Adeliza Nott

## Adeliza Vulpecula Nott (née Black)

**Adeliza Vulpecula Nott** (née **Black**) (2 Aug 1774 - 19 Oct 1824) was a pure-blood witch, the only daughter of Betelgeuse Black and his wife Adeliza Black (née Rosier), the sister of Cygnus, Corvus, and Cetus IV, the wife of Theobald Nott, and the mother of Caecilius, Benjamine, and Balbina. She attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1785 to 1792 and was a member of Slytherin House.

## Biography

### Early life

Adeliza Vulpecula was born on 2 August, 1744, in Grimmauld Place, a family property located in Islington, London, England. Her father was Betelgeuse Black, Head of the Wizenagmot and esteemed Astronomy scholar, and her mother was Adeliza, daughter of Marcellus Rosier. She was named for her mother and baptised in London by Thomas Secker, a wizard, who was both Rector of St. James's and Bishop of Oxford.

According to diplomatic reports at the time of her engagement to Theobald Nott in 1792, Adeliza had received "a very mediocre education" prior to attending Hogwarts. Her upbringing was similar to that of a daughter of an English country gentleman. She received some rudimentary instruction in botany, History of Magic, and language from tutors, but her education focused on household management and on religion, the latter taught by a priest.

She did, however, attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1785 to 1792. Whilst there, she was a member of Slytherin House.

#### Marriage

When Theobald Nott succeeded to the Nott seat on the Wizenagmot upon the death of his father, he was 22 years old and unmarried. His mother and advisors were anxious to have him settled in marriage. The 17-year-old Adeliza Black appealed to him as a prospective consort partly because she had been brought up in a significant household, but she lacked education, and therefore would probably have had no experience or interest in power politics or party intrigues. That proved to be the case; to make sure, he instructed her shortly after their wedding "not to meddle," a precept she was glad to follow.

Less than a year after the marriage, on 12 August 1793, Adeliza gave birth to her first child, Caecilius Nott. In the course of their marriage, the couple became the parents of three children.

Adeliza Nott endeared herself to her human servants and to her children's attendants by treating them with friendly warmth, reflected in this note she wrote to her daughters' assistant governess:

> My dear Miss Hamilton, What can I have to say? Not much indeed! But to wish you a good morning, in the pretty blue and white room where I had the pleasure to sit and read with you *The Hermit*, a poem which is such a favourite with me that I have read it twice this summer. Oh! What a blessing to keep good company! Very likely I should not have been acquainted with either poet or poem was it not for you!
>
>

Adeliza did have some influence on political affairs through her husband. Her influence was discreet and indirect, as demonstrated in the correspondence with her brother, Cygnus. She used her closeness with Theobald to keep herself informed and to make recommendations for offices. Apparently her recommendations were not direct, as she on one occasion, in 1798, asked her brother Cygnus to burn her letter, because her husband suspected that a person she had recently recommended for a post was the client of a woman who sold offices.

### Later life

Adeliza Nott founded orphanages and, in 1809, became the patron (providing new funding) of the General Lying-in Hospital, a hospital for expectant mothers. It was subsequently renamed as Adelize Centre, and is today combined with St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, as the St. Adelize wing. The education of women was of great importance to her, and she ensured that her daughters were better educated than was usual for young women of the day; however, she also insisted that her daughters live restricted lives close to their mother, and she refused to allow them to marry until they were well-advanced in years. As a result, none of her daughters had legitimate issue (one, Balbina, may have had an illegitimate son).

#### Death

Adeliza died in the presence of her only son, Caecilius, who was holding her hand as she sat in an armchair at the family's seaside retreat, Dutch House in Norfolk. She was entombed in the Nott family vaults in Yorkshire. Her husband died just over a year later.

## Etymology

Adeliza is a given name of ancient European origins that evolved from words meaning "noble", "nobility" or "elite."