John James Ozanne
1912 to 1988
Susan, Mary, John, Theresa
John James Ozanne 'JJ' was born in East Stonehouse, Devonport, Plymouth on 27 August 1912.
His father Harold Ozanne was an officer in the Royal Marines his mother was Mary Ozanne (née Mitchell Wylde) and he had three sisters Theresa 'TT' two years older than him, Mary Faith 'Jane' who was two years his junior and Susan six years his junior.
John and his sisters in 1922
John, 'TT', Mary, Harold,
Susan and Mary Faith 'Jane' 1928
His paternal grandfather John Ozanne had died of yellow fever in Africa ten years before John was born but his paternal grandmother Mary Ozanne (née Searle) was to survive until John was fifteen. His maternal grandfather General Edward Wylde died when John was thirteen but his maternal grandmother Theresa Mary Mitchell died aged ninety six when John was forty three.
At the age of thirteen John went to the newly opened progressive school at Dartington Hall near Totnes in Devon, which was later attended by his younger sister Susan. (John 2nd left, Teetee far right)
Sant'Antonio near Rome 1928
John with his grandmother's sister Georgina Searle and her husband George Hallam. Georgina had inherited the villa Sant'Antonio from her father,
In 1929 aged 16 John sailed with his parents on the Empress of Australia, from Southampton to Quebec. They were based in Ottawa and toured around for several weeks with Canadian Pacific Railways. They were accompanied by a group of 15 young cadets from the Harrow School officer training corps, of which Harold Ozanne had just taken command. They sailed back to England in September 1929 on the Empress of Scotland, with his occupation reported on the passenger list as 'poultry enthusiast'.
In 1931 John travelled to Canada once again, this time on his own, sailing from Southampton on the White Star liner 'Megantic'. His home address was given as The Red House, Middle Road, Harrow which the accommodation provided for his father as Officer Commanding the Harrow School Officer Cadet Corps. On his immigration form he stated that his intended occupation in Canada was farm labourer. His contact in Canada was recorded as a friend named Mr Elliot of the Ontario Government, Toronto, Ontario.
659 Aberdeen Street, Fredericton, New Brunswick
On 21 September 1931 John registered at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, to start a course in 'forestry'. His address was given as 659 Aberdeen Street, Fredericton, New Brunswick.
On 19 December 1931 an article in the local New Brunswick newspaper The Daily Gleaner reported that 'The university (target shooting team) in addition to its fine showing as a team did well individually, three of the members of the team being among the 14 highest scorers. These were J. Ozanne a native of England, fourth in the list with a 96 in the inter-university shoot.' and The Moncton Daily Times on 24 December 1932 reported that the 'University of New Brunswick Rifle Team Leads All Canada and last year the highest UNB score was 97 made by Ozanne, which was the third highest in the Dominion competition.'
John's father Harold had always taken a huge interest in Target Shooting, from his time training Royal Marine recruits and when in charge of the Harrow School Shooting Team competing at Bisley. This interest was obviously passed onto his son.
In May 1932 John's name is listed under the Freshman exam results at University of New Brunswick with passes in Mathematics, English (Applied Science), French, Chemistry, Physics, Forest Botany and Drawing (Foresters)
In 1932 John moved from New Brunswick to the University of Toronto to study for a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
His sponsors at UOT in addition to his parents in England were Professor Gilbert de Beauregard Robinson of the Department of Maths UOT and John's cousin Ruth Ozanne from Guernsey. Ruth was the daughter of the Bailiff of Guernsey Sir Edward Chepmell Ozanne and her WW2 occupation diaries were published in 2009.
During his time here he became involved with the University Rowing Team as team manager.
He was at the UOT for four years and graduated in 1936 after which he returned to England.
In April 1937 John sailed alone on the White Star liner 'Berengaria' from Southampton to New York. His country of intended future permanent residence was listed as Canada and his occupation was given as 'Bank Clerk'. By this time his father had retired from his job as Estate Bursar and Cadet Force Commander at Harrow School, and the family were living at 9 Thurlow Court, London SW3 which is the home address given on John's passenger record.
On the 1st March 1938 John became an associate of the Canadian Bankers' Association having passed their examinations with Honours
Moulton Park Estate Farm, part of St Andrew Hospital, Northampton
By September 1939 John was back in England. He must have suffered from some serious mental illness because he had been admitted to The St Andrews Hospital for Mental Diseases in Northampton. This was run as a private charity for both voluntary and certified patients. He was housed in the nearby Moulton Park Estate which had been acquired by the hospital to accommodate about ten patients.
He lived at The Red House, Moulton Park Estate Farm where patients worked on the farm to provide food for the hospital. The hospital provided a very high standard of care and many of the patients were well educated and from wealthy families.
Outdoor pursuits at the hospital included cricket, hockey, football, lawn tennis, golf, croquet and bowls, with tournaments played against visiting teams. Indoor pursuits included dances, concerts, bridge, whist drives, cinema, chess and billiards. There was some sort of activity every day.
Severalls Hospital Colchester
At some stage the Moulton Park Estate was closed as a hospital and the land sold for redevelopment. All the original buildings have now been demolished. As a result of this closure John was moved to the Essex County Asylum in Colchester, a much larger facility than Moulton Park. It had been opened in 1913, greatly expanded in 1930 and renamed Severalls Mental Hospital. It became part of the NHS in 1948 and after the introduction of Care in the Community in the 1980s the hospital went into a period of decline and eventually closed in 1997.
John was visited regularly in Colchester by his sister Mary Jane - in fact he insisted that she was the only person who should visit him. John died at Severalls on 12 June 1988 aged 75 and the cause of death was recorded as heart attack, heart disease and chronic schizophrenia. His occupation was noted as 'bank clerk - retired' and his next of kin was listed his sister Mary Jane Chidley of Angarrick, Mylor, Falmouth, Cornwall. His estate was divided between his three sisters and included shares in the Tooth Brewery, inherited from his great grandfather James Sutherland Mitchell.