Harold Cooper Nott

Today, 20 March, marks the birthday of our grandfather, Harold Cooper Nott. So, it seems appropriate to offer a blogpost in his honour.

Harry Nott in 1920

Harry's childhood

Harold was born on 20 March 1891 at 13 Cavendish Road, Brondesbury, a suburb in the north west of London. He was the youngest child of Tom Harrington Nott and Annie Cooper, the couple having had an older son, Stanley.

His birth certificate lists his father as being a Pianoforte Action Maker. This occupation title, while it seems quite innocuous, became, in fact, a fateful factor in the lives of the Nott family.

Tom Nott had  taken over his father's business of piano manufacturing in Chalk Farm in London in the late 1880s and it is quite clear from an examination of the Piano, Organ and Music Trades Journal that the 1890s were hard times for the piano trade in London.

Many manufacturers are listed in each issue of the Journal as going bankrupt or having financial difficulties. Tom Nott was no exception. He appears as a creditor for other businesses and in August 1892, he, too is listed as being in significant financial problems.

The exact cause of his marriage breakup to Annie is not known but a downturn in business appears to have been a cause from a reading of Tom Nott's letters from the 1920s to Harry.

What is clear is that by 1895, Tom Nott had left his family in favour of the United States of America where he settled in Newcastle, Indiana and worked until the 1920s.

Harry and Meopham

What of Harry and his older brother, Stan - two little boys left without the protection of the family's breadwinner?

We know that by February 1896, the two boys were in Meopham, Kent - then a sleepy village and now a commuter suburb of London. Why the boys were sent to Meopham (pronounced Meppum) is unclear. We do know that the family of the boys' maternal grandmother, Ann Emma Huggett had originated there but the boys were raised by a lady they knew as Aunt Dalton. From research, this lady, Olivia Dalton seems to have been a distant cousin of the Huggetts.

Harry and Stan spent their boyhood in Meopham until Stan was 14 when he went to live with their aunt, Betty Thomas nee Cooper in Hendon, London. Harry seems to have stayed in Meopham though by the 1911 Census both boys were living with 'Aunt Betty' in Hendon.

Harry Nott and Australia

So what of Harry Nott and Australia? Of that we know little. The family story is that Harry joined the Royal Navy, came to Australia and then joined the Royal Australian Navy. Of this story, no evidence can be found.

Another story told by Stan's daughter, Anne is that Harry came to Australia chasing a woman. Could this be the mysterious Nellie Snape that our Mum and her sister, Auntie Bo used to rib Harry bout as being his girlfriend? Or was Nellie merely a figment of imagination and humour? We are unlikely to ever know.

What is known is that when Stan married in December 1911, Harry was still in England as he was a witness to Stan's marriage. Then, Harry appears in Western Australia enlisting in the Royal Australian Navy in October 1913.

Harry Nott and the First World War

Harry is right of centre as the Pearly King.

Harry served on several naval ships including the Cerberus, Encounter and Brisbane as part of the New Guinea campaign.  It is from this period that we have photos of Harry dressed up and performing in concerts on board that he no doubt was instrumental in organising.

It was also during his naval service that he met Ross Rowlison who took him back to a small country town familiar to Ross in north western NSW, Barraba. It is here that Harry met and eventually married our grandmother, Selina Louisa (Lou) Brodbeck on 4 January 1922.

Harlou and Ryde

The couple first settled in Payten Street, Ryde where their two daughters Betty and Shirley were born in 1923 and 1925 respectively. They named their house 'Harlou', a combination of Harry and Lou.

Harry's penchant for entertaining was as alive here as it was in the navy and we have concert programs from Putney and Ryde featuring 'Harry Nott'.

The Notts in Lismore

In the late 1920s, Harry was offered and accepted the position of manager of the newly built Memorial Baths in Lismore and the family moved north. The position of Baths Manager was held by Harry for many years until he retired in 1954.

Throughout the whole time, Harry was involved in community organisations primarily, the R.S.L and the Soldiers and Sailors Leagues. He was also ever present to encourage a growing number of grandchildren to 'do a concert' of an evening. 

When Harry passed away on 12 May 1967, there were numerous tributes extolling his charity and community work as well as his strong influence on many North Coast residents who he taught to swim. 

Harry at Lismore Memorial Baths.

The German families of Barraba

So, I've just returned from a family history driving trip around New South Wales - and, yes, there was a lot of time in cemeteries!

Of course, one of the places I visited was Barraba, the small town north-west of Tamworth where our grandmother, Selina Louisa (Louie) Brodbeck was born to Jacob Brodbeck and Elizabeth Stieger on 20 July 1892.

Barraba's fortunes in the past have been as a result of goldrushes, copper, sheep grazing and, more recently, asbestos mining. In particular, a number of German immigrants took up sheep grazing probably as a result of most of them having worked for the Australian Agricultural Company which had vast tracts of land on which it ran sheep.

Today, Barraba is a small quiet town of around 1,200. What strikes you though, either through a walk in the cemetery or a stroll down the main street, is how we are, in different ways, related to most of Barraba - either those resident in the cemetery or those still with us.

This is largely as a result of the inter-marriage of the German families who settled in the Barraba from the 1870s. It appears this was a tight knit community that worked together, lived near each other, socialised together and married each other!

What that means is that because we are related to, say, the Stiegers, we are also related to a larger or lesser extent to the families of: Brodbeck, Groth, Schmidt, Simshauser, Mell, Garske and Doring.

A good number of Brodbecks, Stiegers and Garskes around 1902

How many cousins?

It also means that we have a LOT of distant cousins. For example, our own grandmother, Louie had 90 first cousins - yes, 90!

I've been trying to think which family links a lot of the others together - which was the family that inter-married the most. It's hard to say but the Stieger family is a good example. Let me show you:

Charles Stieger (1838-1917) married Eliza Schmidt (1845-1903)

Eliza had four siblings, one of whom was Caroline who married William Edward Garske.

Charles and Eliza Stieger had:

1. Andrew (1862-1937). Never married.
2. Elizabeth (1864-1920) married Jacob Brodbeck.
3. John (1865-1888). Never married.
4. Johanna (1867-1952) married Christian Brodbeck.
5. Henry (1868-1940) married Emma Jenner.
6. Edward (1870-1944) married Mary Caroline Groth.
7. Charles (1872-1923). Never married.
8. Amelia (1874-1920) married Gottlieb Brodbeck.
9. Albert (1876-1958). Never married.
10. Emma (1877-1941) married Henry Groth.
11. William (1879-1903) married Annie Simshauser.
12. Angelina (1881-1948) married John Groth.
13. Matilda (1885-1936) married Arthur Groth.

So, three Stieger sisters married three Brodbeck brothers. Three Stieger sisters married three Groth brothers and one male Stieger, Edward married a sister to those Groth brothers.

You could thank your lucky stars four of the Stieger boys never married!

But wait, here's the free set of steak knives!

Annie Simshauser who married William Stieger had two sisters.

Mary Catherine Elizabeth Simshauser married Charles Edward Schmidt who was the brother of Eliza Schmidt.

Annie Simshauser's other sister, Louisa Keziah Simshauser married Johanes Brodbeck, a brother to Jacob, Christian and Gottlieb Brodbeck.

So what?

There are two morals to this story.....always be careful who you gossip about.....they may just be a relative and....all roads lead to Barraba!