The Costains emigrated to Canada from the Isle of Man sometime in the first two decades of the nineteenth century and settled in Prince Edward Island. My cousin Sharon Moor did a thoroughly researched family tree that runs to 248 pages in a PDF file that I find hard to navigate- if you know the name of the Costain you are looking for, no problem, but finding his father- I couldn’t.
However: Thomas Costain married Jane Brydson in 1793 in the Isle of Man and they died in P.E.I. John, Paul, Thomas, and Richard Costain were born in the Isle of Man but died in P.E.I. after marrying and having lots of children, so I assume they emigrated as a family, leaving a married sister behind and bringing the unmarried ones with them. John married Isabel Leard, a P.E.I. girl, in 1823, the rest followed suit, and they all proceeded to populate the island.
A generation later, Job Costain married his first cousin Mary Costain in 1877 and they had 7 children, one of whom was my grandfather. So that is where my amateur tree will start.
There was one other son, Stephen Darrell, born to Henry and Elida in 1937 with Down Syndrome, who died in infancy.
Henry Hudson Costain had grown up on a farm in Prince Edward Island, had gone to university but not taken his degree, and went west as a teacher. He married Elida Eakin, a teacher, and they started their family during the First World War. Henry’s brother Harry joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and fought overseas, being seriously wounded in 1918 and not returning to Canada until 1919. Henry and Elida moved from Ponoka, Alberta to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the 1920s and farmed there- perhaps because that was where the provincial university was. Harry moved west also, and lived in Calgary.
Although the Depression was hard even on poultry farmers, Henry’s children were able to go to university- Merle got her B.A. before she married and later became a teacher. Lena became a nurse, and kept working during her marriage. Cecil got his B.Sc. and became involved with the new invention, radar, during the war, and served with the British Navy as a radar officer. His wartime letters home have been posted. He emerged as Lieutenant Commander and went back to the University of Saskatchewan for his M.Sc. and then got a Commonwealth Scholarship that sent him to Cambridge in England for his Ph.D. where he met and married Cynthia.
In 1950, he is still working on his Ph.D but at the University of Michigan, where his professor, Dr. Sutherland, has moved. Once he has his degree, he expects to be working in Ottawa at the National Research Council, and this holiday trip includes some ‘business’ he has to see to in Ottawa. His brother Russell is working in Saskatchewan, and expecting to get married soon, and the youngest Costain, Carman, is still at school-or university- and has classes during the summer with the Air Force Reserve.
Cyn and Cec will meet the first members of the next generation on this 1950 holiday- Merle’s 3 sons and Lee’s baby- and I will attempt the next part of this genealogy once I’ve been born, the brothers are married and all my cousins safely arrived in the 60s!
Here we are in Canada! We arrived here this afternoon, after our usual Costain mad rush at the last minute, and now having got everything organized we are sitting back in our hotel room feeling that we are on our holidays!
You will notice that we postponed our date of leaving, as Cec had some work to finish for Dr. S. and I was just as pleased as it gave me time to do everything I wanted to, instead of every other thing! I finished work on Friday, and since then I’ve washed & ironed all our clothes, mended them (!!!), cleaned the flat thoroughly including scrubbing all the floors, so I feel very virtuous now! I packed my case last night, & got all Cec’s things ready, but this morning what with washing up & cleaning the very last things out of the fridge etc. we had quite a scramble to be ready at 10:30 when Gunborg very kindly came & gave us a lift down to the bus depot. We got the bus into Detroit, which takes about 1 1/2 hrs, then took another bus through the tunnel under the river to Windsor. We had to get here before the banks closed to get our Canadian money, then we went to the Airline Office & payed for our tickets & at last had lunch & we were hungrey! We thought we would go to the pictures tonight to see “Kind Hearts & Coronets” which we missed in England, & then get to bed early, as we have to be ready to get the bus to the Airport at 6:30 a.m.! We go to Toronto, then change planes & arrive at Saskatoon at 3:25- isn’t it incredible, when it would take us nearly 3 days in the train.
I haven’t written to you properly since my Epic, although I did send a sea letter of funny things from Ann Arbor. In that time we got 2 letters from you, & thank you very much honey. I have them with me, & will answer them in this, or if I haven’t time, will answer them in my next from Saskatoon.
We don’t seem to have been doing very much but the time has flown, & of course I have been busy with my chores as usual. We had a grand day in Detroit with the Sutherlands, & I had lovely time. We drove there in their car arriving about noon, & as we hadn’t been able to book tickets for the Ball Game, we went to the stadium & found we’d have to go & get them at 6 in the evening. Gunborg & I were all for having a nice dinner but with having to go so early to the game, we decided instead to have a nice lunch, & we went to a very nice Swedish restaurant we had heard of, called the Stockholm. It was lovely & cool for which we were grateful as it was a sweltering day (I wore my new green suit) & we had an extremely nice lunch- there was a Smorgasbord first (a kind of hors d’oeuvres- all sorts of dishes hot & cold, set out on a big table, & you go & help yourselves) then steak, and I being adventurous had a peculiar dessert that wasn’t very nice, but I didn’t mind!
After lunch we left the S’s to go shopping, & Cec & I went & saw about our re-entry permits for coming back to the U.S. & then to the Airline & arranged about our tickets & paying in Canadian dollars etc. We had arranged to meet the S’s at 4 o’clock, & it was still early, so we went to the great big store, Hudsons, & shop gazed & didn’t buy a thing! We met the S’s, & they shopped a bit more, then we had tea & finally went out to the stadium. We had to queue till 6 o’clock, then dashed in & got tickets & tore up the ramps & got seats!
In no time for seats were all filled (unreserved) & the game didn’t begin until 8:30, so we had a long wait, but it wasn’t dull because all the players were out practising & we had our programs & picked out the ones we knew from the radio broadcast, & it was fun. We ate hotdogs & drank pop, & it didn’t really seem long to wait. The Ball Game was Fun! Detroit was playing the New York Yankees, & they are great rivals, so it was very exciting, & Detroit won! I stood up & yelled & got so excited right at the beginning that Cec was worried my voice wouldn’t last through the game – I had a lovely time & enjoyed it hugely & so did Cec. Gunborg didn’t think it was very thrilling, so we were a little bit disappointed in her! We got back to A.A. about midnight, & I felt very pleased with my nice day.
Jessie Forsyth came that weekend to say goodbye, as she was leaving. We won’t see her in Sask. as her home is in Medicine Hat, but we will see Pete & Lu.
Last week we were busy at the office, & one evening I even did 3 1/2 hrs. of typing at home for one of the men- got paid of course too! Then we suddenly got a card from Joan & Ray Appleyard saying they had been driving out West & were returning to Yale via Ann Arbor & hoped to see us on Thurs. So of course, we were tickled to bits, but they didn’t actually arrive till Friday mid-day. They look just exactly the same (Ray thinner) & had with them a couple Bid & Denis Manon with whom they used to play bridge in Cambridge & used to call the Porkers – I didn’t know them. They had been driving most of the night, & got lost, & the car broke down, so they were in a dirty, sleepy condition when they arrived. We all had lunch in town together, then Cec took Joan & Ray back to the flat while I went back to work. The Manons went to a hotel, but I asked them to dinner & we had quite a successful meal of steak with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, tossed salad & cantaloupe. We asked the S’s over for a drink afterwards & we had a very nice evening. Joan & Ray slept on our sitting room sofa which pulls out into a double bed, & said they slept very well, then after breakfast set out at about 8 o’clock to collect the Manons & go to Niagara & then back home. They are going to stay in Yale another year – they were both asking for you & sent their love.
We have been to the movie & are back & going to bed now. We didn’t see “Kind Hearts & Coronets” as it was a long way away, but went to see “Stage Fright” instead. It was quite good, but there was a stinker on with it, which we sat through to see the beginning of the other!!
Will write soon again from Saskatoon.
With lots & lots of love from us both
Cyn & Cec
So Cyn and Cec were on holiday starting in Windsor, and there also in Windsor Ontario, was a red-haired 4-year-old boy who would grow up to marry their daughter!
Cyn may have been nervous about meeting her in-laws for the first time, but she also was interested in seeing more of Canada, going West, and then visiting more of Cec’s relatives, as well as their trip to Ottawa where they expected to be living in the future. And I’m sure the Costains liked her- Carman would spend a couple of summers living with them, and when Merle and Dix moved to Ontario in the 60s, the two families became close, and shared quite a few more holidays!
Not all the letters to Carol, still in Hampstead, have survived, but this one sums up the journey to the States and puts the couple in their new apartment and new life. And on the way there, Cyn meets some of her new relatives, and Cec’s friends. Lea and Wendy are Cec’s second sister Lena and her husband, Wendell Atchison, a United Church minister. Pete and Lu Forsythe are friends from Saskatoon from Cec’s university days, now at McGill doing graduate work. In Toronto lived Cec’s uncle and aunt, Milton and Lily Costain. Later in the letter we learn that Cyn’s uncle, her father’s older brother, John Ewing, has died, and that Cyn will write to her relatives in Ireland.
It is fun to read Cyn’s excitement at big grocery stores after England’s rationing, and her pleasure at baking her first ham! And she continues the misspelling of ‘hungry’, which we first read in her school letters, and is the only word she consistently gets wrong…
803 Granger Ave.
Ann Arbor, Mich.
21st Feb. 1950.
Dearest Mummy,
Thank you so much for your letter of the 16th which we got yesterday. I was so glad to know that you got my letter from the ship and knew that we were both quite safe and sound – the crossing wasn’t really dreadful, just uncomfortable and boring!! However, as you say the Queen’s were even worse, we didn’t do so badly. About Revelle’s I hardly think they are worth it – they didn’t stop me feeling ill & the steward said they actually made people sick! And as soon as I got used to it, I was o.k. without anything.
I told you all about our travels in Canada in my last letter, and we were very pleased to have got in all our visits, despite the fact that we both found all the travelling very tiring. I expect our sea trip didn’t leave us feeling too strong either, but we are both fine now after having a good rest in our apartment!
This plan of their apartment is hard to read in the letter too- thin air mail paper, dying pen & pencil!
The business of getting off the ship in Halifax and spending the night in the Customs shed was the worst of all- standing and waiting to get off the boat for hours, and then waiting and waiting in a packed mass of people to get into the shed to claim your luggage – then waiting for Customs men & railway men & goodness knows what. We were exhausted and practically nervous wrecks, but there were mothers with tiny children and an old lady all by herself, and how they managed at all I don’t know. I think you must have got muddled with our dates, Mummy, because all along we were supposed to dock on the 7th and had to be in A. A. on 13th as Cec began work that day. With the ship being late and not docking till the night of the 8th, our plans had to be changed a bit, but as we got our US currency problems settled so quickly in Ottawa, we caught up time there, and were able to get back to Montreal the same day. We didn’t really see very much of Ottawa, as we dashed about so, but it was a glorious bright sunny day, with fresh snow, so everything looked very sparkling and clean. The whole countryside was snow-covered of course, right from Halifax, but when we got to Toronto there was none. Then on our way to Detroit there was quite a blizzard, & it has been snowy here ever since, with quite a big fall today. The night before last the temp. was down to zero but the flat is nice & warm and outside it was sunny & clear, so wasn’t at all alarming!
I enjoyed our stay in Montreal, and liked both Lea and Wendy and Lu and Pete. I see quite a family resemblance between Lea and Cec and Wendy reminded me quite a bit of Bob Mills – not so much in appearance, as in manner & way of talking. They live at a small place a bit out of Montreal- about 1/2 hr in the train- which Lea says is quite a summer resort. Wendy has a small Church there, and the house goes with the living – it has no running water, but a pump in the kitchen, so Lea is delighted at the prospect of moving into a new house which the Church is getting next month. She has taken on another job for a few weeks – night nursing a lady who has had a nervous breakdown- but she got a substitute while we were there. Lu & Pete live out the other side of Montreal in what were RAF married quarters which have now been taken over by the Univ. (McGill) for married students. We spent an hour or so there, chatting & seeing the baby who is cute, & then all went into town and had dinner before they saw us off on the train. Next day we spent with Cec’s Uncle and Aunt in Toronto & they were both very sweet & kind. Cec rang up his home from there & had quite a chat with the family which was nice too.
Since we got settled in Ann Arbor, we have led a very placid restful life for a change! The very first evening we were here, I telephoned Til & Lois and we had a great gossip and I squealed with excitement at them! As we didn’t feel like any more travelling for a while, we arranged for them to come up on Saturday afternoon, which they did. They are just the same as ever, & liked Cec (of course!) & Til thought he was so cute she would like to take him home with her! We had tea (!) here & talked & talked & a drink & talked some more and then went out for dinner. Then Til & Lois left around 8–8:30 & we will go & see them probably a week on Friday. We don’t want to make any plans for just now, as we are waiting for our 8 crates, 2 wardrobe trunks & 2 tin trunks which we sent by freight from Halifax as it was much cheaper. Cec will have to go & see them through the Customs at Detroit when we get word that they have arrived, so we are just hanging on. We have bought all the necessities, but I find that my cooking must be simplified, as we have so few dishes! Our flat is our pride & joy & we do like it. I keep opening & shutting the refrigerator & I’m getting used to the electric stove. Cec & I did quite a big grocery shopping on Wed. as well as getting pans etc. Then on Friday Mrs. Sutherland took me in their car to a big grocery store with her because it is quite a distance away & with big bundles it is too far to walk. She says that I may come with her each Friday so it will be a big help as she & Dr. S. only live in the next street. I just love going around the big grocery stores – I have to keep turning away from temptation & not buying everything I see, because our bills are quite big enough! We don’t think food is quite as expensive as we’d thought it would be, but of course with buying staples & a few tins we have spent more than usual this week. The Sutherlands had a most wonderful baked ham the night we went to dinner, & they said it really wasn’t extravagant, as beef or mutton roast cost just as much or more, & it lasted for so many meals, so as a treat we got one for ourselves last weekend! It was a shoulder ham & weighed 4 3/4 lbs, so Fri. night I cut two big slices off & fried them, & on Sun. baked the rest & it was gorgeous! The first time I ever baked ham! We had corn, & creamed potatoes & apple sauce with it- hungrey?! Next night we had it cold with salad, lunch today we had a little in our Rice Pilaff, & tonight we had it scalloped with hard-boiled egg so it is lasting us well & still some left- also the hambone in the stock pot!
I have been doing various small washings here, but there is no place to dry things & we had a mass of stuff accumulated, so today I took it all to a Laundrymat! That is, I spent 65¢ for the use of a Bendix washing machine & got all the clothes washed, rinsed & dried. Actually, I could have had it done 10¢ cheaper if I’d stayed & put the things through the dryer etc. myself, but it takes 1 1/2 hrs so I paid the extra & just left it & collected it later. Isn’t it all clever? There are about 20 machines in this place & it is only 5 or 10 minutes walk away, so it is well worth my going- they charge by weight, so if you have only a little you pay less. Mrs. Kaufman has loaned me her iron & board, so I will iron tomorrow – they are both being very kind & have given us lifts in the car & lent us books & magazines as well. They are still in the middle of having their kitchen & new bathroom etc. fixed, so are in a great muddle. [Changed to writing in pencil, hard to read on onionskin paper.]
Yesterday evening Cec & I went to a Basketball Game! The University v. the State College. All the Sports Fields, Gyms, Stadium etc. are just a block away from us, so it is very convenient, & Cec thought it would be fun to see some basketball games, then Dr. S. gave him 2 complimentary tickets to this one. It is the same sort of thing as netball, but played with men & much faster – I enjoyed it – & the Univ. won!
Tomorrow Mrs. S. is taking me to a Tea Party given by the wife of one of the Profs for the “Physics Wives” so I must behave myself. As you can see, the ink situation is bad – both of our pens dry so I must stop soon.
We were so sorry to hear about Uncle John’s death, and I will write to the Ewings this week – they will all feel it a big break in their family circle & I wonder if poor Auntie Annie will last long now. I was interested to hear about Pam & George & Nikki being to see you & looking forward hugely to hearing all about Ruth’s party. My goodness, their expense over my wedding will be just a spit in the eye compared to this! I am sure you will enjoy it when you get there & will look much nicer than Amy! We are sending Ruth a cable tomorrow & will send the nylons when our finances are a little more settled! I am just going to send them & let her pay the duty, because I don’t want to risk losing them if we pay a lot of money for them.
I was most interested to hear Denis & Dorothy’s news & look forward to getting the letter. I am glad you got your trunk safely to London at last, but sorry to hear about the poor little puppy. It was rather a horrid little thing but kind of cute. I do think Joan was unkind to them & I hate to think of the time poor Spivvy is having.
By the time you get this the Election will be over and I wonder what will have happened. Til & Lois & everyone we talk to here are very Conservative-minded!
I simply must stop now. Will write soon again. Don’t begin & get agitated about your trip now – just think how nice it will be when you get to see Jane & Bill & A. Trix & A. Moo – & how much nearer you’ll be to us. I’m so glad you had a nice letter from A.Ettie & that she seems better.
With love to AGL & Chris &
lots & lots for you
from
Cyn
[Cec’s handwrting] She didn’t leave me any room so lots of love
Cec P.T.O.
[Cyn’s handwriting] P. S. I always meant to say Thank You for your photo in the dear little frame. It is sweet & is on our dressing table.
A Family History in Letters 