Jock Pugh (1926)

Jock and Family on his 102nd Birthday

Jock, whose real names were Frances Stewart Adlington, was born in Umtali, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on 15th October 1908. He sadly died on 20th December 2010. He was 102 years, 2 months and 5 days old. His family loved him dearly and will remember him forever!

His father was from Wales and his mother from Scotland. Umtali was a small railway town on the border with Mozambique, where his father worked as a clerk for the Railways. The family soon moved West to Bulawayo, where Jock was to spend most of his life.

Jock had his early schooling at St Georges College where he developed a life-long love of French. It was here in 1919 that he won a prize for the language, a book called A Versailles Christmas Tide, which he still has. He also had to recite a French poem ‘L ‘Lhirondelle’ (‘The Swallow’). He continued with French through high school and first year of University, but had to give it up in 1927 to do mathematics. One of his first decisions when arriving in Launceston in 1991 at age 83 was to begin French again.

Jock on his 100th birthday with his card from the Queen:

Jock gained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Rhodes University in South Africa in 1929 and his university days werel some of his fondest memories. He then moved to Johannesburg for three years to train and qualify as a Chartered Accountant. He came 5th in the British Empire in the qualifying examination of the English Incorporated Accountants examination. In 1933 he returned to Rhodesia and had several accounting jobs until he became a partner in the accounting firm Scot-Russell, Murray and Pugh in 1938. He worked in the firm until he ‘retired’ in 1973, and for the following 17 years did private accounting work from his home. He moved to Tasmania in 1991. He still loved his work and got several part-time jobs in Launceston and retired for a second time when he turned 90! He was a Life Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

Father and Son

He was always a good sportsman and played cricket, rugby, hockey and tennis. He only stopped playing tennis in his 70s when he took up walking instead. As he never smoked or drank alcohol he was able to do his sports for longer than his contemporaries.

In his 20s Jock married a beautiful woman, Dorothy Hawkins, in Bulawayo where they lived and celebrated over 50 years of marriage. There they brought up their son John and later entertained John’s young family on their holidays to Zimbabwe. After his wife died in 1989 Jock was persuaded to join John, daughter-in-law Liz, and three grandchildren in Tasmania. He was also a great-grandfather of two.

For years Jock was well known around Riverside for his daily two-hour walks and when he became a little old for playing cricket or doing long walks, he spent his time reading prolifically, practising his French, playing speed dominoes, and entertaining the staff and inmates of Cadorna House with his witticisms. His extended family took him on outings to the Gorge and Grindelwald where he was much loved for his courtesy and good humour. All who knew him considered him a true gentleman! But that did not preclude a little naughtiness: his grandchildren remember him hiding chocolate in his bedroom cupboard to sneak to them in secret. On his 99th birthday Jock gave an impromptu speech joking that his main reason for hanging on for another year was to join Ricky Ponting in making a century.

Information submitted by his son, John Pugh.