Mary Costin
Mary met John Law (Jock) Hume, who lived with his family on 42 George Street, Dumfries, Scotland. His house was a 3 minute walk from her's, being about 200 yards from the Costins' apartment. They began dating and quickly became inseparable. They planned to marry in May of 1912, but Jock worked on ships as a violinist and therefore was away for long periods of time. Additionally, he wanted to wait until he had more money to start a family and go honeymooning.
Andrew Hume
Jock's father, Andrew, did not approve of Jock and Mary's relationship. The reason for this is unknown, but a theory is that Andrew saw Mary as a hindrance to Jock's musical talent, and Mary's family was not as wealthy as the Humes were. Andrew forbade Jock from bringing Mary to his house and Jock spent much of his time with Mary in between voyages.
In January 1912 Jock came back from a voyage and he and Mary spent much of their free time in each others' company. Jock then left for the Cunard line's Carmania and returned for a week in April before leaving again on April 8, 1912 for the ill-fated Titanic, never to return. Mary was devastated by this loss and faced further problems when she realized she was expecting his baby.
Mary applied for financial help from the Titanic Relief Fund, but since Mary and Jock's baby had been conceived out of wedlock, she would have to apply for paternity, they told her. Once paternity had been established, Mary could re-apply. Andrew Hume also had applied for financial help but this was denied since he would not be a dependent of his son. It should be noted that Andrew had suffered very much following the death of his son, especially during the trial of his daughter Kate; when the topic of his son's death arose, his voice broke upon speaking of it.
Mary (r) and her daughter, Johnann
At 11 AM on October 18 1912, Jock and Mary's daughter, Johnann Law Hume Costin, was born. In December of that same year, Mary had provided enough evidence to prove that Jock was Johnann's father, and finally Mary was able to apply for financial aid. She was to receive a check for about 67 pounds (3700 pounds in today's money) but by mistake this was sent to Andrew to pass on to Mary, which he did not. Repeated requests by Mary's lawyer did nothing, so eventually Mary was left no alternative but to take Andrew to court. It took until early 1914 for Mary to be awarded the money she had fought for.
Top: Johnann Costin at age two. Bottom: Johnann, now Jacqueline Ward, in the 1940s. Per TITANIC: THE AFTERMATH
In 1918 Mary met and married a soldier named Walter Thomson and they promptly married. Mary left Johnann with her mother, Susan, and Mary rarely saw Johnann again. In 1922 Mary died of tuberculosis and less than 24 months later Johnann's grandmother died of anemia. Now an orphan, Johnann was left to her uncle, Menzies (Mary's youngest brother) and his wife. She suffered very much there, and at 15 ran away to London to become a salesgirl. She was to become very successful in life, changing her name to Jacqueline (Jackie), marrying in 1937 and having two children. Johnann/Jacqueline became a publicist and worked for Anna Neagle and Herbert Wilcox for some time. She died in 1996 at the age of 83.
Andrew Hume left Scotland in 1915 and moved to England. He set up violin work there, repairing and making the instrument. He died in 1934 at the age of 69.
Sources:
The band that played on by Steve Turner
And the Band Played on by Christopher Ward
RMS TITANIC: The first violin by Yvonne Hume
TITANIC: THE AFTERMATH
TITANIC: THE AFTERMATH
ancestry.com
dgstandard.co.uk
dailymail.co.uk
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