Harold Grocott

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.

Harold Grocott
Personal information
Born(1876-03-09)9 March 1876
St Pancras, London, England
Died11 February 1960(1960-02-11) (aged 83)
Auckland, New Zealand
OccupationPharmacist, optometrist
Spouse(s)
Elizabeth Bazley
​
​
(m. 1901; died 1946)​
RelativesHorace Grocott (brother)
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportLawn bowls
ClubCarlton Bowling Club, Auckland

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][6]

On 4 March 1901, Harold Grocott married Elizabeth Bazley at First Church, Dunedin.[7] 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.[8][9][10]

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.[11] Two years later, he had his own chemist's shop in Roxburgh, building a large new house and shop in Scotland Street,[12] and he took on Sydney Smith, who would go on to become a renowned forensic scientist and pathologist, as an apprentice.[13] Grocott sold the business in 1907.[14]

After a short period in Eltham where he owned a pharmacy,[15] Grocott later moved to Hamilton, purchasing Arthur Edwards Manning's pharmacy business and optometry practice in 1911.[16][17][18] Manning went on to serve as mayor of Hamilton from 1912 to 1915.[19][20]

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).[21] 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][21] 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.[22][23][24][25][26] At the Games, they won four of their nine round-robin matches to finish in fifth place.[27]

Other activities

Grocott was an active Rotarian in Hamilton. He attended the Rotary International Convention in Denver, Colorado, in 1926,[28] where he was appointed as a member of the elections committee for the convention.[29]

Death

Grocott died in Auckland on 11 February 1960, and he was buried at Purewa Cemetery.[30][31] He had been predeceased by his wife, Elizabeth, in 1946.[32]

References
  1. "London, England, Freedom of the City admission papers, 1681–1930 for Harold Grocott". Ancestry.com Operations. 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  2. "London, England, Church of England births and baptisms, 1813–1917". Ancestry.com Operations. 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  3. "Untitled". Daily Telegraph (Napier). 1 April 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  4. "Marriage search: registration number 1877/2590". Births, deaths & marriages online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  5. "Mission work in Bolivia". Waikato Argus. 20 November 1914. p. 2. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  6. MacLeod, Angus. "Grocott, Horace". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  7. "First Church Dunedin marriages 1848 to 1920". Presbyterian Church Archives Research Centre. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  8. "Weddings: Grocott–Barclay". New Zealand Herald. 21 March 1931. p. 13. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  9. "Married in Canada". New Zealand Herald. 13 April 1940. p. 18. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  10. "No. 47725". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 30 December 1978. pp. 39–43.
  11. "A daring robbery". Otago Daily Times. 21 August 1902. p. 6. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  12. "Roxburgh". Otago Witness. 23 November 1904. p. 35. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  13. Sweeney, Brian; Horrocks, Ingrid (25 June 2007). "Sydney Smith: the scietific detective". NZEDge. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  14. "Roxburgh notes". Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette. 11 September 1907. p. 5. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  15. "Kaponga". Hawera & Normanby Star. 20 August 1910. p. 8. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  16. "Waikato Hospital Board". Waikato Argus. 22 December 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  17. "Kaponga". Hawera & Normanby Star. 30 January 1912. p. 8. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  18. Wolfe, Felicity (16 March 2010). "Glasses raised to a century". Waikato Times. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  19. "Hamilton Borough Council: extraordinary election of two councillors". Waikato Argus. 4 May 1912. p. 3. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  20. "Hamilton: mayor about to resign". New Zealand Herald. 10 November 1915. p. 12. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  21. "Personal". Waikato Times. 20 June 1920. p. 4. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  22. "Empire Games team: rink leaves this evening". Auckland Star. 8 March 1934. p. 8. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  23. "Bowling: the Whitiora club". New Zealand Herald. 21 May 1935. p. 9. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  24. "New Zealand bowlers at the Empire Games". Northern Advocate. 14 September 1934. p. 10. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  25. "Men's capped list" (PDF). Bowls New Zealand. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  26. "Pennant bowling". Auckland Star. 18 November 1935. p. 16. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  27. "Empire bowlers: success of England". New Zealand Herald. 25 September 1934. p. 6. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  28. "Conditions in U.S.A." Waikato Times. 21 August 1926. p. 8. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  29. Proceedings: Seventeenth Annual Convention of Rotary International. Chicago: Rotary International. 1926. p. 35. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  30. "Deaths". Auckland Star. 12 February 1960. p. 19.
  31. "Burial & cremation details: Harold Grocott". Purewa Cemetery and Crematorium. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  32. "Burial & cremation details: Elizabeth Grocott". Purewa Cemetery and Crematorium. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
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