Stewart NICOLL [7186]

  General Notes:

Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839'961923
Name: Stewart Nicoll
Estimated birth year: abt 1886
Age: 22
Arrival Date: 8 Jan 1908
Arrival Port: Brisbane and Sydney, Australia
Departure Port: London Ship: Ormuz
Nationality: Scottish

The Canberra Times Sunday 1 May 1983
Taking life at the run - at 97
By Graham Cooke
WHEN Mr Stewart Nicoll goes orienteering he always ends up a winner - but, as he admits, "there isn't much competition in the class for 97-year-olds".
"I go with the family on most weeks. I don't run, but I always complete the course," he said at his Aranda home.
He is proud of his club, Northside Navigators, of the badges and souvenirs he has collected, and of one of his grandsons, Roger, who has represented Australia at the sport, but orienteering is by no means the only interest of the man born in Scotland when the Victorian era was still 16 years from its close.
A lifetime's love of children has turned him into a one-man factory largely devoted to the production of wooden figures with movable arms and legs - his "lucky goblins".
It began years ago in Adelaide when he used to make the figures for his grandsons.
"The doctor visited me and brought his youngest daughter," he said. "She saw one of the figures and liked it. Well. I can never resist a child, so I gave it to her.
"That made her two older sisters jealous, so I had to make a bigger goblin for the middle girl and a bigger one still for the eldest."
It was the start of a hobby that has brought happiness to many children in South Australia and, since he moved to Canberra with his family, in the ACT.
Using wood and paint from "wherever I can get them", Mr Nicoll has lost count of the goblins he has made. "But it must be over 1,000 now. They have gone round the globe as I have presented special ones, in the Northside Navigators' colours, to visiting teams at international orienteering meetings.
"The toys keep me employed and besides, I love to see the expression on the children's faces. Even though they have modern, plastic dolls they still seem to love my goblins".
He has a routine - up at 4am for a bath and shave, then he makes his bed in the self-contained flat he occupies as part of his son's home.
"After breakfast ! always go for an hour's walk in the bush. Then I work on the goblins for a couple of hours before preparing my own lunch".
Only when the washing-up is done will he settle to a good read. "I get through about four books a week, as well as the magazines."
He would probably read more if it were not for the neighbourhood children dropping in to see "Grandad Nicoll", but their visits are among the highlights of his day.
If they are lucky they might get to try his home-made Scottish short bread - a skill acquired only recently
His wife, Evelyn, died three years ago, only a few months short of their 60th wedding anniversary.
"Some time later I came across her recipe for shortbread, so I decided to have a go," he said. It was a success and, characteristically, most of what he made was given away.
"I made 22 cakes of shortbread to give to the people who live around here," he said. "We have wonderful neighbours."
Life has not been easy for the former apprentice engineer who came to Australia in 1908. Life as a sugar-cane cutter and farmer in northern Queensland had its triumphs and its heartbreaks.
In between there was service in World War 1 - he marched at the recent Canberra Anzac Day parade - and spells running a cinema in Queensland and a public house during an extended "holiday" in Scotland that lasted throughout the World War 2 years.
Happy to recall the past, Mr Nicoll was just as enthusiastic about the present and future.
"Life has its ups and downs, the failures as well as the successes, but the failures always make me want to get up and go ahead again," he said.

The Canberra Times Sunday 20 April 1985
Mr Stewart Nicoll, who is 100 years old today, celebrating at the Civic RSL Club yesterday.

The Canberra Times Sunday 13 October 1985
Timestyle
Grandpa Nicholl's long life and shortbread
By M. McFARLANE
On October 20. Mr Stewart Nicoll, Scot and World War 1 veteran, will be 100 years old. Active, physically and mentally, with a delightful smile and a strong voice, softened by a soothing accent, Mr Nicoll is arguably the world's oldest orienteerer.
Grandpa Nicoll, as he is called, came out from Scotland in 1908. He has one son and three grandsons. His wife died five years ago, just a few months before their 60th wedding anniversary. He served with the engineers in France in World War 1 and in World War 2 as an air-raid warden in England. He had taken his family to England for a visit, the war broke out and they couldn't get back to Australia until it was over. He now lives with his son and family in a unit as self-contained as the man himself.
On his dining table were a dozen small boxes in various stages of completion. Some were covered in Christmas paper. He answered my unspoken question.
"They are for my shortbread." His softly-burred r's sawed gently through the word. "I make some every week to give away as Christmas presents. I'm trying to get ahead of myself," he laughed. "They're for the shortbread I give away as Christmas presents. I'll give you a taste in a minute. After I finish telling you about my goblins."
Grandpa Nicoll's hobby is making toys which he gives to kindergartens and to his friends, and, of all the toys, his goblins are the most popular. Made of wood, strong and sturdy with moving parts, the big ones are about 30cm high and are painted red and green. He is now making small ones - 10cm - and has set himself the task of making 100 before his birthday. These souvenirs arc to be painted green and gold - Australia's colours, and on the back will be etched "100 years".
The garage where Grandpa Nicoll operates looks like Santa's workshop. In one box are goblin legs and arms, fresh from the jigsaw, in another the bodies, cut out by hand, and, strung on wire lines, are a dozen painted legs. As well as goblins, he makes whizzers, bangers and jumping jacks, all to give away.
His goblins - "lucky" goblins to some - are all over the world. When people come from other countries for international orienteering competitions, they all want to take home a goblin. Three years ago, 14 countries were represented in a meet and now in those 14 countries are Mr Nicoll's goblins. He has been making them for more than 30 years and has lost count of the number. This year he intends to give two large ones to Lady Stephen to present to the Princess of Wales for her sons.
"And now," he said, hopping up and reaching for a tin, "for the shortbread."
"Good." I had been thinking shortbread ever since he mentioned it.
"Here you are, gel." And he handed me a piece.
At last. I sank my teeth into the lightest, yummiest shortbread I have ever tasted.
"Made with butter?"
"Of course," he said. "Shortbread's got to be made with butter."
Of course.
"I was looking through some of my wife's recipes one day and I saw the shortbread and I thought - I'll have a go at making that. And now I make it every week. As well as extra for my Christmas present list."
I could still taste its buttery goodness and wondered what I could do to get on that list.
"And I have to make 55 of the big goblins for Aranda pre-school before Christmas. I have all these jobs going at once, so if I can't go on with one, I get on with something else."
He gets up at 4am, summer and winter, walks-for an hour in the bush - he used to jog but he came a cropper so now he walks - showers, has breakfast, makes his bed, does the dishes then heads for his workshop and his goblins.
After lunch he has a rest then he is back, into it.
He used to read four books a week but now his sight is not good and he relies on talking books. His day ends at 10pm.
With his marvellous memory, he is a walking history book. He remembers Australia when there was no transport but horses - or one's own two legs - and he recalls Jerry's bombing of England in World War 2 as vividly as if it were yesterday. A pioneer of our early film days, he bought a cinema in Queensland in the days of silent films and each night showed a double-feature plus a 600 metre comedy to a full house.
"Ah - I gave them a good night." The memory of it pleased him. "And cheap - sixpence for children and two shillings for adults."
In spite of these bargain prices, the cinema was a success, and when he sold it he built a coffee house plus dance hall with sound system.
"But it didn't take. It was too far ahead of the times; they weren't ready for it."
He sold that and went back to his first love - sugar farming.
After building up a sugar-cane farm, he sold out and bought another. This was a mistake as there was salt in the water and he had to walk of the property. After that heartbreak he took his family to England for the "visit" that lasted long enough for him to buy an inn and his son 10 take out a bachelor of science in electronic engineering.
"Do you enjoy life?"
"I do. But you have got to persevere - you don't give up. Keep your mind and body employed." For Mr Nicoll, there's not enough time in the day to fit in all that he wants to do.
He and his family and friends have been invited by Lord and Lady Stephen to afternoon tea at Government House on his birthday, and the RSL is having a luncheon for him on October 19.
"Lady Stephen has been very good to me; she has me to dinner every Anzac Day."
"You're very special."
He laughed, delighted as a child, "So they say."
At the moment his poor sight is keeping him from his work, but soon he hopes to get new spectacles and then . . .
"There'll be no holding me."
He does not smoke, drinks little. However, on his birthday he'll crack a bottle of scotch almost as old as he which he brought out from Scotland.
As I was leaving he gave me a small green and yellow goblin. I wished him a happy birthday and he gave me a big hug.
"Aah," he said, "you're a great gel." And you, Grandpa Nicoll, are a one off.
[Grandpa Nicholl and his famous shortbread]

The Canberra Times Thursday 24 April 1986
100-year-old Anzac veteran to march
Mr Stewart Nicoll, of Aranda, who is 100 years old and, according to the RSL, possibly the oldest veteran to march on Anzac Day in Australia, has vivid memories of the horrors and sadness of France in World War 1. His wish now is for all men to be brothers.
Tomorrow's Anzac services begin with a dawn service at 5.30 sharp at the Australian War Memorial. This will be followed by the main march in Anzac Parade at 10.30. Organisers say it will be one of the biggest seen in the ACT with more than 3,000 people taking part, of whom about 800 will be from the Royal Australian Navy which is celebrating its 75th anniversary, and about 2,000 ex-servicemen and women.
A full report on Mr Nicoll, details of Anzac services and a map of the march route are on Page 12.

The Canberra Times Thursday 10 August 1989
Obituary:
Digger, 103, beloved by kids
Canberra's oldest World War 1 veteran, Stewart "Grandad" Nicoll, died last Friday, aged 103.
Mr Nicoll is widely remembered for the toys he made and distributed among Canberra schoolchildren.
He was a legend to thousands of school children and won their hearts with his "magic goblins" and other toys.
Mr Nicoll was known affectionately as Grandad for many years, something he was very fond of.
There are many other things he was proud of. He competed in orienteering until the age of 100; his orienteering T-shirt hung on his wall with a badge marked M100.
The vice-president of the City of Canberra sub-branch of the RSL, Colin Berriman, said Mr Nicoll fought with the Australians during World War 1 at Fromelles, France, in 1916.
He enlisted in 1915 and joined the 8th Field Company. The company included survivors from the 5th Field Company which served at Gallipoli.
He also fought in battles including Bapaume, the Somme, the second battle of Villers-Bretonneux, and his final action was at Mont St Quentin.
He took part in Anzac Day marches in Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Townsville, and Ayr until he was 103.
Mr Nicoll had had a range of jobs. He worked at farming cane and tobacco (a neighbour used the seeds to create the Digger Brand tobacco), he owned a picture theatre, he was an air-raid warden, and he made more than a thousand children's toys.
He was born on October 20, 1885, in Blairgowrie, at the foot of the Grampians in Scotland, and came to Australia in 1908.
One of Mr Nicoll's favourite stories, his family and friends will tell you, is the one of how he met his wife, Evelyn.
During World War 1, while he was on leave in his home town in Scotland, Mr Nicoll met a young woman riding a bicycle. She invited him to come around for tea next time he passed. The next day the young sapper turned up to be greeted by a burly man who was not only the girl's father but the village policeman.
Mr Nicoll could not tell the father the name of the girl he was seeking, so he was told to come inside and pick her out of a line of seven daughters. Evelyn was picked.
Mr Nicoll has a son, Stewart, three grandsons, Roger, Malcolm, and Stewart, and hundreds of befriended schoolchildren in his family.
Stewart "Grandad" Nicoll (picture)

  Other Records

• Census: Scotland, 5 Apr 1891, 7 Harriet Row, Blairgowie, Perthshire. Stewart Nicoll is recorded as Son of Alexander & Agnes, age 6, born c.1885 Blairgowrie, Perthshire, and described as a Scholar; Siblings: Lillias age 28 (? likely 18) Linen Weaver; Cathrine age 17 Linen Weaver; Agnes age 15 Flax Shifter; John Nicoll age 13 Scholar; Winifred Nicoll age 10 Scholar; James Nicoll age 8 Scholar

• Census: Scotland, 31 Mar 1901, 7 Harriet Row, Blairgowie, Perthshire. Stewart Nicoll is recorded as Son of Alexander & Agnes, age 15, born c.1885 Blairgowrie, Perthshire, and described as Ironmonger's apprentice. Siblings: Winifred Nicoll age 30 (?likely 20) Stocking machinist; James Nicoll age 18 Iron Monlder (?likely Monger) apprentice.

• Australian Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, 1977, 2 Galali place, Aranda 2641, ACT.

• Australian Electoral Rolls 1903-1980: --, 1980, 2 Galali place, Aranda 2641, ACT.

Stewart married Evelyn Menzies [7187] [MRIN: 2488]. (Evelyn Menzies [7187] died in 1980.)