Harold Grocott Explained

Harold Grocott
Birth Date:9 March 1876
Birth Place:St Pancras, London, England
Death Place:Auckland, New Zealand
Relatives:Horace Grocott (brother)
Occupation:Pharmacist, optometrist
Country:New Zealand
Club:Carlton Bowling Club, Auckland

Harold Grocott (9 March 1876 – 11 February 1960) was a New Zealand lawn bowls player who competed for his country at the 1934 British Empire Games.

Early life and family

Born in England, in the London district of St Pancras, on 9 March 1876, Grocott was the son of Joseph Henry Grocott and Hannah Dryden.[1] He was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone on 4 June 1876.[2] In 1877, the family emigrated to New Zealand,[3] where Joseph and Hannah were married the same year.[4] Harold's younger brother, Horace, was born in Napier in 1880, and soon after, they moved to Dunedin.[5]

On 4 March 1901, Harold Grocott married Elizabeth Bazley at First Church, Dunedin.[6] The couple went on to have one son—Eric Harold Grocott, who was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service in the 1979 New Year Honours—and one daughter.[7] [8]

Professional career

By 1902, Grocott was in charge of Wilkinson and Sons' branch chemist shop in George Street, Dunedin, and was living above the shop.[9] Two years later, he had his own chemist's shop in Roxburgh, building a large new house and shop in Scotland Street,[10] and he took on Sydney Smith, who would go on to become a renowned forensic scientist and pathologist, as an apprentice.[11] Grocott sold the business in 1907.[12]

After a short period in Eltham where he owned a pharmacy,[13] Grocott later moved to Hamilton, purchasing Arthur Edwards Manning's pharmacy business and optometry practice in 1911.[14] [15] [16] Manning went on to serve as mayor of Hamilton from 1912 to 1915.[17] [18]

In 1920, Grocott travelled to London, where he passed the examinations set by the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, gaining him Fellowship in Optometry of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (FSMC).[19] He was also admitted to the Freedom of the City of London by redemption, in the Company of Spectacle Makers, and was appointed as a Fellow of the British Institute of Opticians.[1] [19] Grocott retired to Auckland in the early 1930s.

Lawn bowls

A member of the Carlton Bowling Club in Auckland, Grocott was selected to represent New Zealand in the men's fours at the 1934 British Empire Games in London, alongside two other bowlers from Carlton, namely George Pollard, and George Carter (skip), and Billy Dillicar from Hamilton's Whitiora Bowling Club.[20] [21] [22] [23] [24] At the Games, they won four of their nine round-robin matches to finish in fifth place.[25]

Other activities

Grocott was an active Rotarian in Hamilton. He attended the Rotary International Convention in Denver, Colorado, in 1926,[26] where he was appointed as a member of the elections committee for the convention.[27]

Death

Grocott died in Auckland on 11 February 1960, and he was buried at Purewa Cemetery.[28] [29] He had been predeceased by his wife, Elizabeth, in 1946.[30]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: London, England, Freedom of the City admission papers, 1681–1930 for Harold Grocott . 2010 . Ancestry.com Operations . 18 February 2019 . subscription.
  2. Web site: London, England, Church of England births and baptisms, 1813–1917 . 2010 . Ancestry.com Operations . 18 February 2019 . subscription.
  3. News: Untitled . 1 April 1891 . Daily Telegraph (Napier) . 18 February 2019 . 2.
  4. Web site: Marriage search: registration number 1877/2590 . Births, deaths & marriages online . Department of Internal Affairs . 18 February 2019.
  5. News: Mission work in Bolivia . 20 November 1914 . Waikato Argus . 18 February 2019 . 2.
  6. Web site: First Church Dunedin marriages 1848 to 1920 . Presbyterian Church Archives Research Centre . 18 February 2019.
  7. News: Weddings: Grocott–Barclay . 21 March 1931 . New Zealand Herald . 19 February 2019 . 13.
  8. News: Married in Canada . 13 April 1940 . New Zealand Herald . 19 February 2019 . 18.
  9. News: A daring robbery . 21 August 1902 . Otago Daily Times . 19 February 2019 . 6.
  10. News: Roxburgh . 23 November 1904 . Otago Witness . 19 February 2019 . 35.
  11. Web site: Sydney Smith: the scientific detective . 25 June 2007 . NZEDge . Brian . Sweeney . Ingrid . Horrocks . 19 February 2019.
  12. News: Roxburgh notes . 11 September 1907 . Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette . 19 February 2019 . 5.
  13. News: Kaponga . 20 August 1910 . Hawera & Normanby Star . 19 February 2019 . 8.
  14. News: Waikato Hospital Board . 22 December 1911 . Waikato Argus . 26 January 2019 . 2.
  15. News: Kaponga . 30 January 1912 . Hawera & Normanby Star . 19 February 2019 . 8.
  16. News: Glasses raised to a century . 16 March 2010 . Waikato Times . 19 February 2019 . Felicity . Wolfe.
  17. News: Hamilton Borough Council: extraordinary election of two councillors . 4 May 1912 . Waikato Argus . 19 February 2019 . 3.
  18. News: Hamilton: mayor about to resign . 10 November 1915 . New Zealand Herald . 19 February 2019 . 12.
  19. News: Personal . 20 June 1920 . Waikato Times . 19 February 2019 . 4.
  20. News: Empire Games team: rink leaves this evening . 8 March 1934 . Auckland Star . 18 February 2019 . 8.
  21. News: Bowling: the Whitiora club . 21 May 1935 . New Zealand Herald . 18 February 2019 . 9.
  22. News: New Zealand bowlers at the Empire Games . 14 September 1934 . Northern Advocate . 10 . 20 February 2019.
  23. Web site: Men's capped list . 19 June 2017 . Bowls New Zealand . 20 February 2019.
  24. News: Pennant bowling . 18 November 1935 . Auckland Star . 16 . 20 February 2019.
  25. News: Empire bowlers: success of England . 25 September 1934 . New Zealand Herald . 18 February 2019 . 6.
  26. News: [//paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT19260821.2.88 Conditions in U.S.A. ]. 21 August 1926 . Waikato Times . 19 February 2019 . 8.
  27. Book: Proceedings: Seventeenth Annual Convention of Rotary International . 20 February 2019 . 1926 . Rotary International . Chicago . 35.
  28. News: Deaths . 12 February 1960 . Auckland Star . 19.
  29. Web site: Burial & cremation details: Harold Grocott . Purewa Cemetery and Crematorium . 18 February 2019.
  30. Web site: Burial & cremation details: Elizabeth Grocott . Purewa Cemetery and Crematorium . 18 February 2019.

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