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Lance Corporal Harry Cuthbert NORTHCROFT, 1898
BiographyThe following biography is from "REMEMBRANCE - Auckland Grammar School Great War Roll of Honour"
by Andrew Connolly and Peter Stanes.
LANCE CORPORAL HARRY CUTHBERT NORTHCROFT, 1898
Auckland Mounted Rifles, 13/110
Died 19th May, 1915
Harry Cuthbert Northcroft was born on 22nd February 1889 in Thames. He was a son of Henry William Northcroft and Margaret Henderson.
His grandfather was William Northcroft, who was born in Old Windsor, Berkshire, England, in March 1807 to William Northcroft snr. and Ann Hart. Both William and his father were builders. William married Martha Mary Young at St. Giles’ Church in Camberwell, Surrey, and they settled in Boddow Lane in the village of Moulsham on the south edge of Chelmsford in Essex. Martha was a daughter of James and Martha Young from Gloucestershire in England.
In February 1840, a partnership in the business of bricklayers and builders in Egham, Surrey, between William and his father was dissolved by mutual consent. William and Martha had three children in Chelmsford, the third of whom was Henry William Northcroft, born in the middle of 1844. Between 1845 and 1850, the family moved around central England to Newark in Lincolnshire, Market Harborough in Leicestershire, and Rugby in Warwickshire. During this time, three more children were born, and one died in infancy. Finding it difficult to settle in England, they emigrated to New Zealand, arriving in Auckland from London with three daughters and two sons in March 1851 on board the barque Cresswell (121 days). Several days later, they went on to Taranaki, where initially they settled in New Plymouth and two more sons were born. In 1861, they moved a little north, to a farm at Bell Block, where they stayed until about 1876, then returning to live again in New Plymouth, in Elliott Street, with William working as an architect and surveyor. By 1878, they were living in Gilbert Street, then in Vivian Street by 1881. William served as Provincial Secretary and also as secretary of the Education Board. During the Land Wars, he served with the Taranaki Militia. William died in New Plymouth in April 1888, and Martha died in November 1902.
Growing up from the age of seven in the North Taranaki area, Henry William Northcroft knew it so well that, from the age of 15 years, he was employed as a guide for the Imperial troops operating between New Plymouth and Waitara. At different times, he was guide to the 12th, 14th, 18th, 40th, 43rd, 50th, 57th, 65th, 68th, and 70th Regiments, and, although under fire fifty times, he was never wounded. He was on active service in Taranaki for 18 years and, on three occasions, rescued comrades under fire. He was recommended for the Victoria Cross, but it was ruled that the decoration could not be awarded to colonial troops. In 1910, he was awarded the New Zealand Cross for his services in 1866, then as an Ensign, in rescuing Sergeant-Major Duff, at great risk to his own life, while serving on the East Coast and back into the Ureweras. When Mohi Hotuhotu Purukutu and Hori Te Tumu of Ngāti Hauā retaliated against Pakeha incursions into disputed land in the Waikato by killing Timothy Sullivan in 1873, Henry was sent there in charge of three frontier redoubts, one of which was at Kihikihi, where he was stationed for some time. He was appointed Resident Magistrate of the Waikato district in 1877 and, no doubt having met the Henderson family earlier in Kihikihi, he married Margaret Henderson, the only daughter of James and Agnes Henderson, in March 1880 at Kawaunui, Kihikihi, 5 kms south of Te Awamutu.
Margaret was born about 1813 in Galt, Ontario, in Canada. Together with her parents and her two older brothers, she had come to New Zealand on board the sailing ship British Trident, arriving at Auckland from London in November 1864 (92 days). On arrival, the family had moved to Kihikihi and farmed in the area through until Agnes’ death in November 1887 at Kawaunui. James moved to Auckland and died there in July 1892.
After the Waikato, Henry was appointed: Resident Magistrate in the Thames goldfield district from 1888; Stipendiary Magistrate at Auckland from 1892; the Wanganui-Hawera district from 1897; and on to the Wairarapa district; back to Auckland from 1903; and was appointed Chief Justice and Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands in 1912. While in Auckland, Henry and Margaret lived at “Rangiatea” in Manukau Road, Epsom. Henry was Resident Magistrate of the Waikato District from 1877, Stipendiary Magistrate at Auckland 1892, and he was appointed Chief Justice and Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands in 1912. Henry died there in December 1923, following which, Margaret moved to 7 Glenside Crescent in Grafton, where she died in December 1930. Henry and Margaret had three daughters and two sons, Harry Cuthbert Northcroft being the youngest child. All five children attended Grammar1.
Harry Northcroft spent 8 years at Grammar, having turned nine years old as he entering the School. Following his schooling, he worked as a clerk in the law office of Hesketh and Richmond. He attended Auckland University College between 1906 and 1910, and qualified as a solicitor. Northcroft joined the Auckland Mounted Rifles in the Territorial Forces and rose to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, but in late 1913 he resigned his commission due to the development of a hernia. However, on 11th August 1914, soon after war broke out, he attested as a Private soldier and sailed with the Main Body.
Northcroft arrived in Egypt in early December, travelled by train to Zeitoun Camp near Cairo and, once his horse had acclimatised, began training in earnest. Like their Australian counterparts, the Light Horse, the N.Z. Mounted Rifles were not trained to fight on horseback like traditional cavalry, but to ride into action, dismount and fight like ordinary infantry. On 11th February 1915, he was promoted to Lance Corporal and landed at Anzac along with the majority of the Mounted troops on 12th May 1915. On 18th May, he entered the line at Russell’s Top, in a trench system just below the Nek. In the huge Turkish attack of the early morning of 19th May, Northcroft was killed in action. Trooper Charles Frederick Jones2 recorded the following in a letter published in the Manawatu Times in August 1915: “Harry Northcroft was shot dead only a yard from me, also Jim (James) Thompson3. A German (sic) got round the end of our trench, shot Northcroft dead, and just missed me by a whisper, the bullet getting old Jim through both temples.” He was highly respected by his comrades, as evidenced by a letter published in the N.Z. Herald in July 1915 from Private Arthur Hannah4: “I was close by him. He was a grand fellow and high-respected by all. He put up a great fight, and his people may well be proud of him.” He was buried not far from where he died and, ultimately, he lies in the Walker’s Ridge Cemetery. Harry Northcroft was 26 years old. One of his sisters, Hilda, later studied at the Medical College for Women at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a MB ChB in 1908. During the war, she practiced in England, returning to Auckland as a medical officer on the troopship Ayrshire in late 1918. One of Harry’s first cousins was Sir Erima Harvey Northcroft5, who was a Judge of the New Zealand Supreme Court and the New Zealand judge on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, which tried Japanese war criminals at the end of the Second World War.
In 1927, Northcroft’s mother made a pilgrimage to Gallipoli. Margaret Northcroft described her visit in detail in an article published in the N.Z. Herald on 30th December 1927. Mrs. Northcroft wished to give other mothers an impression of the land in which their sons now rested. With reference to the Walker’s Ridge Cemetery, where she spent many hours, Mrs. Northcroft wrote “one of the sacred areas ‘that is forever England’, looks out over the blue Aegean. One should say that it is not far from the place that was known as Russell’s Top. On the left across the deep ravine the Sphinx Head still holds its grip upon the cliff-top. Down below the sand of Anzac Cove now almost washed bare of the litter of war, shines white…”
Lance-Corporal Northcroft was the youngest son of Mr. H.W. Northcroft, now Resident Commissioner at Rarotonga, and formerly Stipendiary Magistrate at Auckland. He attended the School for eight years, entering in 1898, and leaving from the Lower Sixth in 1905 to study law in the office of Messrs. Hesketh and Richmond. At the Athletic Sports in 1905 he won the Governor’s Watch6 (senior) for highest points in the open events. Having qualified as a solicitor, he commenced practice in May, 1914, and had obtained two sections of the LL.B. degree when the war broke out. Lance-Corporal Northcroft was an enthusiastic soldier, and had held a commission in the D. Squadron, Auckland Mounted Rifles, but had resigned it just previous to the war. Physically Northcroft was a fine type of man, tall and powerfully built. He was very well known in Auckland, and extremely popular.
CHRONICLE 1915, V.3, N.1 P14
1 Agnes Mary Northcroft (1894), married James Gladwin Wynyard in 1909, died 1954; Hilda Margaret Northcroft (1894), University Scholar 1900, served on a troop ship as doctor (see page 831), died 1951; Ruth Galdys Northcroft (1895), died 1916; James Fraser Sutherland Northcroft (1894), died 1972.
2 Trooper Charles Frederick Jones, Auckland Mounted Rifles, 13/83, wounded in action; survived the war.
3 Trooper James Thompson, Auckland Mounted Rifles, 13/510, killed in action Gallipoli 19th May, 1915. He did not attend the School.
4 Trooper Arthur Hannah, Auckland Mounted Rifles, 13/69, killed in action, July 1915. He did not attend the School.
5 Major (later Lt. Col.) Sir Erima Harvey Northcroft, K.B., D.S.O., 1st Brigade, N.Z. Field Artillery, 18465, died 1953.
6 The Governors’ Prize of a watch was instituted in 1888 and was awarded to the winners of each of the 100, 220 and 440 yard races in the Athletics Championships in both the Senior and Junior fields. However, in 1892, the criteria were changed to award the Prize to the highest points scorer across all the open Athletics events. From this time, an additional prize, the Senior Cup for Athletics, was also awarded to the highest points scorer of a selected number of events – usually the 100 yards, 220 yards, and 440 yards, although over time the 220 yards was removed and the half-mile, 120 yard hurdles, and cricket ball throwing events were introduced. Five points were awarded in each event for first place, three for second place, and one for third place finishes. The net points determined the awards.
Date of birth22-2-1889Date of death19-5-1915Year of entry1910CollectionsWW1 Roll of HonourPeople CollectionsPeopleCategoryPeople | Students | OtherRemembrance | WW1People | Old Boys | Armed Forces
by Andrew Connolly and Peter Stanes.
LANCE CORPORAL HARRY CUTHBERT NORTHCROFT, 1898
Auckland Mounted Rifles, 13/110
Died 19th May, 1915
Harry Cuthbert Northcroft was born on 22nd February 1889 in Thames. He was a son of Henry William Northcroft and Margaret Henderson.
His grandfather was William Northcroft, who was born in Old Windsor, Berkshire, England, in March 1807 to William Northcroft snr. and Ann Hart. Both William and his father were builders. William married Martha Mary Young at St. Giles’ Church in Camberwell, Surrey, and they settled in Boddow Lane in the village of Moulsham on the south edge of Chelmsford in Essex. Martha was a daughter of James and Martha Young from Gloucestershire in England.
In February 1840, a partnership in the business of bricklayers and builders in Egham, Surrey, between William and his father was dissolved by mutual consent. William and Martha had three children in Chelmsford, the third of whom was Henry William Northcroft, born in the middle of 1844. Between 1845 and 1850, the family moved around central England to Newark in Lincolnshire, Market Harborough in Leicestershire, and Rugby in Warwickshire. During this time, three more children were born, and one died in infancy. Finding it difficult to settle in England, they emigrated to New Zealand, arriving in Auckland from London with three daughters and two sons in March 1851 on board the barque Cresswell (121 days). Several days later, they went on to Taranaki, where initially they settled in New Plymouth and two more sons were born. In 1861, they moved a little north, to a farm at Bell Block, where they stayed until about 1876, then returning to live again in New Plymouth, in Elliott Street, with William working as an architect and surveyor. By 1878, they were living in Gilbert Street, then in Vivian Street by 1881. William served as Provincial Secretary and also as secretary of the Education Board. During the Land Wars, he served with the Taranaki Militia. William died in New Plymouth in April 1888, and Martha died in November 1902.
Growing up from the age of seven in the North Taranaki area, Henry William Northcroft knew it so well that, from the age of 15 years, he was employed as a guide for the Imperial troops operating between New Plymouth and Waitara. At different times, he was guide to the 12th, 14th, 18th, 40th, 43rd, 50th, 57th, 65th, 68th, and 70th Regiments, and, although under fire fifty times, he was never wounded. He was on active service in Taranaki for 18 years and, on three occasions, rescued comrades under fire. He was recommended for the Victoria Cross, but it was ruled that the decoration could not be awarded to colonial troops. In 1910, he was awarded the New Zealand Cross for his services in 1866, then as an Ensign, in rescuing Sergeant-Major Duff, at great risk to his own life, while serving on the East Coast and back into the Ureweras. When Mohi Hotuhotu Purukutu and Hori Te Tumu of Ngāti Hauā retaliated against Pakeha incursions into disputed land in the Waikato by killing Timothy Sullivan in 1873, Henry was sent there in charge of three frontier redoubts, one of which was at Kihikihi, where he was stationed for some time. He was appointed Resident Magistrate of the Waikato district in 1877 and, no doubt having met the Henderson family earlier in Kihikihi, he married Margaret Henderson, the only daughter of James and Agnes Henderson, in March 1880 at Kawaunui, Kihikihi, 5 kms south of Te Awamutu.
Margaret was born about 1813 in Galt, Ontario, in Canada. Together with her parents and her two older brothers, she had come to New Zealand on board the sailing ship British Trident, arriving at Auckland from London in November 1864 (92 days). On arrival, the family had moved to Kihikihi and farmed in the area through until Agnes’ death in November 1887 at Kawaunui. James moved to Auckland and died there in July 1892.
After the Waikato, Henry was appointed: Resident Magistrate in the Thames goldfield district from 1888; Stipendiary Magistrate at Auckland from 1892; the Wanganui-Hawera district from 1897; and on to the Wairarapa district; back to Auckland from 1903; and was appointed Chief Justice and Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands in 1912. While in Auckland, Henry and Margaret lived at “Rangiatea” in Manukau Road, Epsom. Henry was Resident Magistrate of the Waikato District from 1877, Stipendiary Magistrate at Auckland 1892, and he was appointed Chief Justice and Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands in 1912. Henry died there in December 1923, following which, Margaret moved to 7 Glenside Crescent in Grafton, where she died in December 1930. Henry and Margaret had three daughters and two sons, Harry Cuthbert Northcroft being the youngest child. All five children attended Grammar1.
Harry Northcroft spent 8 years at Grammar, having turned nine years old as he entering the School. Following his schooling, he worked as a clerk in the law office of Hesketh and Richmond. He attended Auckland University College between 1906 and 1910, and qualified as a solicitor. Northcroft joined the Auckland Mounted Rifles in the Territorial Forces and rose to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, but in late 1913 he resigned his commission due to the development of a hernia. However, on 11th August 1914, soon after war broke out, he attested as a Private soldier and sailed with the Main Body.
Northcroft arrived in Egypt in early December, travelled by train to Zeitoun Camp near Cairo and, once his horse had acclimatised, began training in earnest. Like their Australian counterparts, the Light Horse, the N.Z. Mounted Rifles were not trained to fight on horseback like traditional cavalry, but to ride into action, dismount and fight like ordinary infantry. On 11th February 1915, he was promoted to Lance Corporal and landed at Anzac along with the majority of the Mounted troops on 12th May 1915. On 18th May, he entered the line at Russell’s Top, in a trench system just below the Nek. In the huge Turkish attack of the early morning of 19th May, Northcroft was killed in action. Trooper Charles Frederick Jones2 recorded the following in a letter published in the Manawatu Times in August 1915: “Harry Northcroft was shot dead only a yard from me, also Jim (James) Thompson3. A German (sic) got round the end of our trench, shot Northcroft dead, and just missed me by a whisper, the bullet getting old Jim through both temples.” He was highly respected by his comrades, as evidenced by a letter published in the N.Z. Herald in July 1915 from Private Arthur Hannah4: “I was close by him. He was a grand fellow and high-respected by all. He put up a great fight, and his people may well be proud of him.” He was buried not far from where he died and, ultimately, he lies in the Walker’s Ridge Cemetery. Harry Northcroft was 26 years old. One of his sisters, Hilda, later studied at the Medical College for Women at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a MB ChB in 1908. During the war, she practiced in England, returning to Auckland as a medical officer on the troopship Ayrshire in late 1918. One of Harry’s first cousins was Sir Erima Harvey Northcroft5, who was a Judge of the New Zealand Supreme Court and the New Zealand judge on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, which tried Japanese war criminals at the end of the Second World War.
In 1927, Northcroft’s mother made a pilgrimage to Gallipoli. Margaret Northcroft described her visit in detail in an article published in the N.Z. Herald on 30th December 1927. Mrs. Northcroft wished to give other mothers an impression of the land in which their sons now rested. With reference to the Walker’s Ridge Cemetery, where she spent many hours, Mrs. Northcroft wrote “one of the sacred areas ‘that is forever England’, looks out over the blue Aegean. One should say that it is not far from the place that was known as Russell’s Top. On the left across the deep ravine the Sphinx Head still holds its grip upon the cliff-top. Down below the sand of Anzac Cove now almost washed bare of the litter of war, shines white…”
Lance-Corporal Northcroft was the youngest son of Mr. H.W. Northcroft, now Resident Commissioner at Rarotonga, and formerly Stipendiary Magistrate at Auckland. He attended the School for eight years, entering in 1898, and leaving from the Lower Sixth in 1905 to study law in the office of Messrs. Hesketh and Richmond. At the Athletic Sports in 1905 he won the Governor’s Watch6 (senior) for highest points in the open events. Having qualified as a solicitor, he commenced practice in May, 1914, and had obtained two sections of the LL.B. degree when the war broke out. Lance-Corporal Northcroft was an enthusiastic soldier, and had held a commission in the D. Squadron, Auckland Mounted Rifles, but had resigned it just previous to the war. Physically Northcroft was a fine type of man, tall and powerfully built. He was very well known in Auckland, and extremely popular.
CHRONICLE 1915, V.3, N.1 P14
1 Agnes Mary Northcroft (1894), married James Gladwin Wynyard in 1909, died 1954; Hilda Margaret Northcroft (1894), University Scholar 1900, served on a troop ship as doctor (see page 831), died 1951; Ruth Galdys Northcroft (1895), died 1916; James Fraser Sutherland Northcroft (1894), died 1972.
2 Trooper Charles Frederick Jones, Auckland Mounted Rifles, 13/83, wounded in action; survived the war.
3 Trooper James Thompson, Auckland Mounted Rifles, 13/510, killed in action Gallipoli 19th May, 1915. He did not attend the School.
4 Trooper Arthur Hannah, Auckland Mounted Rifles, 13/69, killed in action, July 1915. He did not attend the School.
5 Major (later Lt. Col.) Sir Erima Harvey Northcroft, K.B., D.S.O., 1st Brigade, N.Z. Field Artillery, 18465, died 1953.
6 The Governors’ Prize of a watch was instituted in 1888 and was awarded to the winners of each of the 100, 220 and 440 yard races in the Athletics Championships in both the Senior and Junior fields. However, in 1892, the criteria were changed to award the Prize to the highest points scorer across all the open Athletics events. From this time, an additional prize, the Senior Cup for Athletics, was also awarded to the highest points scorer of a selected number of events – usually the 100 yards, 220 yards, and 440 yards, although over time the 220 yards was removed and the half-mile, 120 yard hurdles, and cricket ball throwing events were introduced. Five points were awarded in each event for first place, three for second place, and one for third place finishes. The net points determined the awards.
Date of birth22-2-1889Date of death19-5-1915Year of entry1910CollectionsWW1 Roll of HonourPeople CollectionsPeopleCategoryPeople | Students | OtherRemembrance | WW1People | Old Boys | Armed ForcesAUCKLAND GRAMMAR SCHOOL CHRONICLE 1915 V.3, N.1
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