Great x3 Uncle Frederick Knott

My Great x3 Uncle Frederick (1854 - 1927), was a farm servant in Devon, a flax mill manager in New Zealand, a market garden in Newport Pagnell, father of two, and an elder brother of my Great Great Grandmother Bessie Staddon Edworthy (nee Nott) (1859 - 1919).

Whilst Bessie spelt her surname as Nott, Frederick spelt it as Knott. Spellings vary amongst the family.

Frederick was born in October 1853, in the district of Crediton, Devon, to William Nott (??), an agricultural labourer, and Grace Nott (nee Cobley) (about 25), a wool weaver.

Frederick was baptised on 30th October 1853, in Morchard Bishop, Devon. At the time of Frederick's baptism, the family resided at Lower Town.

Frederick was the third of nine children (four sons and five daughters):

• William  1850 - after 1861
• John Henry  1852 - after 1861
• Frederick  1853 - 1927  (74)
• Mary Emma  1855 - after 1871
• Eliza Lydia  1856 - 1869  (12)
• Bessie Staddon  1859 - 1919  (about 60)
• Walter  1860 - 1916  (55)
• Jessie Rose 1864 - 1947  (83)
• Agnes  1866 - 1924  (57)

1861 Census:

 

As a young man, Frederick lived with and worked as an indoor farm servant for the Horrell Family, headed by Henry Horrell, farmer of 250 acres, employing 2 men and 3 boys, at Moore Farm, Morchard Bishop.

1871 Census:

Frederick moved to New Zealand in 1874!

On 25th September 1874, twenty-year-old Frederick boarded a ship called the Crusader in Plymouth, Devon for New Zealand. Three months later, on New Year's Eve (31st December) 1874, Frederick stepped foot in Lyttelton, New Zealand. 

On 30th June 1888, Frederick (34) married fellow Devonian Fanny Dart (29) out in Amberley, Chirstchurch, New Zealand. 

The year before, Fanny had moved out to New Zealand with her sister Jane. The sisters must have been close for they emigrated together and lived together long into their adult lives.

Frederick and Fanny had two children:

• Minnie May  1889  Masterton, New Zealand
• Harry Percival  1898  Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire

Their daughter Minnie was born around 1889, out in Masterton, New Zealand.

By the time of the 1893 New Zealand Electoral Roll, Frederick was working at a flax mill, and living at Colombo Road, Masterton, New Zealand. 

In November 1892, Frederick's employers Mannings & Co took over Fittons Mill at Riverside, and appointed Frederick as manager at that mill. In March and again in July 1893, Riverside Mill was flooded by the Wairapa River and a large quanity of flax was lost.

I wonder if this loss was a key factor in Frederick and his family deciding to return to England later in 1893. On 30th November 1893, Frederick, Fanny, young Minnie, and Fanny's unmarried sister Jane boarded a ship called the SS Coptic for London.

In 1894, Frederick's then five-year-old daughter Minnie began attending infants school in Olney, near Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. At the time, the family lived on Station Road, Olney.

Soon settled in Newport Pagnell, Frederick worked as a market gardener for several years. 

The family lived with Fanny's unmarried sister Jane, a woman of private means, from the mid 1890's to the 1911 Census and beyond, at Lake's Lane, Newport Pagnell. There was also a boarder, assistant school mistress, Nellie Osborn, living with them on the 1901 Census, who may have inspired daughter Minnie to become a needlework and music teacher, by the time of the 1911 Census.

1901 Census:

1911 Census:

Daughter Minnie was a prodigal pianist. In 1907, aged only seventeen, she gained a Diploma of Association of the London College of Music. As reported in the Croydon Weekly Standard of 13th April 1907: 'We understand it is very expectational for one so young to gain the cap and gown of the A.L.C.M. Such a unique success is decidedly satisfactory, and reflects the greatest credit upon both pupil and teacher.'

From the Bucks Standard of 13th April 1907:

Frederick's son Harry (DM2/190874) served as a private, in the WO 329 company, of the Royal Army Service Corps, during the First World War. Thankfully he survived the war. After the war, he followed in his father Frederick's footsteps and worked as a market gardener, in Newport Pagnell.

The family had another border on the 1911 Census, Mark Gibbons, a coach (and then later motor) body maker, whom daughter Minnie later married in 1919.

Frederick's Daughter Minnie, aged 30, on her Wedding Day, 1919

Also living with the family on the 1921 Census were Jane and Fanny's half niece Nellie and her son Valentine (also born in New Zealand).

1921 Census:

In Apr/May/Jun 1924, when Frederick was seventy, his wife Fanny passed away, aged sixty-three, in Newport Pagnell.

In Oct/Nov/Dec 1927, Frederick passed away, aged seventy-four, in Newport Pagnell.

By the time of the 1939 Census, Frederick's adult children, Minnie and Harry, along with Minnie's husband Mark and their teenage son Maurice still lived at 64 The Lakes, Lakes Lane, Newport Pagnell.

Frederick's grandson and my 2nd Cousin 2x Removed, Maurice Gibbons, seems to have been an interesting gentleman...

As a boy, Maurice was a weekly border at Elmers School, Bletchley. Just prior to the outbreak of the Second War World, the grammar school building and grounds were requisitioned by the government, and became part of Station X at Bletchley Park - the then top-secret home of wartime codebreakers.

As a teenager, Maurice played tennis at County level - even playing at Wimbledon. He was also a keen follower of cricket, football and the grand prix.

On his eighteenth birthday, he joined the ATC (Air Traffic Control). He was also an member of the Home Guard, from 1940 until 1942, when he joined the RAF - travelling to Canada for training to be a pilot. He flew a number of missions as a Lancaster pilot for 170 Squadron over Germany. At the end of the war, he flew Lord Mountbatten and his staff; and also returned fellow countrymen, who had been prisoners of war, back to Britain.

As a boy he made many meccano models, and as a man model railways; he was also artistic and talented at drawing. He would have liked to have been an architect, or to have carried on flying after the war; however, under strong parental pressure, he joined Barclay's Bank - a steady job. 

Whilst working for a bank and later at different newsagents, he played an active role in amateur dramatics, as actor, director and props designer, which he continued into his old age. A group he was involved with, the West Niners, were to become one of the top amateur societies in London. When he moved to Lymington, later in life, he joined the Lymington players. He also took ballroom dancing lessons, whilst in London, and won two trophies in amateur competitions, meeting Vera Lynn at one of these events.

Frederick's grandson Maurice Gibbons, aged 87, 2010

(I must honour a key source in researching Frederick's and his descends lives was, my cousins, the Gibbons family's meticulously recorded family records: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/105764700/person/260050034406/facts. Xxx)