Sir Freeman Alderdice Crotty: 1910-1997

From the St. John's Daily Telegraph, September 22, 1997 "Sir Freeman Alderdice Crotty passed away peacefully at his residence on Knobkerrie Lane in St. John's, on Saturday, September 20, 1997. He was predeceased by his father, Montgomery Edwin Crotty, and his mother, Sarah Prescott Alderdice. He leaves to mourn special friend Marjorie Walsh, his loyal secretary of the past fifty-three years, and a large circle of acquaintances. Born in Harbour Grace on June 16, 1910, Sir Freeman received his early education from his mother. He eventually studied at all the schools and colleges of the island. Following a sojourn through the Hindu Kush with several friends (including a young Sinclair Lewis) and a brief mercantile career in Marseilles, Sir Freeman returned to Newfoundland and took up residence in St. John's. An early retirement - due to an injury suffered in Italy in 1932, and made feasible by the substantial legacy of his parents - led Sir Freeman down the twin paths that eventually supplied his greatest source of happiness: a priceless collection of porcelain; and a long line of purebred Trans-Pennine Balinese raised at Knobkerrie Cattery. It was, in fact, because of his services in the preservation of the Trans-Pennine Balinese that Sir Freeman was knighted in 1947. This was only one indication of his services to the community. Sir Freeman, aside from being a member of varied volunteer organizations, maintained for many years in his rambling manor a huge library of exotica that was open to the educated and erudite elite of St. John's. The Boy Scout movement was also of great interest to him. Sir Freeman Crotty was the colony's first Commissioner of Broadcasting, being appointed to that position in 1935 by the Governor of Newfoundland, Admiral Sir David Murray Anderson. Benign and unassuming, he was ideally suited for arbitrating conflicts arising from the chaotic broadcasting climate that prevailed at the time - over twenty "stations" vied for available airspace. That same year, he oversaw the establishment of the Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland, designed to inform, entertain and unite the demoralised people of Newfoundland. It was as the Commissioner that he was best known to the general public, and it was this sinecure that bestowed upon him the acronymic sobriquet "Old Cob", or "the Old Cobber" as he was known in his later years. Those later years were spent among his cats and his porcelain, dictating letters to his many correspondents. He was a much sought after patron, his fortune spread liberally about the needy organizations of Newfoundland. Sir Freeman was Grand Vizier of the Conkerbell Lodge, Sahib Emeritus of the Friends of India, a Grand Knight Templar, past-president of the Real Porcelain Association, four-time chair of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and secretary of the Prescott Pond Fishing Club. The body of Sir Freeman Crotty will be lying in state for the purposes of public mourning in Studio J at the Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland building on Duckworth Street from 10:00 a.m. Monday. A memorial service will precede his cremation. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Friends of Trans-Pennine Balinese Association or the SPCA would be appreciated. Sir Freeman will be missed. Rest in peace." HOME