John Norton (Australian Journalist) - Family Challenge of Norton's Estate

Family Challenge of Norton's Estate

In his will John Norton disinherited his wife Ada and son Ezra and left the bulk of his estate to his 9-year-old daughter, Joan. The estate seemed to many to be greatly undervalued, even though it was presented for probate at £106,000.00.

Mrs Ada Norton persuaded the New South Wales Parliament to backdate the new Testator's Family Maintenance Act to take effect before Norton's death. Under this legislation, she succeeded in having his will rewritten in 1920 so that she and Ezra Norton each received a third of his inheritance, allowing Ezra Norton to gain control of The Truth Media Group. By 1927, John Norton's Estate had been re-valued at £600,000.00.

Later, his daughter Joan Norton, as Mrs Ben Shashoua, was the petitioner behind the bankruptcy of Sydney businessman Hugh D. McIntosh. She married Ben Shashoua in London on 9 January 1930 although they separated after 6 months and she returned to Sydney. Like her father, Joan Shashoua (née Norton) died from alcoholism in Sydney on 7 March 1940 and was buried in the Norton family plot at South Head Cemetery. She left an estate valued at £71,146.00 to her mother Ada and her brother Ezra Norton.