+albert+cousins--

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=NZH19191220.2.90&srpos=8&e=-------10--1----0samuel+albert+cousins--

I wonder if this is a remarriage for Samuel?
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19200325.2.101&srpos=1&e=-------10--1----0samuel+albert+cousins--

24 March 1920 Samuel Albert Cousins of Great North Road to Rose Elizabeth Condren.

More on Samuel's death:
http://goo.gl/if1g8

(Articles from Papers Past http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ )

Grace went to prison in 1932:
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19320712.2.21&srpos=1&e=-------10--1----0grace+ethel+fitness--

Charged with her daughter Ethel Maude McDonald

Someone took out an advert declaring they had nothing to do with her
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19320730.2.10.4&srpos=2&e=-------10--1----2grace+ethel+fitness--

A little more on Grace's remarriage:
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=NZH19240611.2.2.3&srpos=6&e=-------10--1----2%22jabez+fitness%22--

With her first husband:

New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981
Name: Grace Cousins
Electoral Year: 1911
District: Wellington Central
Region or Province: Wellington

Living 188 Aro street with Samuel, a dealer
................................................................................................................

With her second:

New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981
Name: Grace Ethel Fitness
Electoral Year: 1928
District: Waikato
Region or Province: Waikato

living Tahuna Road, Morrinsville with Jabez, a sharemilker


New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981
Name: Grace Ethel Fitness
Electoral Year: 1935
District: Rotorua
Region or Province: Bay of Plenty

Living Te Poi, Jabez now a farmer


New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981
Name: Grace Ethel Fitness
Electoral Year: 1938
District: Remuera
Region or Province: Auckland

at 95 Clonbern Road. Jabez is now a labourer


(Quite coincidentally, I'm reading a novel at the moment set in that very area, thought the place names seemed familiar!)

What the !!!
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19391229.2.6.3&srpos=2&e=-------10--1----2grace+fitness--

Advert dated 29 Dec 1939
"Will Grace Fitness (nee Morris) meet me Star Hotel, Newton, 12 noon Saturday? White flower coat. - E Morris"

Going by the surname of the person placing the ad it must be a relative.

Did she turn up?? What happened??

Rose is listed as his widow in Palmerston North on his Military papers .. when he died the Internal affairs sent her his Victory Medal and British War Medal.

His cemetery record at Terrace End Cemetery Palmerston North has his occupation as a bootmaker.

Samuel was born Cape Town South Africa 18 Sept 1881


On his military records his marriage to Grace was at Katoomba 13 April 1903.

The children's births..
Walton Albert 22 Nov 1903 Katoomba
Roland 5 Nov 1905 Wellington
Eileen Maud 3 Aug 1907 Wellington.


Interesting that his 2nd marriage in the Auckland Star states they got married in Wellington.. on his discharge papers it states they were married in the Registry Office in Auckland.

1932 - 34 both Albert James McDonald and Jabez Fitness were declared bankrupts.. at that time McDonald was farming and Fitness was Share milking in the Waikato area.

This looks like the J M Fitness that Marie posted in the newspaper article. His wife was Dorothy Maude Groves m 1919


1933/3121 Fitness John Morley 48Y

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19330410.2.17&srpos=1&e=-------10--1----2%22john+morley+fitness%22--

It looks like Jabez was his brother, cant find a match on BMDs though?



Cripes, an interesting family!

I was wondering is this was the 'E' Morris that was looking for Grace?



Australia Birth Index, 1788-1922
Name:Ellie M Morris

Birth Date:1889

Father's Name:John W Morris

Mother's Name:Anastasia M

Birth Place:New South Wales

Registration Year:1889

Registration Place: Mudgee, New South Wales

Registration number:27331



And here in NZ - marriage


1916/1828 Ellie Mary Morris Charles Craddock Adams

I don't believe it!!

Craddock Adams was the man that Grace Edith was having a relationship with while her husband was fighting in the war - it's in the second of the two articles I posted about her divorce. It says he was dead by the time of her husband Samuel's return.

What a woman! :-0

(I think 2 of her other siblings had names beginning with E)

I think Loraine's going to get an eye opener when she returns.

So far we've discovered Grace Ethel since going to NZ:

Sold her husband's shop and house while he was in the war and spent all the money.

Had an affair with her sister's husband

Got divorced by her husband

Married a man who then went bankrupt

Went to prison for shoplifting - 1 month's hard labour

Was declaimed by her brother in law (who was accidentally shot dead by another sister in law)

Was the recipient of a mysterious newspaper ad.

What next?

Her brother in law/lover's death:

1918/10375 Adams Charles Craddock 31Y

He died of flu

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=PBH19181107.2.12.2&srpos=1&e=-------50--1----2craddock+adams--