IT was May 22, 1924, when in the swelter of Fiji’s growing sugar town, Daniel and Kathleen Costello welcomed their oldest son, Emmet.
He was the first of several children who would include tourism pioneer Daniel (Dan) Costello and local government trailblazer Maureen Rouse (formerly Wright). And as noted in the 1985 publication, The Queenslanders Get Fiji Gold by Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History curator, Donald Chaput, the young Emmet reportedly languished in the tropical heat and was sent to New Zealand aged four. Emmet would remain abroad for the better part of his 89 years, entering priesthood and teaching Latin, French and religion at St Aloysius College and St Ignatius Riverview in New South Wales, which was only one aspect of a lifelong vocation in religion.
Alongside his siblings, Fr Emmet was part of the first generation of Fiji-born Costellos, a family of Irish origins that had originally settled in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia.
Brothers
The family was large, and with the repetitive use of names, led to an assortment of Patricks, Daniels and Vincents in almost every generation.
Fr Emmet’s father, Daniel, was one of seven brothers from the heritage town of Maryborough, the second oldest settlement in Queensland after Brisbane.
The seven were born to Patrick Costello and Annie Keayes of County Limerick in Ireland, migrants who settled in Queensland and founded a large family there.
Six of the seven brothers — Daniel (Dan Sr), Patrick (Pat), Frank, Jim, Thomas and Vincent — travelled to Fiji on account of several entrepreneurship and business interests. Only one brother, Jack, opted to remain in Maryborough.
While written accounts pinpoint varying reasons for the Costello’s venture to Fiji, it is certain that they became well established in their new home, although most of them eventually returned to Queensland.
Beginnings in Fiji
The Sydney headquartered Colonial Refinery Company had extended its reach to Fiji, and a small pool of expatriates descended upon Lautoka after the construction of a mill in 1903.
Aside from the CSR employees, economic potential also drew the interest of Australian migrants that included the Costello brothers.
Pat was the first of the lot to cross over and arrived, aged 20, in Suva in 1909, to join the AUSN Shipping Company before stints at Morris Hedstrom and Brown and Joske. In 1915, he opened the Shamrock Hotel in Lautoka and a hundred years later, it still stands, albeit under the banner of the Lautoka Hotel. It was also the same year he sponsored the first of several gold-finding expeditions. The fourth finally struck success in the Nasivi River, Tavua, in the early 30s, making way for a series of gold mines and what remains Fiji’s only mining town of Vatukoula. Living out the rest of his life in Fiji, Pat Costello passed away at the CWM Hospital in Suva in April, 1957.
As noted by Chaput in The Queenslanders Get Fiji Gold, his enterprises were somewhat a family affair.
“The Clan Costello figured in most of Pat’s commercial and mining ventures,” he wrote.
“Brother Dan was in on the Aloha Central mine and was founder of Gold Search (Fiji) Ltd, a Suva firm. In 1935, Dan was secretary of the widely publicised Ba Races — which even the governor attended. The Costello brothers had several horses entered in these mining district races, and Vince Costello’s The Major won the Dewar’s Cup. Dan was proprietor of the Pier Hotel in Suva and an active member of the Chamber of Commerce.”
Another brother mentioned was Thomas, who was a member of the Aloha mining syndicate formed by Pat Costello in Vatukoula.
“Other brothers in the Costello network were Jim, who spent an entire business career in Suva before retiring to Melbourne and Jack, who remained in Maryborough. One brother, Frank, had worked with Pat a few years in Suva then returned to Queensland.” A leading businessman, accountant, auditor and secretary to the local sugar grower’s association in Innisfail, Frank was brutally murdered in a Brisbane train robbery in 1936, shortly after visiting with his brother, Dan in Sydney.
Pat and Dan’s interest in hotels was also shared by their brother Vincent who operated the Garrick (once known as the Pier) Hotel along Marks St, Suva, in the late 50s to 60s, and both published and personal accounts from family members attest to his popularity.
“I remember getting dressed up as a little kid and being taken into the city to meet Uncle Vince in Suva,” related his grand-nephew, John Costello, the grandson of Vince’s brother, Jim Costello.
“We would bounce off the ship and it was a big deal going to see Uncle Vince, so we all had to get dressed up.”
Aside from his hospitality credentials, Vince Costello was also a celebrated football referee in Queensland, where he was the first life member of its Referees Association in 1947. He died in Suva, in 1980, aged 83.
Dan Costello
The interest in hotels seemed to be a family fixture that trickled down to Dan Sr’s son, Dan, who is best remembered as a Fijian tourism pioneer.
“Patrick was the eldest of the brothers,” related Dan’s son, Vincent Costello.
As Vincent confirmed, Dan Sr ran a cattle farm in Tavua and upon his death, his namesake son, Dan Costello took over operations for Tavua Meats, now known as Fiji Meats.
“Dan Sr became a cattle farmer in Tavua and when he died, Dad took over, aged 17. He had gone to New Zealand and was educated at Sacred Heart in Auckland, and at Silverstream and St Patrick’s before that.”
The butchery was located on a corner of the town, and its original structure has since been turned into a row housing a restaurant and billiard centre along Goldfield Rd in Tavua’s CBD.
Dan began the business in Lautoka with his late wife Jessie Rae, who was of Rotuman and Samoan descent the mother of his children, Daniel Rae, Vincent, Johnny, Katie and Tara.
The family noted that Jessie, who passed away in the 80s, played a significant role in ensuring the success of the Costello business, a contribution that although was barely publicly acknowledged, greatly appreciated.
“Dad went on to marry Annette Hunter (nee Lepper),” Vincent added.
“Annette has two children, Justin, founder of the world famous J Hunter Pearls based in Savusavu and Morika and we’re a big happy clan.”
Dan also seemed to share the family interest in hotels, and along with the butchery, successfully founded Beachcomber Island Resort. Drawing adventurous visitors from around the world to the stunning Mamanuca group, it was a slice of the tourism market that remained relatively untapped at the time, and earned itself a global reputation as a Pacific Ibiza.
“He always had a love for boats,” Vincent said, adding that his father jumped at the chance to purchase a boat named the Ratu Bulumakau.
Alongside the butchery business, it seemed an apt excuse for his endeared nickname as Ratu Bulumakau in local circles.
“Dad approached the Taukei Nakelo of Viseisei in Vuda to seek permission for visiting Beachcomber Island, which they traditionally owned. They agreed and our family would make trips and camp out there with the Roxburghs, Clarks and other close friends.”
These fun-filled excursions didn’t go unnoticed, and it wasn’t long before people began requesting trips to the island.
“Eventually, Dad went right into tourism which was relatively untapped then and started charging people for trips and cruises to the island on the Ratu Bulumakau and another boat, the Tui Tai.
“He acquired a proper lease and ran Beachcomber until 2008. It was about the second island resort in the Mamanucas, after Castaway, and we had a caretaker on the island before accommodation for guests was put in.”
Aside from Dan and Father Emmet, other siblings included former Lautoka mayor, Maureen Wright (formerly Rouse), who made history when she became the first woman elected to local government in the early 70s. Another sibling, John, tragically succumbed to cancer aged 21, while there was also another brother, Alfred (Jack) Costello. He had chiefly ties through his mother, Adi Litia Kaunilotuma, grand daughter of Adi Arieta Koila Cakobau, the eldest daughter of Ratu Seru Cakobau. Jack married Jean Davenport and had three children, Eddie, Jerome and Koila Costello.
From the six venturing brothers to Fiji, Dan Sr was the only one noted to have established lineage here. His wife, Kathleen McMahon, was from Melbourne, Australia and also of Irish origins, with their descendants including the now Samoa-based music legend, Danny Rae Costello.
It’s been over a hundred years since the first batch of Costellos crossed over to Fiji, and several generations later, remnants of their entrepreneurship and influence are still visible through their footprints in mining, tourism and religious education.
