Individual Details

John Alexander SMITH

(24 Aug 1860 - 26 Jan 1948)

Events

Birth	24 Aug 1860	"Violet bank", Nowra, New South Wales, Australian Colonies
Note	24 Mar 1902	John & his brother William had an emporium in Nowra (J. A. Smith & Partners) which caught fire on 24 Mar 1902. Around the 19 Apr 1902 there was a coronial inquest held in Nowra to determine the cause of the fire. It appears that some of the jurors were retail competitors of John's and he wasn't happy about that. At the time of the fire John was in Sydney & he estimated the value of stock destroyed at 1,400 pounds. The coroner found that the cause of the fire was unknown although John seemed convinced it was caused by sparks from a nearby blacksmith's forge. An insurance scam?
Note	19 Apr 1902	On the 19 Apr 1902 John placed an ad in the Shoalhaven News for a sale of fire damaged and other stock. However within he ad he took potshots at various members of the jury and the coroners verdict and this was to cause him to be charged with criminal libel. The case was eventually dropped around August/September the same year
Note	16 Jul 1902	On the 23 Sep 1902 John appeared before the Nowra Police Court charged with "causing an article to be published in the Nowra Colonist 16 Jul 1902 professing to be a chemist contrary to the Pharmacy Act". He was found guilty and fined 5 pounds plus costs
Note	1 Nov 1902	By November 1902 John was in trouble financially. He was taken to the Small Debts Court for unpaid council rates and goods received but not paid for
Note	3 Nov 1902	J. A. Smith & Partners was placed into the hands of an official assignee (receiver) on the 3 Nov 1902. By May 1903 John was in the Bankruptcy Court facing his creditors which included his brother William, his employee Miss Green and his nephew Lionel (then 11 years old), all claiming owed wages. The Registrar commented that the bankruptcy was "crowded with suspicion". Apparently William had opened the business back in July 1900 when John was still working as a cost and indent clerk with department store Anthony Hordern & Sons in Sydney. The brothers claimed that William sold the business to John on 1 May 1901 and he left Anthony Horderns in July of the same year to take full-time charge of the business. By October 1901 the business was known as J. A. Smith & Partners but the Registrar considered William to be a partner & therefore not entitled to any wages. He dealt with the other 2 claimants similarly. He commented that he was convinced "that they were untruthful and in combination to obtain as much as possible of the estate and to deprive the bona-fide creditors of a dividend"
Note	Jul 1903	The bankruptcy dragged on and there were a total of 5 distributions to creditors over the next 19 years. The final distribution occurred in July 1922
Marriage	18 May 1904	(says on the marriage certificate he was 37 years old but really 43) - The Unitarian Church, Liverpool St, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia -
Note	28 Oct 1942	On 28 Oct 1942 the Kiama Reporter quoted from a letter that the Nowra Leader had received from John who was at that time residing in England. The following year he was quoted in Smith's Weekly from a letter written to a friend from England so it seems apparent that John spent the war years in England
Note	14 Dec 1946	John returned to Australia on the "Orontes", departing London on the 14 Dec 1946, immediately after the end of the war. He gave his English address as 73 Fitzjohns Ave, Hampstead and declared that his occupation was accountant
Death	26 Jan 1948	Granville, New South Wales, Australia

Families

Father	John SMITH (1815 - 1888)
Mother	Jane Eliza SMITH (or WARNER) (1822 - 1916)
Sibling	Margaret Jane "Jean" SMITH (1843 - 1922)
Sibling	Juliette Louise SMITH (1844 - 1903)
Sibling	Mary Warner SMITH (1848 - 1935)
Sibling	Agnes SMITH (1849 - 1925)
Sibling	Emma SMITH (1851 - 1936)
Sibling	Janet SMITH (1853 - 1930)
Sibling	Elizabeth Jane SMITH (1855 - 1939)
Sibling	Sarah Ann "Sally" SMITH (1856 - 1935)
Sibling	William John SMITH (1858 - 1929)
Sibling	Louisa Frances SMITH (1862 - 1953)
Sibling	Kate Alice SMITH (1864 - 1956)

Endnotes