[4] He was in 1870 a plaintiff in Smith & Novelli v Lay, a suit filed in Court of Chancery, over finance to the Meiji government of Imperial Japan.
[5][6][7] Novelli partnered until 1 January 1856 with Charles Hardy Bowker, Francis Koenig and George Dunner as General Commission Merchants.
[8] Novelli was named on 18 October 1860 by the Lord Lieutenant of the Welsh County of Cardigan, Edward Pryse, as his deputy.
[18] Novelli's wife was Sarah Helena; they had at least one child, Philip Charles,[19] who graduated Trinity College, Cambridge in 1880,[20] passed the Intermediate bar examination on 19 January 1882,[21] and was made a Grand Steward of the Freemasons on 24 April 1889 under Pro Grand Master Earl of Carnarvon and his Deputy, the Earl of Lathom.
[18] In pursuance of section 142 of the Companies Act 1862, a General Meeting of the Members of Novelli and Company was held at the offices of the W. Bolton Liquidator, 13 Spring-gardens Manchester, on 28 March 1894 at three o'clock in the afternoon, to have the account laid of the bankruptcy, disposal and winding up of the firm.