Noel Dufty 1877
Noel Dufty was born in 1877 and married Lucy Kathleen Dinah Fagan.
Noel Evelyn Dufty was born in the village of Tuxford, Nottinghamshire on 25 December 1877, hence his name Noel. He was the youngest of three sons to John North Dufty, born in 1839 and his wife. John North was the village schoolmaster. He died in 1919.
The two brothers were about 20 years older than Noel, so were probably born in the 1850’s. See Frank Dufty. About Ernest, even his niece Jean Dufty, born after he died, has little information on him, except that he died abroad. She would be very pleased to receive any information on him or Frank at jean.mkdufty@btopenworld.com.
Being the schoolmaster’s son may have helped Noel to be spotted as a bright lad, for this youngster from a small village school went to grammar school at East Retford, and then to Nottingham University to study Engineering. The University was then in the centre of the city, not at its present campus on the outskirts. The course included a year at Heidelberg in Germany. Noel always thought highly of German Engineering. He spoke fluent German. Whether he learnt it at school or when he got to Heidelberg is not known.
They had two children,
| Name | John Evelyn Dufty | Jean Marion Katharine Dufty |
| born | 1934 | 1936 |
| married | ||
| to | ||
| died | 1968 | |
| Australia |
Noel fought in the Navy in the First World War.
He worked as an engineer in Bangkok, Thailand (known as Siam in those days), working on the power station. He often spoke about it, telling of the Siamese Royal Family (the Chulalongkorns), the paddle steamer on the river and elephants giving a ride to a child who was unwell and going into the swamp where humans could not tread to pick and bring home lilies that they evidently realised humans enjoyed. Noel brought home furniture, ornaments and a carpet from Siam and obviously enjoyed his time there very much. He also worked in Rio de Janeiro.
In his younger days he enjoyed horse riding, cycling, camping and caravanning and drove a car from the early days of the introduction of motor cars. He told of attaching a can of water to the exhaust pipe of his car, and on trips in the country, after driving some way, especially up a hill, the water was boiling and he could make a cup of tea.
He married his first wife, Beatrix or Beatrice, date not known, probably in the 1920’s or early 1930’s. She died in hospital after appendicitis (it is thought). There were no children.
In 1934 when he married his second wife Kathleen he was living in Ryecroft Road, Upper Norwood, Surrey (on the border of London) and had been working for many years in London for the German engineering firm AEG.
Their first child John Evelyn was born on 1 September 1934 and their second child Jean Marion Katharine on 30 December 1936.
When war broke out in 1939 the AEG, being a German firm, employing many Germans, had to leave England in a hurry. This left Noel without a job or a pension from the firm.