Sir Henry Norman, 1st Baronet
Florence Priscilla McLaren | |
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Children | Nigel Norman |
Sir Henry Norman, 1st Baronet
Family and education
Norman was born in Leicester, the son of Henry Norman, a merchant and local radical politician. Norman was educated at Leicester Collegiate School and Grove House School and later studied theology and philosophy at Leipzig and Harvard University. His family were Unitarians in religion, and Norman first embarked on a career as a preacher; but he gave up this calling and his religion on his return to England.
In 1891 he married author Ménie Muriel Dowie (1867–1945) but they divorced in 1903 on the grounds of her adultery with a family friend, Edward Arthur Fitzgerald.[3] Norman was awarded custody of their son Henry Nigel St Valery Norman, who was born in 1897 and succeeded him in the baronetcy.
In 1907 he married
In 1922 he purchased Ramster Hall, Chiddingfold, Guildford, Surrey with Lady Norman.[4]
Journalism
Norman became a journalist working for the
Government and other appointments
He was appointed Assistant Postmaster-General in January 1910. His interest in international communications led to a number of appointments related to wireless and telegraphy: among them
- Chairman of the War Office Committee on Wireless Telegraphy (1912)
- Chairman of the Imperial Wireless Telegraphy Committee of 1920 (the Norman Committee), which was convened to draw up a complete wireless scheme for the Empire,[6] and recommended[clarification needed] wireless communications covering a range of 2,000 miles.[7]
In 1918 he was admitted to the
Outside government
In 1914, he became the first President of the Derby Wireless Club, founded in 1911.
Norman was also a director of a number of companies connected to coal mining and iron trades.
He was an early advocate of wireless broadcasting, opening the All British Wireless Exhibition at the Royal Horticultural Hall, Westminster in 1922 at which he predicted, to a very sceptical press, the ubiquitous uptake of the technology into all homes.[9]
World War I
Sir Henry was the Munitions Inventions Department's permanent attaché to the French Ministry of Inventions.[10] At the end of the war Sir Henry was involved in the detailed planning for a proposed transatlantic flight using a F.B.27. Vickers Vimy. This planning included the route to be flown, the hangar facilities and the provision of fuel for the aircraft in Newfoundland.[11]
Politics
Norman was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South from 1900 to 1910, and for Blackburn from 1910 to 1923.[12] He was an advocate for a number of causes, notably women's suffrage.[13] Norman was a supporter of
Selected writings
- An Account of the Harvard Greek Play (1881)
- The Preservation of Niagara Falls (1882)
- The Real Japan (1892)
- The Peoples and Politics of the Far East (1895)[14]
- The Treatment and Training of Disabled and Discharged Soldiers in France (1917)
- All the Russias (1902)
- Will No Man Understand? a play, (1934)
- Bodyke : A Chapter in the History of Irish Landlordism (1887)
Notes
- ^ The London Gazette, 28 December 1906 (issue 27980), pp. 9142–9145.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61020. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ French, Patrick. "Norman, Sir Henry, first baronet (1858–1939), journalist and politician". ONDB. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ "History of Ramster Hall in Surrey - Weddings".
- ^ "Sir Henry Norman Far East collection, circa 1890 (Y302E)". Cambridge Digital Library. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ "BRITAIN TO LINK UP EMPIRE BY WIRELESS; Imperial Committee Recommends System of Generating Energy by Thermionic Valves" (PDF).
- ^ "Norman Committee's Scheme". The Manchester Guardian. 29 June 1920.
- ^ "Sir Henry Norman Fined: penalty for exceeding the speed limit". The Observer. 14 July 1907.
- ^ "Wireless in Every Home". The Observer. 1 October 1922.
- ISBN 9781612007908.
- ISBN 9781612007908.
- ^ "Sir Henry Norman". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ "Sir Henry Norman and Women's Suffrage". The Manchester Guardian. 4 March 1912.
- ^ Henry Norman (1 January 1895). "The Peoples and Politics of the Far East: Travels and Studies in the British ..." Scribner – via Internet Archive.
References
- Patrick French, The Life of Henry Norman. Unicorn Press, 1995.
- Leigh Rayment's list of baronets
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- Obituary, The Times, 5 June 1939
- Who was Who, OUP 2007
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Norman
- Works by Sir Henry Norman, 1st Baronet at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Henry Norman at Library of Congress, with 21 library catalogue records