The Nortons of Culmstock, Devon

11/04/2020

The Emigrants - Frederick George Norton (b.1869)

Frederick George (F.G.) (Fred) Norton was born in 1869. Both he and his brother, J.T. Norton first went to Burliscombe School and parish church, and latterly Prescott Baptist Church, near Culmstock, Devon. They served as apprentice bakers before journeying to New Zealand.

Before FG went to NZ, he gave Edith Harriet Scott half a silver threepenny bit. He later sent for her to join him in NZ. the two halves of the coin were reunited and Fred and Edith were married in NZ.

We only have an anecdotal account of FG’s voyage to New Zealand told to us by his cousin, Wilfred Norton. The account is at odds with the documentary evidence. Wilfred said that FG Norton and his brother, JT and their older sister travelled to NZ together aboard the Waitangi, sailing in 1883. Wilfred said that the cook went sick during the voyage. The Captain looked on the passenger list for any cooks or bakers. Fred was a baker and so he was asked to be the ship’s cook. Mary Ann was sea sick and Fred was giving her bits of food.

However, the Captain found out and told him that this practice had to stop. Fred's reply was that the Captain would have to find himself another cook. Consequently, the practice was overlooked. The ship arrived in Lyttelton on 13 January 1884. While the story has a lovely ring to It, FG Norton’s name does not appear on the passenger list for that voyage. Only the names of JT and Mary Anne Norton appear. If he had travelled with JT and Mary Ann he would have been just 14 years old when he arrived in New Zealand. It is unlikely at that age that he would have been sequestered into becoming the ship’s cook. His name has not yet been located on another passenger manifest. (1)

What we do know is that he had married Edith on the 24th of May 1897, in Christchurch, New Zealand. She, the daughter of railwayman William Scott and his wife, Harriet Lescombe.
F.G. started a small bakery/grocery/farmlet in Lincoln (Canterbury, NZ) where his sons, Wallace Eustace (born 1898), and Laurence Owen (born 1899), were born.
Shortly after his sons were born in Lincoln, he moved to Lyttleton to work with his brother J.T. in the bakery.

Sources:
(1) As told by his cousin, Wilfred Norton, 1st June, 2003 (Taunton, UK):

The descendants of FG can be found on this page:
https://www.facebook.com/FGNortonHistory/

This page celebrates the various branches and descendants of Frederick George Norton and Edith Norton (nee Scott) who were born in Culmstock and emigrated to New Zealand.

10/04/2020

Photos of JT Norton & Mary Ann (Polly) Wright (nee Norton) and the census record recording JT as being 10 months old when the census was taken in 1860.

10/04/2020

The Emigrants - James Talbot (“JT”) Norton (b. 1862)

J.T. Norton went to Burliscombe School and parish church, and latterly Prescott Baptist Church, near Culmstock, Devon. He served as an apprentice baker with his brother Frederick George Norton before journeying to New Zealand with his older sister, Mary Ann Norton (Polly) (b 1859).

The Waitangi sailed from Plymouth, England 27 October 1883 and arrived Lyttelton, New Zealand 12 January 1884 with 312 Passengers mostly Government and nominated immigrants under the command of Captain A. Friston. 73 days to the Snares. She had mostly uninterruptedly fine weather and favourable winds throughout. She crossed the equator 21 days after leaving port, the meridian of the Cape of Good Hope on December 10, Cape Leenwin on December 31, and made the Snares on January 9. She was supplied with ample boats if there was an accident: six large boats, two lifeboats properly fitted up, two large pinnace boats, ready for launch at a moments notice, a large cutter and a large gig.

A full account of the voyage was reported in The Lyttelton Times. The report is reproduced below:

About 5 o’clock on Saturday afternoon the red flag was again displayed on the south yard arm of the signal station, denoting another ship off the Peninsula. As the Tantallon Castle was due - 50 days out - from Calcutta, and the Waitangi had left Plymouth more than a fortnight after the Oamaru had sailed from London, the chances were that it would turn out to be the vessel from the Indian Port. Late on Saturday evening it was telephoned from the Heads that the ship signalled was a large one, with white painted ports and in light trim, and on Sunday morning the New Zealand Shipping Company’s Waitangi, Captain Friston, anchored off Rhodes Bay, after a very quick passage of 76 days from Plymouth to Lyttelton. The Custom House launch, with the Health Officer and Customs authorities went down at 10.30a.m. on Sunday, and All wellbeing quickly given as the answer to the enquiries if there was any sickness aboard, she was soon thrown open to the public.

There was but one death during the passage, that of an infant, James Wood, on Nov. 16, from illness brought on by teething.
In contrast to the voyage of the Oamaru, which is conspicuous for the amount of bad weather during the passage, the log of the Waitangi reports almost uninterruptedly fine weather - that is, from a sailor’s point of view, which means fair winds - throughout the run.

The only events worthy of record are that the Waitangi sighted the Island of Trinidad on Nov. 28 and spoke the Ship Turakina, flying the red cross flag of the same line, bound to Auckland on Dec. 19.

As is usual when a vessel carries a large number of passengers, boat and fire drill was practised every Saturday. Unfortunately the latter exercise was nearly becoming painfully necessary on Sunday, Nov. 23, when in 13.24S,lat, and 32.25 west long., the dreaded alarm of Fire was raised in earnest. It proved to be in the fore part of the ship in the between decks, where part of the crew were berthed. A bale of oakum was ignited, it is supposed by a spark from a pipe, and caused a quantity of smoke which led to the belief that the ship was on fire. A plentiful supply of water was at once directed on the burning mass, and the fire was extinguished without damage to the vessel or its freight. (1)

JT married Emily Pleiades Hancock, daughter of Thomas and Emily Hancock in 1891, in Christchurch, New Zealand. . They had 5 children; Emily Glady Norton, Eveline Maude Norton, Raymond Talbot Hancock Norton, Allan James Norton and Orpah Elise Norton.
His wife, Emily died in 1906 and he remarried Annie Brown. J.T. founded the J.T. Norton & Co. Bakery which also encompassed a grocery, pastry shop and in 1875 the Dorase Yeast Works. His sons, Alan and Ray became involved in the business, as did two of his grandsons; Jim (a Baker) Keith.
Marry Ann (Polly) Norton married William Wright who was also a native of Culmstock but who had previously emigrated to New Zealand to be a farmer. They married in Temuka, South Canterbury, in December of 1884.

The Norton descendants of JT can be found on this page:
https://www.facebook.com/NZNortons/

Sources:
(1) https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~nzbound/genealogy/waitangi.htm

The descendants of James Talbot Norton (Born UK 1862) migrated to Lyttelton, New Zealand.

10/04/2020

The Emigrants - John Norton (b. 1860)

In an earlier post we mentioned that four of John and Anne's children emigrated to New Zealand. They were John, James Talbot (JT), Frederick George (FG) and Mary Ann (Polly).
John, born in 1860, found employment in country work until leaving for NZ. He was assisted to come to New Zealand by the Wright family, who already had members of the family emigrate. A letter written back to England by John Wyatt Wright in 1881 is rather terse as he had been led to believe that John had changed his mind about coming out to NZ despite having had his fare paid for him. In actual fact John was by then on his way.1

After leaving England in February 1881 on the sailing ship "Waitangi" landed at Port Chalmers on the 12 June 1881 the day after his twenty first birthday. He found employment with his first cousin William Wright at Rangitira Valley near Temuka, South Canterbury until in 1898 when he purchased 404 acres which he called "Prospect Farm" near Pleasant Point.

John Norton’s fiancé, Sarah Beer (1859-1944), daughter of Mr. John Beer of Doddiscombe, Leigh, England travelled on her own and left England on 30 June 1884 on the "Florida" which arrived in New Zealand on 23 August 1884; an extremely quick trip of 54 days . It would have been over three years since John and Sarah had last seen each other. John and Sarah were married in the Temuka Presbyterian church on 3 November 1884 . The officiating minister was James Maxwell, the best man William Wright and the bridesmaid Mary Ann Norton. On the 16 December 1884 Mary Ann married her first cousin William Wright."2

The history of settlement by three various interlinked families; the Nortons, the Wrights and the Talbots in New Zealand can be found in more detail in the excellent treatise written by Alan Norton in 1992. “ John and Sarah Norton Prospect Farm- Pleasant Point South Canterbury” available here;

https://www.scribd.com/doc/7550643/Dissertation-on-John-and-Sarah-Norton

Further information on the Talbots of South Canterbury also be found at ;

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nzlscant/talbot.htm

Sources:
1. Transcript of a letter held by Rene Ashby (email) November 2006
2. Alan Norton, John & Sarah Norton =- Prospect Farm - Pleasant Point South Canterbury - A dissertation., October 1992, Page 6

08/04/2020

And now in Colour John and Ann Norton and Old Beat

04/04/2020

Go to the learn more button (above on the right handside of the page) to check out the family tree

01/04/2020

John & Ann Norton Old Beat farm
John Norton (b.22 Jan 1829) and Ann Norton (b. 31 Aug 1831) and their family are recorded as living at Old Beat Farm House near Prescott, in the parish of Culmstock, County of Devon, England since the 1881 Census and probably for many years before. The census of 1881 shows that their close neighbours at Old Beat were the Lovells and the Rowland Families. James Rowland is recorded as being a farmer of 5 acres and John Norton was a wheelwright working on the farm.

John Norton was born less than a mile away as the crow flies across the fields at Maiden Down Farm to his parents John Norton (b. 3 Jul 1791) and Mary Norton (b.12 May 1793) (nee Mary Rabjohns)

John’s wife Anne was the daughter of John Talbot (b.Oct 1778) and Maria Cockram (b. May 1789) from Henborough Farm, Uplowman, Devon

John and Ann’s children were;
William (b. 1855)
Henry (b.1859)
Mary Ann (b.22 Feb 1859
John (b.11 Jun 1860)
James Talbot (b. 18 Aug 1862)
Ellen (b.1864)
Thomas (b. 1867)
Frederick George (b.27 Jan 1869)
Charles (b.16 Mar 1871)
Walter (b.18730

We shall hear more of the exploits of John, James Talbot (JT) and Frederick George (FG) and Mary Ann all of whom emigrated to NZ.

Links

Map of Old Beat Farm and Maiden Down Farm, Culmstock

https://goo.gl/maps/HJetArVrefGkMeSp8

01/04/2020

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