John Norton (Australian journalist)
Encyclopedia
John Norton, was an English
-born Australia
n journalist, editor and member of the New South Wales Parliament. He was a writer and newspaper proprietor best known for his Sydney
newspaper the Truth
. John Norton was arguably one of Australia's most controversial public figures ever.
, Sussex
, England
but may have been born in London
. He was the only son of John Norton, stonemason, who died before he was born, and his mother was Mary Davis. In 1860, his mother remarried Benjamin Timothy Herring, a silk-weaver, who allegedly mistreated his stepson. He apparently spent some time in Paris
and learned to speak good French
. He claimed to have walked to Constantinople
in 1880, where he became a journalist.
Norton emigrated to Australia in 1884 and soon became chief reporter on the Evening News, which supported free trade. In 1885 he edited the official report of the Third Intercolonial Trades Union Congress
. One of its resolutions condemned the New South Wales Governments contribution of ₤
250,000 to assist migration from Europe
. Norton was selected by the Trades and Labor Council of New South Wales
to go to Europe in 1886 to tell potential immigrants that Australia was not a workers' paradise. He attended a trade union congress in Hull
and spoke in French to one in Paris
.
On his return, Norton became editor of the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate
, but was sacked for drunkenness after a few months. Within a few weeks of its establishment in August 1890, he then joined the Truth, which favoured exposé articles. He soon became its editor and in April 1891 he altered its masthead to claim proprietorship, but was sacked as editor for repeated drunkedness.
He became the owner of the Sydney newspaper, The Truth in 1896 and it became even more abusive of public figures, leading to increased circulation and legal action including trials for criminal libel and sedition
, which he generally managed to beat. He established editions of the Truth in Queensland
, Victoria
(The Truth
) and Western Australia
by 1903. Norton's staunchly nationalistic paper published many late-19th-Century Australian authors such as Henry Lawson
.
From humble beginnings, John Norton became one of Australia's most successful media figures, and he became fabulously rich. He and his family lived in huge mansion called St. Helena, situated at Torrington Road, Maroubra in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
The Grohn Affair
In 1906, Norton was accused in the press of attempted murder. He became embroiled in a murder investigation regarding the death of a man named George Grohn (de Groen) who died in mysterious circumstances in John Norton's house back on 9 November 1902. The men were both drunk on the night Grohn died and Norton gave evidence that George Grohn had died because he had accidentally fallen down the stairs, but the investigating police and others believed Norton had hit Grohn on the head with a bottle, killing him instantly. Norton was alleged to have organised a Randwick physician named Dr. Osborne H. Reddall to issue a death certificate stating Grohn had died of natural causes. It was also alleged that the death certificate was written out while Dr. Reddall was in The Truth's Sydney office - before the physician had even viewed the body. Then to make matters worse, Norton held on to Grohn's death certificate for two years until he finally registered the death in 1904. These details emerged in 1906, and the police immediately requested that Grohn's death be investigated by the City Coroner. Grohn's body was immediately exhumed from his grave at Rookwood Cemetery
for an autopsy. The 1906 inquest into Grohn's death produced a open finding due to lack of medical evidence, but serious doubts over the incident always remained.
Wowser
John Norton is generally considered the person who invented the Australian word 'wowser
', meaning one whose overdeveloped sense of morality drives them to deprive others of their pleasures; a person regarded as excessively puritanical; a killjoy. His name is mentioned as the inventor of this word in the Macquarie Dictionary.
"I invented the word myself," he wrote. "I was the first man publicly to use the word. I first gave it public utterance in the City Council, when I applied it to Alderman G.J. Waterhouse, whom I referred to as the white, woolly, weary, watery, word-wasting wowser from Waverley". Gustavus John Waterhouse (1850-1929) was the Mayor of Waverley on two occasions and was an Alderman on Waverley Council for many years.
and made many enemies among other politicians. Conversely, he was very popular among his constituents. He was initially elected as the member for Sydney-Fitzroy
at a by-election in June 1898 and served until the July 1898 elections. Redmer Yska in his book "Truth:The Rise and Fall of the People's Paper" states on page 16 that Norton, in a drunken stupor, once urinated in view of members on the floor of the chamber.
The Norton-Meagher Fracas
John Norton featured in one of the most sensational incidents Sydney had ever witnessed back on 21 September 1898. Norton's bitter rival and fellow politician, Richard Meagher
(1866–1931), member for Tweed, horsewhipped Norton in Sydney's busy Pitt Street
in front of hundreds of bystanders. Meagher was angry at Norton for labeling him Mr. "Mendax" Meagher in Norton's Truth Newspaper. Norton also described Meagher as the "premier perjurer of our public life and the champion criminal of the continent". After he had been whipped, Norton responded by firing three shots at Meagher with a revolver. Both men were charged with assault at Central Police Court, although Meagher was fined just ₤5 and John Norton was found not guilty.
John Norton represented Northumberland
, from 1899 to 1901; Surry Hills
, from 1904 to 1906; and Darling Harbour
from 1907 to 1910.
He was also elected three times as a Sydney
alderman
between 1898 and 1906. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Senate
in 1901 and 1906.
(1897–1967). Ten years later they had a daughter, Joan Norton (1907–1940). Initially, the family lived at Watsons Bay but by 1905 they had moved to the St Helena mansion that overlooked Maroubra Beach.
Unfortunately, their marriage was not a happy one. John and Ada Norton were judicially separated on 9 November 1915 on the grounds of Norton's drunkenness, cruelty and adultery. John Norton represented himself during the proceedings while Richard Windeyer KC
acted on behalf of Mrs. Ada Norton. Embarrassingly, details of the divorce trial appeared in glaring detail in the national press, including Norton's own newspaper The Truth.
John Norton was an chronic alcoholic and suffered from megalomania
for most of his adult life.
John Norton died at a private hospital in Melbourne
of Uraemia and kidney failure on 9 April 1916. He had been seriously ill for some months and had been in a coma for a week before his death. His wife, son and daughter were at his bedside when he died.
His body was returned to Sydney for burial. On 15 April 1916, huge crowds attended his funeral service at St James' Church, Sydney and later at his elaborate burial at South Head Cemetery (refer:Waverley Cemetery
).
Mrs Ada Norton persuaded the New South Wales Parliament to backdate the new Testator's Family Maintenance Act to take effect before Norton's death. Under this legislation, she succeeded in having his will rewritten in 1920 so that she and Ezra Norton
each received a third of his inheritance, allowing Ezra Norton
to gain control of the The Truth
Media Group. By 1927, John Norton's Estate had been re-valued at £600,000.00.
Later, his daughter Joan Norton, as Mrs Ben Shashoua, was the petitioner behind the bankruptcy of Sydney businessman Hugh D. McIntosh
. She married Ben Shashoua in London on 9th January 1930 although they separated after 6 months and she returned to Sydney. Like her father, Joan Shashoua (née Norton) died from alcoholism in Sydney on 7th March 1940 and was buried in the Norton family plot at South Head Cemetery. She left a huge estate valued at £71,146.00 to her mother Ada and her brother Ezra Norton
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-born Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n journalist, editor and member of the New South Wales Parliament. He was a writer and newspaper proprietor best known for his Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
newspaper the Truth
Truth (Sydney newspaper)
The Truth was a newspaper published in Sydney, Australia. It was founded in August 1890 by William Nicholas Willis and its first editor was Adolphus Taylor. In 1891 it claimed to be "The organ of radical democracy and Australian National Independence" and advocated "a republican Commonwealth...
. John Norton was arguably one of Australia's most controversial public figures ever.
Life, Career and Controversy
John Norton claimed to have been born in BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
but may have been born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He was the only son of John Norton, stonemason, who died before he was born, and his mother was Mary Davis. In 1860, his mother remarried Benjamin Timothy Herring, a silk-weaver, who allegedly mistreated his stepson. He apparently spent some time in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and learned to speak good French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. He claimed to have walked to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 1880, where he became a journalist.
Norton emigrated to Australia in 1884 and soon became chief reporter on the Evening News, which supported free trade. In 1885 he edited the official report of the Third Intercolonial Trades Union Congress
Third Intercolonial Trades Union Congress
The Third Intercolonial Trades Union Congress was a meeting of trade union delegates held in Sydney, Australia in October 1885, succeeding congresses in 1879 and 1884. It was the first of these congresses to have representatives from every colony, except Western Australia, and every trade and...
. One of its resolutions condemned the New South Wales Governments contribution of ₤
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
250,000 to assist migration from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Norton was selected by the Trades and Labor Council of New South Wales
Labor Council of New South Wales
The Labor Council of New South Wales is a representative body of Trade union organisations in the State of New South Wales, Australia. As of 2005 there are 67 unions and 8 Rural and Regional Trades & Labor Councils affiliated to the Labor Council, representing 800,000 workers in NSW...
to go to Europe in 1886 to tell potential immigrants that Australia was not a workers' paradise. He attended a trade union congress in Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
and spoke in French to one in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
On his return, Norton became editor of the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate
The Newcastle Herald
The Newcastle Herald is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, the largest non-capital city in Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the entire Hunter and Central Coast regions six days a week...
, but was sacked for drunkenness after a few months. Within a few weeks of its establishment in August 1890, he then joined the Truth, which favoured exposé articles. He soon became its editor and in April 1891 he altered its masthead to claim proprietorship, but was sacked as editor for repeated drunkedness.
He became the owner of the Sydney newspaper, The Truth in 1896 and it became even more abusive of public figures, leading to increased circulation and legal action including trials for criminal libel and sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
, which he generally managed to beat. He established editions of the Truth in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
(The Truth
The Truth (newspaper)
The Truth was a Melbourne tabloid newspaper established in 1902 as a subsidiary of the Sydney Truth, established in 1890.In its early years its politics was very much left-leaning, and it painted itself as the voice of the working class. Before 1945 it had a style of journalism that was high...
) and Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
by 1903. Norton's staunchly nationalistic paper published many late-19th-Century Australian authors such as Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest writer"...
.
From humble beginnings, John Norton became one of Australia's most successful media figures, and he became fabulously rich. He and his family lived in huge mansion called St. Helena, situated at Torrington Road, Maroubra in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
The Grohn Affair
In 1906, Norton was accused in the press of attempted murder. He became embroiled in a murder investigation regarding the death of a man named George Grohn (de Groen) who died in mysterious circumstances in John Norton's house back on 9 November 1902. The men were both drunk on the night Grohn died and Norton gave evidence that George Grohn had died because he had accidentally fallen down the stairs, but the investigating police and others believed Norton had hit Grohn on the head with a bottle, killing him instantly. Norton was alleged to have organised a Randwick physician named Dr. Osborne H. Reddall to issue a death certificate stating Grohn had died of natural causes. It was also alleged that the death certificate was written out while Dr. Reddall was in The Truth's Sydney office - before the physician had even viewed the body. Then to make matters worse, Norton held on to Grohn's death certificate for two years until he finally registered the death in 1904. These details emerged in 1906, and the police immediately requested that Grohn's death be investigated by the City Coroner. Grohn's body was immediately exhumed from his grave at Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
for an autopsy. The 1906 inquest into Grohn's death produced a open finding due to lack of medical evidence, but serious doubts over the incident always remained.
Wowser
John Norton is generally considered the person who invented the Australian word 'wowser
Wowser
Wowser was originally a slang expression, most commonly heard in Australian and New Zealand English. It originated in Australia, at first carrying a similar meaning to 'lout', i.e. an annoying or disruptive person, or even a prostitute. In around 1900 it shifted to its present meaning: one whose...
', meaning one whose overdeveloped sense of morality drives them to deprive others of their pleasures; a person regarded as excessively puritanical; a killjoy. His name is mentioned as the inventor of this word in the Macquarie Dictionary.
"I invented the word myself," he wrote. "I was the first man publicly to use the word. I first gave it public utterance in the City Council, when I applied it to Alderman G.J. Waterhouse, whom I referred to as the white, woolly, weary, watery, word-wasting wowser from Waverley". Gustavus John Waterhouse (1850-1929) was the Mayor of Waverley on two occasions and was an Alderman on Waverley Council for many years.
Parliamentary career
John Norton served for nearly 12 years in the N.S.W. Legislative AssemblyNew South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
and made many enemies among other politicians. Conversely, he was very popular among his constituents. He was initially elected as the member for Sydney-Fitzroy
Electoral district of Sydney-Fitzroy
Sydney-Fitzroy was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, created in 1894 from part of East Sydney in inner Sydney including Woolloomooloo, Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay and bounded by Riley Street, William Street, King's Cross Road, Bayswater...
at a by-election in June 1898 and served until the July 1898 elections. Redmer Yska in his book "Truth:The Rise and Fall of the People's Paper" states on page 16 that Norton, in a drunken stupor, once urinated in view of members on the floor of the chamber.
The Norton-Meagher Fracas
John Norton featured in one of the most sensational incidents Sydney had ever witnessed back on 21 September 1898. Norton's bitter rival and fellow politician, Richard Meagher
Richard Meagher
Richard Denis Meagher MLA was an Australian solicitor and was Lord Mayor of Sydney from 1916 to 1917.-Early life:...
(1866–1931), member for Tweed, horsewhipped Norton in Sydney's busy Pitt Street
Pitt Street, Sydney
Pitt Street is a major street in central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sections after a substantial stretch of it was removed to make way for Sydney's...
in front of hundreds of bystanders. Meagher was angry at Norton for labeling him Mr. "Mendax" Meagher in Norton's Truth Newspaper. Norton also described Meagher as the "premier perjurer of our public life and the champion criminal of the continent". After he had been whipped, Norton responded by firing three shots at Meagher with a revolver. Both men were charged with assault at Central Police Court, although Meagher was fined just ₤5 and John Norton was found not guilty.
John Norton represented Northumberland
Electoral district of Northumberland
Northumberland was an electoral district for the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1859 to 1913, in the Newcastle area and named after Northumberland County. It elected two members simultaneously between 1880 and 1887 and three members between 1887 and 1894...
, from 1899 to 1901; Surry Hills
Electoral district of Surry Hills
Surry Hills was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, created in 1904 and named after and including Surry Hills. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into the multi-member electorate of Sydney. It was...
, from 1904 to 1906; and Darling Harbour
Electoral district of Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, created in 1904, partly replacing Sydney-Gipps in the vicinity of Darling Harbour. In 1920, it was absorbed by Balmain....
from 1907 to 1910.
He was also elected three times as a Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
between 1898 and 1906. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
in 1901 and 1906.
Marriage, separation and death
John Norton married Ada McGrath (1871-1960) on 29 April 1897 at St James' Church, Sydney. They had a son, Ezra NortonEzra Norton
Ezra Norton was an Australian newspaper baron and businessman.-Early life:Norton was born in the Sydney suburb of Watsons Bay, son of the proprietor of the Truth, John Norton and Ada McGrath , whom he married some weeks later...
(1897–1967). Ten years later they had a daughter, Joan Norton (1907–1940). Initially, the family lived at Watsons Bay but by 1905 they had moved to the St Helena mansion that overlooked Maroubra Beach.
Unfortunately, their marriage was not a happy one. John and Ada Norton were judicially separated on 9 November 1915 on the grounds of Norton's drunkenness, cruelty and adultery. John Norton represented himself during the proceedings while Richard Windeyer KC
KC
-Places:* Karachay-Cherkessia, republic in Russia, ISO 3166-2:RU code* Kuçovë, district in Albania, ISO 3166-2:AL code* Kansas City, Missouri* KC Stadium, a football and rugby-league stadium in England* Kingsthorpe College, a secondary school in England-People:...
acted on behalf of Mrs. Ada Norton. Embarrassingly, details of the divorce trial appeared in glaring detail in the national press, including Norton's own newspaper The Truth.
John Norton was an chronic alcoholic and suffered from megalomania
Megalomania
Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
for most of his adult life.
John Norton died at a private hospital in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
of Uraemia and kidney failure on 9 April 1916. He had been seriously ill for some months and had been in a coma for a week before his death. His wife, son and daughter were at his bedside when he died.
His body was returned to Sydney for burial. On 15 April 1916, huge crowds attended his funeral service at St James' Church, Sydney and later at his elaborate burial at South Head Cemetery (refer:Waverley Cemetery
Waverley Cemetery
The Waverley Cemetery opened in 1877 and is a cemetery located on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. It is noted for its largely intact Victorian and Edwardian monuments. The cemetery contains the graves of many significant Australians including the poet Henry Lawson and...
).
Family Challenge Norton's Estate
In his Will, John Norton disinherited his wife Ada and son Ezra and left the bulk of his estate to his 9-year-old daughter, Joan. The estate seemed to many to be greatly undervalued, even though it was presented for probate at a staggering £106,000.00 - an absolute fortune in 1916.Mrs Ada Norton persuaded the New South Wales Parliament to backdate the new Testator's Family Maintenance Act to take effect before Norton's death. Under this legislation, she succeeded in having his will rewritten in 1920 so that she and Ezra Norton
Ezra Norton
Ezra Norton was an Australian newspaper baron and businessman.-Early life:Norton was born in the Sydney suburb of Watsons Bay, son of the proprietor of the Truth, John Norton and Ada McGrath , whom he married some weeks later...
each received a third of his inheritance, allowing Ezra Norton
Ezra Norton
Ezra Norton was an Australian newspaper baron and businessman.-Early life:Norton was born in the Sydney suburb of Watsons Bay, son of the proprietor of the Truth, John Norton and Ada McGrath , whom he married some weeks later...
to gain control of the The Truth
The Truth
The Truth may mean:* The truth in a particular context - a statement that is known to be correct —ie. in accord with reality, as corroborated by evidence or related experience*Supreme reality, holding the ultimate meaning and value of existence...
Media Group. By 1927, John Norton's Estate had been re-valued at £600,000.00.
Later, his daughter Joan Norton, as Mrs Ben Shashoua, was the petitioner behind the bankruptcy of Sydney businessman Hugh D. McIntosh
Hugh D. McIntosh
Hugh Donald "Huge Deal" McIntosh was an Australian show-business entrepreneur born to parents of Scottish and Irish origin and modest means in Sydney's Surry Hills, then a ramshackle suburb with a reputation for crime and vice among the largely Irish immigrant population. His policeman father Hugh...
. She married Ben Shashoua in London on 9th January 1930 although they separated after 6 months and she returned to Sydney. Like her father, Joan Shashoua (née Norton) died from alcoholism in Sydney on 7th March 1940 and was buried in the Norton family plot at South Head Cemetery. She left a huge estate valued at £71,146.00 to her mother Ada and her brother Ezra Norton
Ezra Norton
Ezra Norton was an Australian newspaper baron and businessman.-Early life:Norton was born in the Sydney suburb of Watsons Bay, son of the proprietor of the Truth, John Norton and Ada McGrath , whom he married some weeks later...
.
Further reading
- Cannon, Michael. That damned democrat : John Norton, an Australian populist, 1858-1916 Melbourne University Press, 1981. ISBN 0522842151
- Hall, Sandra. Tabloid Man- The life and times of Ezra Norton. Fourth Estate Press. 2008. (ISBN 978 0 7322 8259 2).
- Pearl, Cyril. Wild Men Of Sydney. Universal Books. 1958, 1970.