James B. Knott

1825, Edinburgh ─ 1890, Edinburgh

Associated ─ briefly ─ with Glasgow Chess Club.

There is a record of a consultation game at the club on 6 September 1849 between Harrwitz, playing 'blindfold,' and Tilghman and Knott.

James B. Knott is shown as being on the club Council at the Annual General Meetings of 1850 and 1851.  

James Brown Knott was the son of John Knott and Sophia Pelham.

The 1851 census for Scotland records him as a Professor of Music (26), living at 17 Cambridge Street, Glasgow with several siblings.

This Knott and that Knott
There is reason to believe that James B. Knott is also Hubert Knott of Brooklyn, who took part in the 1st American Chess Congress, New York 1857, and who played several games at odds against Morphy in 1859.

  • a chess problem (No. 11) by J.B. Knott appeared on page 207 of the New York Journal for July─December 1854.

  • Hubert J.B. Knott married Emma Remsen Pine at New York on 17 October 1854.

  • In 1854 there was published My Glenwood Home, with music by Hubert J.B. Knott and words by W. Seaman Beare (an anagram of which is, incidentally, 'be aware names').

  • another chess problem, this time by 'Mr Knott of the Glasgow Chess Club,' appeared on page 247 of Frank Leslie's New York Journal 1855.

  • In the 1855 New York State census for Ward 4, Brooklyn, King's County, taken on June 7, there appears:

Hubert Nott (30), born Scotland, a teacher of music, resident for two years at current address.

Emma Nott (21), wife, born King's County, NY.

  • The book of the 1st American Chess Congress 1857, and newspaper reports, refer to one of the competitors being Mr Hubert Knott (Brooklyn).

  • Reports show that during Paul Morphy's visit to the Brooklyn Chess Club on June 16, 1859, he played two games with 'Mr H. Knott,' giving the odds of his Queen's Knight and winning both games.

Gaige has an entry for Hubert Knott in his Chess Personalia (1987), but the only piece of information he provides is a death date of 1892, but without a source.

Chess databases give Knott's games from the 1857 New York congress, and at least one of the odds games against Morphy on June 16, 1859, but no later games.

Return to Scotland
Several newspapers recorded the arrival on the Clyde of the S.S. Glasgow on 6 September 1859, having departed New York on 24 August. A list of the cabin passengers included 'Mr James B. Knott, lady, and daughter.'

In the 1861 census James B. Knott (35), a photographic artist, is at 7 Hill Square, Edinburgh with his wife Emma (26), and daughters Zella (5) and Edith (1). 

Knott's wife, Emma Remsen Knott, died 6 December 1863 at Edinburgh.

James B. Knott (46) was still in Edinburgh in the 1871 census, along with his daughters Zella (15) and Edith (11).

In the 1881 census James B. Knott (56) is residing in the home of his his married daughter, Zella ─ shown as Ellen Ritchie ─ at 3 Napier Place, Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire. He is shown as a retired grocer, possibly because he helped in his son-in-law's grocery business. Edith (21) is also there, though she married a few months later.

James B. Knott died 3 June 1890 at 9 Antigua Street, Edinburgh; his profession was shown as teacher of music.

Other sources
Glasgow Herald, 9 September 1850, p4; 10 March 1851, p6.
North British Daily Mail, Wednesday, 7 September 1859, p2.
ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk (national Records) 
ancestry.com
Google Books

Alan McGowan
Historian/Chess Scotland

added 26/8/2022