Skip to main content

To search our directory of workers at HM Factory Gretna either enter any name, place of birth or place of death in the search box or if you know what their job was from select from the drop-down menu.

Photo of Lancelot Frederick Norman Stutterd

Lancelot Frederick Norman Stutterd

Metallurgist
Birthplace South Australia Adelaide AustraliaPlace of Death Cape Town South Africa Date of Birth: October 14, 1891 Date of Death: April 14, 1966

Biography

Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Lancelot Frederick Norman Stutterd
Gender: Male
Date and place of birth: 13th October 1891 Adelaide, Australia
Date and Place of Death: 14th April 1966, Oleanders Hotel, Grants Bay, Cape Town S Africa
Nationality: Born British Australian – naturalised to British Rhodesian
Childhood: Born in Australia, moved to Tasmania
Parents
Frederick Stutterd and Dorcas Elizabeth nee Marshal
Parents occupations : Not known
Schools / universities attended and years of attendance:  University of Tasmania 1916-17 BSc
Occupation: Metallurgist
Place of residence at Gretna: Not known
Marital status: Married
Children :One son
Travels: Extensive- Australia-Tasmania-England-Rhodesia-S Africa -New York. Mainly personal but NY on business
Awards/recognitions:

Positions held
As above
Trivia / any other information:

Yes
Bibliography

Books published (Title, year of publication, publisher):
Books written about the individual or mentioning the individual (Title, year of publication, publisher):

References

Blogs about the individual:
Websites about the individual:

Further links, notes, and comments:

 

Biography 

 

Lancelot Frederick Norman Studdert BSc ( Tasmania) 1891-1966 

 

This is a story that touches four continents as Lancelot travelled extensively during his life , mainly for personal reasons but also for business.  

Lancelot Frederick Norman Stutterd was born in Adelaide, S. Australia on 13th October 1891. He was the eldest of four children born to Frederick Stutterd and Dorcas Elizabeth nee Marshal(l). Frederick’s occupation is not evident.  Brother, D’Arcy Keith Joseph, was born on 14th December 1893 , Heather Geraldine on 4th May 1896 and Marjorie Frances Emily in 1898. The younger two were born at Emu Bay, Sydney. 

The next known of the family is that Lancelot’s father died in 1913 aged 56 in Tasmania.  

Two years later, D’Arcy attested to the Australian Imperial Forces in Tasmania-Field Artillery, 17th batallion. His service papers inform us that he was a bank clerk . 21 years and 9 months old, 5ft 10 ins tall weighing 12 stone with a dark complexion, black hair and blue eyes.  

D’arcy was sent overseas on 17th March 1916 via Alexandria and Marseilles to the front line.  

Meanwhile the 1916 electoral register places Lancelot at 27, High Street, Denison, Queensborough, Tasmania – a student. Records show is that he gained a BSc from University of Tasmania in 1916. He would have been 25. 

It is unclear  when he embarked for service in England with the Ministry of Munitions but highly likely to be the end of 1916/ beginning of 1917 w H M Factory Gretna was starting production.  

We know that he was employed there as he is listed in the Dornock Farewell published in 1919 under “ Staff” with a Tasmanian  address. We learn much later on via various Ship Passenger lists that he was a metallurgist.  

D’Arcy was granted leave from France to the UK from 7th -19th August 1917 – could the brothers have met? D’Arcy remained in England joining the Australian Flying Corps at Oxford on 7th September 1917 and being based at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham Aerodrome by 14th December. This information is held in his service records and there is a photograph of him in his plane in the attached folder,sourced from a Public Member tree. 

His record also tells us that he graduated from flying school on 14th January 1918 and was appointed as a Flying Officer. Unfortunately  he suffered a wound in action to his face on 10th May 1918 and was transferred to a hospital in England within a week. By 24th June 1918 he was discharged from hospital , deemed to be fit and sent back to active service via Folkestone on 6th November. The final entry in his service record was 28th July 1919 when he was discharged to return to Australia.  

Lancelot was at Gretna during this time. It is highly probable that the brothers communicated and met. 

 Lancelot gave a Tasmanian address in 1919 which is where he will have returned to from Gretna. The next available evidence of him is in the Police Gazette of May 1923 under the listings for a cycle license. This could be a motor cycle. His address is The Grove, Glenorchy, Tasmania.  

At this point, Lancelot’s extensive travels begin. He emigrated to Rhodesia some time between 1923 and 1927 and also lived in South Africa and visited London during this period. 31 year old Lancelot sailed from Liverpool to New York on 9th July 1927,1st class on SS Samaria”, a metallurgist giving an address of 4 Lloyds Avenue, London.  His intended country of residence is shown as South Africa.  

The manifest for entry to the United States gives his last permanent address as Booker Hill, Rhodesia. The passage was paid for by the RBDH Co., Rhodesia and he was going to be in New York for 6 weeks  “ business c/o W R Ingalls, 115 Broadway, NY. He is 6 ft and half an inch tall with a dark complexion, grey hair and brown eyes. http://www.groundzerobooksltd.com features an artce in which W R Ngalls was the edior “ History of the 27th Engineers, USA:1917-1919 published in 1920. It seems that W R Ingalls was the editor of the Engineering and Mining Journal. 

Less than a year later in April 1928, Lancelot Frederick Norman Stutterd married Freda Vaughan in Durban, S Africa. This was reported in the Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser of Saturday 28th April 1928. How the couple met is  a mystery. Freda may possibly have worked at Gretna. Lancelot had obviously been in England during 1927 prior to sailing to New York.  

Freda was the eldest child of three , born on the 13th April 1891 to a manufacturer in Handsworth, Staffordshire. Her brother Gerald was born in 1892. A local newspaper reports his graduation from Birmingham University  in 1910 and sadly, his death in 1915- not on active service. Her sister Margaret was born in 1896. 

The 1901 census lists Freda’s father as an “ Edge tool maker, employer”, and her brother as an “edge tool maker, worker”. They had moved to “ The Knowe” Warwick. 

The 1911 census finds them at the same address employing a cook and a housemaid. Margaret. 14, can be found on an alternative return for The Laurels Boarding school for girls , Rugby.  

Margaret married  a maths master, Thomas Nichol, from Warwick school at Leamington , reported in the Leamington Spa Courier – Friday 29 July 1927. Freda was one of the bridesmaids. 

At some point in 1929, records are sparse, Freda and Lancelot had their only child, John Barrington Stutterd. It is unclear whether John was born in England or in Africa. 

What is clear is that on 6th April 1930 Freda and John sailed into Southampton from Cape Town on a German Africa Line ship. They were heading to 31 Mill Street Warwick. John was 1 and Freda 39. Their last permanent address is given as Northern Rhodesia. They must have stayed until November because another passenger list shows them as returning from Southampton to Cape Town on 3rd November 1930 Lancelot is also with them on this return journey, now 38 , a metallurgist. Their next country of permanent residence is listed as South Africa. At some point Lancelot had naturalized to British Rhodesian,  

We do know that John Barrington  Stutterd died in N Rhodesia on 8th January 1931. The following year Lancelot’s mother died aged 70. 

Following the death of their son Freda and Lancelot visited Warwick once more. We find them homeward bound on 23rd February 1934 aged 41 and 42, sailing from London to Cape Town. Lancelot listed as an engineer. 

There is an abundance of evidence of travel for Lancelot and Freda- sometimes only the outward or inward journeys are available. For example in November 1948 they can be found on a quarantine list for “SS Arabia” , Liverpool to Melbourne. Their address was c/o The Union Bank, Albury, New South Wales. 

Again in 1954 aged 62 and 63 ( the ages do not always tally) they sailed  from Cape town to Southampton. Freda’s sister Margaret accompanied them on this journey. They had been living in Southern Rhodesia and were going to the same address in Warwick. 

 They made a return journey the following year , Cape Town to Plymouth arriving 29th December 1955 on “ SS City of Port Elizabeth”, 1st class travelling to 31 Mill Street, Warwick. Lancelot describes himself as a retired civil servant, nationality British Rhodesian, Freda is a housewife . They indicate  a stay of 7 months in England . Their last country of residence is Rhodesia and their intended country of residence is South Africa.  

Sure enough, we find them homeward bound in July 1956 to Bloomfontein according to the passenger lists. 

On 10th August 1964, Freda died at Firmount Rd, Somerset, Cape Town. There is a photograph in the file of Lancelot and Freda probably taken not long before this.  On 1st December, Lancelot flew to Melbourne according to a Qantas airline passenger list.  

He died aged 75 on 14th April 1966 at Oleanders Hotel, Grants Bay, Cape Town. His probate , granted in London of £5190 confirms this. There are some public member trees claiming that he died in Mozambique.  

He is remembered on the family memorial at Jenner St, Old General Cemetery, Wynyard, Tasmania.( findagrave.com) 

With a life lived as a metallurgist in both Rhodesia and South Africa it is highly probable that Lancelot spent his working life in the gold mining industry. There is no hard evidence to prove that this is the case.  

Related by Category

Related by City - Adelaide

Related by County - South Australia

Connections Business Directory | Leaflet | © OpenStreetMap contributors

Adelaide Australia

Cape Town South Africa

Translate »
BOOK NOW