FOSTER, Hubert
(Service number 53340)
| First Rank | Corporal | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 10 July 1896 | Place of Birth | Ashburton |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 9 March 1917 | Age | 20 years 7 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Lawrence, Otago | ||
| Occupation | Carpenter | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mr Godfrey Land FOSTER (father), Lawrence, Otago | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Reinforcements, J Company | ||
| Date | 16 July 1917 | ||
| Transport | Athenic | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Liverpool, Merseyside, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZ Rifle Brigade | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 23 January 1961 | Age | 64 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Christchurch | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Crematorium Christchurch | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Hubert Foster was born on 10 July 1896 at Ashburton, the older son of Godfrey Land and Elizabeth McDonald (née Brown) Foster. He was educated at several Canterbury schools – Sydenham, Bennetts, Carleton, West Lyttelton, Lyttelton DHS, before arriving at Timaru South School in 1907 and leaving there for Lawrence in 1910. On 9 May 1908, Hubert and his three younger sisters were baptised at St Mary’s Church, Timaru. (The younger son George was born in 1911.)
So it was that Hubert Foster was a carpenter at Lawrence when he was called up in 1917. His appeal was dismissed as he failed to appear. He enlisted on 9 March 1917 at Lawrence. From March 1917 his name appeared on the Lawrence District High School roll of honour of ex-pupils who had answered their country’s call and were either at the front or in training for the reinforcements. He named his father as next-of-kin – Mr Godfrey Land Foster, Lawrence. Corporal H. Foster embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, leaving for Liverpool, England per the “Athenic” on 16 July 1917.
Rifleman H. Foster returned to New Zealand by the “Somerset”, embarking at Liverpool on 2 July 1919 and arriving in New Zealand on 20 August. He was discharged on 19 September 1919 and awarded the British War Medal and the victory Medal. Hubert Foster married Beatrice Florence Sainsbury in 1923. He died on 23 January 1961 at Christchurch, aged 64 years, and was cremated. He was survived by his wife, four daughters and six grandchildren, and also by his three sisters and one brother.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [18 March 2023]; NZ BDM (Department of Internal Affairs) [18 March 2023]; St Mary’s Timaru baptism records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG records) [18 March 2023]; School Admission records (Canterbury, Waimakariri & South Canterbury branches NZSG) [March & May 2023]; Tuapeka Times, 14 February 1917, 21 & 28 March 1917, Press, 24 & 25 January 1961 (Papers Past) [26 May 2023]
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, South Canterbury Genealogical Society
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
Tell us more
Do you have information that could be added to this story? Or related images that you are happy to share? Submit them here!