Graham and Margaret Cossins celebrate 70 years of marriage

A former councillor and her husband have celebrated 70 years of marriage after meeting at a blood bank.

Cairns couple Margaret and Graham Cossins received letters from Queen Elizabeth I and King Charles III to celebrate their 50th and 70th wedding anniversaries, respectively. Photo: Supplied.

After meeting at a blood bank in the 1950s, a Cairns couple have celebrated 70 years of marriage.

Former GP Graham Cossins met his wife, former Cairns deputy mayor Margaret Cossins, as a young medical student after turning up at a blood bank in Brisbane.

“She was working in the blood bank in Brisbane and I went along as a donor, and she held my hand while I gave blood,” Mr Cossins said.

“I thought she was kinda cute and cool so I continued an acquaintanceship.”

After Mr Cossins graduated from medical school, he was no longer allowed to give blood, but it didn’t stop him from seeing Ms Cossins.

“We had to wait til I graduated (to get married) and then after I graduated, I had to work for the first three months to buy an engagement ring,” he said.

“We got married at the end of my first year as a medical resident at what’s now the Royal Brisbane Hospital.”

Cairns couple Graham and Margaret Cossins were married on December 18, 1954 in Brisbane. Photo: Supplied.

The pair married in Brisbane on December 18, 1954, before moving to Cairns in 1958.

“The warm weather brought us to Cairns,” he said.

“We were living in Inverell in NSW and there was an advert in the medical journal and a doctor in Cairns was looking for an assistant interested in anaesthetic so I applied and I got it.”

Mr Cossins was the ninth GP to practice medicine in Cairns, a career that spanned 43 years.

The couple were heavily involved in the community, with Mr Cossins becoming involved in the Rotary Club for 50 years and establishing the Far North Timber Co-op, while Ms Cossins became deputy mayor.

“Margaret was very involved in teaching people how to use table manners and dress codes and that – she ran a thing called the School of Social Ease for a number of years,” he said.

“Then she decided she was interested in politics, got elected to the city council and ended up as deputy mayor for a year.”

Cairns couple Margaret and Graham Cossins received letters from Queen Elizabeth I and King Charles III to celebrate their 50th and 70th wedding anniversaries, respectively. Photo: Supplied.

Ms Cossins was a councillor, then deputy mayor of Cairns in 1980s.

She left council to focus on lobbying politicians to establish the Cairns Regional Art Gallery which was achieved in 1995 and for which she received an OAM.

“It took her years to get it organised but she stuck to her guns and got it done,” Mr Cossins said.

For their 50th wedding anniversary they received a congratulatory letter from Queen Elizabeth and recently received a congratulatory letter from King Charles.

Together, the pair share three children, eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Their secret to a long-lasting marriage?

“Just be healthy and live a long time,” Mr Cossins said.

“To be married 70 years, you’ve got to be pretty old.”

Originally published as Graham and Margaret Cossins celebrate 70 years of marriage