Christian Rink

Alias Christian de Rink; Christian Lawrence Smidt Rinkoff (known as Rink)
Born 16.01.1872
Place Odessa, Ukraine (enlistment, alien registration); Bordeaux, France (naturalisation)
Ethnic origin French / Russian
Religion Russian Orthodox
Father Anthony de Rink, French
Mother Rumanian
Family

Wife Teressa de Rink (nee Tobin), married 1919; by 1946 wife Clare (1913-1998) in New Zealand

Residence before arrival at Australia 'My parents left France when I was very young and we have resided in Odessa, Canada, England and Australia'.
Arrived at Australia from America
on 08.1899 or 09.1905
per Panamuta
disembarked at Sydney
Residence before enlistment Broken Hill, Newcastle, Sydney
Occupation 1916 electrician, engineer, 1919, 1930 engineer, 1931 agent and salesman, hotel licensee, 1935 engineer and wine agent
Naturalisation Served as Russian subject; naturalised in 1930, naturalisation was revoked in 1934
Residence after the war Brisbane, Collie, Albany, WA; 1931 Wellington; 1946 Christchurch, 1954 Lyttleton New Zealand
Died 4.02.1961 Christchurch, New Zealand

Service #1

Service number 6747
Enlisted 16.02.1916
Place of enlistment Sydney
Unit 8th Field Company Engineers, 7th Field Company Engineers, Australian Flying Corps
Rank Sapper
Place Western Front, 1916-1917
Final fate RTA 12.03.1918
Discharged 21.06.1918 as undesirable, not eligible for awards

Materials

Blog article

Russian

English

Newspaper articles

Electric shocks!!. - Albany Advertiser, 14 May 1931, p. 3.

Tampering with a meter. Hotel Licensee fined. - The West Australian, Perth, 15 May 1931, p. 14.

Christian de Rink. Strikes trouble in New Zealand. - Albany Advertiser, 8 September 1932, p. 4.

From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:

Another was the engineer Christian de Rink: on enlisting with the AIF, he gave his birthplace as Odessa, a claim supported by the Russian consulate, which obviously took him for a Russian subject. In 1930, however, when applying for naturalisation, he said he was born in Bordeaux, France, of a French father and Rumanian mother.

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