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Edmund Colin Nigel Robinson and Mary Robinson.
This portrait shows Lieutenant (later Captain) Edmund Colin Nigel Robinson, service number 23/1303 with his wife Mary Theresa Veronica Robinson (nee Read). They were married in Wellington on 11 September 1915, and this is one of three portraits taken at the Berry studio to mark their wedding day.
Edmund was 24 years old when he attested for service in 1915. He had been working as a farmer in Pihama, Taranaki but he was originally from Croydon in England. He embarked for Europe on 13 November 1915 attached to the 2nd Reinforcements to the 1st Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade. In June 1917 he was gassed at Messines. He suffered a severe cough and was later diagnosed with Chronic Pulmonary Disease. Even so, he returned to New Zealand and lived a relatively long life.
After the war Edmund applied for and won a Ballot farm. These were farms the New Zealand government purchased for returning World War 1 soldiers with the aim to provide an opportunity for soldiers to settle on and develop farms of their own. Edmund farmed at Mangateparu, Morrinsville most of his life. In October 1940 he was appointed as the area commander for the Home Guard in Paeroa. He was also a prominent member of the RSA.
Edmund married three times, firstly to Mary Read in 1915. Mary died in 1959. Edmund later married Margaret Morrison in 1961 and, after a divorce, Jean Alexander in 1967. He died in 1972 aged 82.