John Silvester Nottage primarily wrote novellas, short stories, and novels for the Launceston Examiner, Weekly Examiner (also based in Launceston) and the Tasmanian. He wrote between 1875, beginning with the short story 'Dr Longhurst’s Mistake' published in the Weekly Examiner, and 1902, when he completed the periodical publication of his final novel, Raymon’s Plant. Throughout his writing career, Nottage’s work featured romance, drama, mystery and intrigue. Novels like Raymon’s Plant drew much influence from the Australian bush and their communities. He published the 1887 novella The Mortgagee’s Wooing under the pen name Bendigonia, which was set in Tasmania and dealt with the drama of rural life. His short story 'The Midnight Voice' dealt with the opportunity of moving abroad and seeking a better life in Australia, offering insight into the cultural attitudes towards living in Australia at the time. The story was subtitled 'A Story Founded on Fact', suggesting a biographical connection to the plot.
Despite his many contributions to the Launceston and Tasmanian literary scenes, Nottage began his life living in London, England, born to parents John William & Ann (Silvester) Nottage. The family moved to Victoria, Australia, in the early 1850s and, on 26 February 1853, sailed to Launceston from Geelong. Nottage married Margaret Kennedy in 1864. The couple resided on their bushland in Sunnyside, just outside Railton, and were the first settlers to live there.
His early life in Australia was not without controversy. In 1859, he, his sister Jane, and his father were at the forefront of a theft scandal, charged with stealing a large amount of clothes from a residential house. Silvester Nottage returned some of the stolen property to the police, saying he found it in his sister’s room. Due to the suspicious nature of the case, he was arrested and was found to be holding more of the belongings on his person. John and Jane faced trial while their father was discharged for having no connection to the affair.
Nottage became prominent in the literary sphere and his local community as his career continued. Adverts and announcements for his writing were a common occurrence. The Tasmanian announced Nottage’s Doctor Delmont would publicise itself in the Launceston Examiner, a competing paper. The announcement for Raymon's Plant states that “Mr Nottage is a thoughtful student of human nature, is a very versatile writer, produces telling situations in the course of his stories that rivet the attention of his readers, and the products of his able pen in past years have been read with absorbed interest,” clearly displaying Nottage’s popularity towards the end of his career. While he was not writing, Nottage was a local chairman for the Board of Education. He applied for a teaching appointment in 1883, where the board appointed him to Railton Public School. He also notably held the role of census collector for the Railton area during its first census, was appointed Government Valuator of the Kentish district and Justice of the Peace in 1888, became Railton Road Trust secretary in 1890, and was appointed a magistrate for the Railton court in 1891.60
John Silvester Nottage died on 13 May 1914 and was buried at Railton Methodist Cemetery.
This biography was researched and written by Stephanie Goltz.
Sources:
“Board of Education.” Devon Herald, 28 April, 1883. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/186370601.
Bode, Katherine. “Into the Unknown: Literary Anonymity and the Inscription of Reception.” In A World of Fiction: Digital Collections and the Future of Literary History, 85–122. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2018.
Henderson, Julie and Lacey Milier. “John Silvester Nottage.” Find A Grave. 30 December 2018. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/195655640/john-silvester-nottage.
“Police Office, Torquay.” Launceston Examiner, 1 February, 1859. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/38994939.
