Joshua Norton, Auctioneer
Given the dearth of readily available information, it has proven exceedingly difficult to stitch together a detailed narrative of the life and times of Joshua Norton’s family in South Africa.
What we have, mainly, are signposts. And the exact placement of many of those posts has to be regarded as provisional.
But, within the very rough story line that has emerged, a number of things about Joshua’s young adulthood seem reasonably certain:
1
Sometime in early 1939, after Joshua turned 21, his father John Norton gave Joshua some money to go into business with Joshua’s brother-in-law Henry Benjamin Kisch (1810–1861), who had married Joshua’s younger sister Esther in August 1838.
Kisch operated out of Cape Town as H.B. Kisch & Co., while Joshua operated out of Port Elizabeth as Joshua Norton & Co.
The business failed and the partnership was dissolved in September 1840.
2
Joshua’s parents, John Norton and Sarah Norden, moved from Grahamstown to Cape Town sometime in 1842, with Joshua remaining in Port Elizabeth.
Joshua’s father may have charged Joshua with the responsibility of keeping an eye on his (John’s) ongoing business interests in Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth.
3
By 1844, Joshua had moved to Cape Town and joined his father’s business there.
Title page for The Cape of Good Hope and the Eastern Province of Algoa Bay (1843), by John Centlivres Chase. Source: Internet Archive
A previously hidden detail comes from a book published in 1843 by John Centlivres Chase (1795–1877).
Like the Nortons, Chase was an 1820 Settler. And, his book — The Cape of Good Hope and the Eastern Province of Algoa Bay — sought to provide the first thoroughgoing history of the Settlers’ activities and accomplishments since 1820, together with a description and almanac of present conditions, institutions and leaders on the Eastern Cape.
Chase’s introductory note is dated 5 July 1842, so it’s seems reasonable to guess that the information in his book is current at least as of then.
The appendix of the book includes a directory of “Graham’s Town” that features listings for several of Joshua’s family members who were active in the city at the time.
Detail from “Directory of Graham’s Town” in John Centlivres Chase, The Cape of Good Hope and the Eastern Province of Algoa Bay (1843), appendix, p. 291. Source: Internet Archive
John Norton, of course, is Joshua’s father.
Most likely, “L. Norton” is Joshua’s older brother, Louis (1816–1846).
Marcus Norden (1791–1846) and Joshua Davis (“J.D.”) Norden (1804–1846) are Joshua’s uncles — the brothers of his mother, Sarah Norden.
Another of Joshua’s uncles, Benjamin Norden (1798–1875), lived in Grahamstown during this period. But, the listing here is for “Benjamin, jun.”, and the elder Benjamin did have a son by that name — so, this probably is Joshua’s younger cousin, Benjamin Joshua Norden (1825–1864).
Norton family genealogists, including Hazel Dakers, believe it more likely than not that Joshua’s uncles Benjamin Norden and Joshua Davis Norden were on board the same settler ship, La Belle Alliance, as Joshua’s family — but that Marcus Norden arrived in the Cape later.
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Also in Chase’s appendix is a section on “Elizabeth Town” — another name for Port Elizabeth —that features an interesting detail.
See under Auctioneers.
Detail from section on “Elizabeth Town” in John Centlivres Chase, The Cape of Good Hope and the Eastern Province of Algoa Bay (1843), appendix, p. 303. Source: Internet Archive
Did you know that, when Joshua Norton was living in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in the early 1840s, he did a stint as an auctioneer? We didn’t!
From the fact that Joshua’s nearby uncle, Joshua Davis Norden, was an auctioneer by profession — see Norden’s listing from the Grahamstown directory above — it seems reasonable to conclude that our Joshua was working for his uncle.
Every new dot makes the picture a little sharper.
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