Harriet was the daughter of William Bridgeman, Esquire of Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. On 16 June 1873, at 16, Harriet Bridgeman arrived in Melbourne, Australia, on the Queen of Nations. Harriet travelled to Palmerston by steamer, arriving on 4 October 1879, to commence working for George Parker of the Exchange Hotel, having contracted to his employ on 20 September 1879. She left her position on 20 March 1880 after being told by Mrs Parker to "Go away! I will pay you your wages to-morrow morning!". The wages were not paid the next day so Harriet sued her employer at Police Court, where the magistrate ordered Mr Parker to pay £9 12s 11d and costs. On 20 June 1880 Harriet married George William Henry Norcock, the only son of Isabella Mary (nee Jenkins) and George Lowcay Norcock at Palmerston. Harriet and George had four sons and a daughter in the years between 1881 and 1889: Isabella Maude, George William Henry, Herbert, Frederick Hewitt and Algenon Percy Edward. In 1891 George was appointed Deputy Gaoler at Palmerston and eventually gained the title of Keeper H.M. Gaol. It was during this time that Isabella Mary Norcock, Harriett's mother-in-law, came to Australia to live with them at Fannie Bay. In 1895, at 38, she became one of the 82 Territory women who enrolled to vote after the franchise was granted to South Australian and Territory women in 1894.,
The family, and Isabella, sailed out of Palmerston on 12 July 1904 on board the steamer Australian, bound for Adelaide, where George took up the post of Governor at H.M. Gaol Adelaide. Harriet was widowed on 22 March 1921 when George died at the residence of their son-in-law in Largs, South Australia.,
Notes
Date:1856?,
Subject
Women,
Suffrage,
Northern Territory,
History,
Related materials
James, Barbara. Occupation : Citizen. The Story of the Northern Territory Women and the Vote (1894 - 1896), Darwin : Barbara James, 1995. NTC 324.623 JAME,
Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2009.,
Australia Birth Index, 1788-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.,
"Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.,
Related links
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3149412 ['Police Court.', Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 27 March 1880, p. 2.],
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3149728 ['Family Notices.' Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 3 July 1880, p. 2.],
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63040465 ['Family Notices.' The Register, 23 March 1921, p. 6.],
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3149714 ['Family Notices.' Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 26 June 1880, p. 1.],