Henry Norman | |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | (1858-09-19)19 September 1858 |
| Died | (1939-06-04)4 June 1939 (aged 80) |
| Nationality | British |
| Party | Liberal Party |
| Spouse(s) | Ménie Muriel Dowie Florence Priscilla McLaren |
| Children | Nigel Norman |
Sir Henry Norman, 1st BaronetPC JP (19 September 1858 – 4 June 1939) was anEnglishjournalist andLiberal Member of Parliament and government minister. Norman was educated privately in France and at Harvard University, where he obtained his B.A. For several years he worked on the editorial staff of thePall Mall Gazette and later joined the editorial staff of theDaily Chronicle, being appointed Assistant Editor of the latter in 1895. He retired from journalism in 1899. During this time he travelled widely in Canada and the United States and in Russia, Japan, China, Siam, Malaya and Central Asia. Much of the material included in the two volumes mentioned in the description was amassed during these tours. He wasknighted in 1906,[1] and made a baronet in 1915.[2]
Norman was born inLeicester, the son of Henry Norman, a merchant and local radical politician. Norman was educated at Leicester Collegiate School andGrove House School and later studiedtheology andphilosophy atLeipzig andHarvard University. His family wereUnitarians in religion, and Norman first embarked on a career as a preacher, but he gave up this calling and his religion upon returning to England.
In 1891 he married authorMénie 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 sonHenry Nigel St Valery Norman, who was born in 1897 and succeeded him in the baronetcy.
In 1907 he marriedFlorence Priscilla McLaren (1884–1964), the daughter of the wealthy industrialist and Liberal MP,Sir Charles McLaren. They had three children.
In 1922 he purchasedRamster Hall, Chiddingfold, Guildford, Surrey with Lady Norman.[4]
Norman became a journalist working for thePall Mall Gazette and theNew York Times. As a journalist he was famous for uncovering the truth behind theDreyfus Affair. He was on the staff of theDaily Chronicle from 1892, becoming assistant editor. Norman travelled extensively in the East, where he took a number of photographs that are held atCambridge University.[5] Later he founded and edited the magazineThe World's Work (vols 1–42, 1902–1923).
In an essay published in theNew York Times, Norman said that his travels in theRussian Empire took him "nearly 20,000 miles."[6] He said that despite the size of the country, "it revolved as smoothly as the well-welded flywheel." He also stated that "few provincial towns in Europe or America have theaters and museums as fine as those inIrkutsk andTiflis." According to him, there were "half-a-dozen industries which promise a fortune" in places likePoland and Russia as a whole. TheNew York Times published these observations on October 14, 1900.[6]
He was appointed AssistantPostmaster-General in January 1910. His interest in international communications led to a number of appointments related to wireless and telegraphy: among them
In 1918 he was admitted to thePrivy Council. He contributed to government committees including chairing a Select Committee on Patent Medicines (specifically advertisements for them and fraudulent claims), on rent restrictions, on betting duty and on industrial paints. He championed the rights and regulation of motorists in the House of Commons even though he had himself been fined for speeding (30 mph) under a scheme he himself had advocated to the Royal Commission.[9] Norman was appointed aJustice of the Peace forSurrey.
In 1914, he became the first President of theDerby 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 theRoyal Horticultural Hall, Westminster in 1922 at which he predicted, to a very sceptical press, the ubiquitous uptake of the technology into all homes.[10]
Sir Henry was theMunitions Inventions Department's permanent attaché to the French Ministry of Inventions.[11] At the end of the war Sir Henry was involved in the detailed planning for a proposedtransatlantic 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.[12]
Norman was aLiberalMember of Parliament forWolverhampton South from 1900 to 1910, and forBlackburn from 1910 to 1923.[13] He was an advocate for a number of causes, notably women's suffrage.[14]Norman was a supporter ofDavid Lloyd George, organising theBudget League in support of hisPeople's Budget in 1909–10, personally representing Lloyd George in France on a number of occasions during the First World War, and helping organise the government's campaign during the "Coupon Election" of 1918.[2]In 1915 he was created abaronet, and took the designation "of Honeyhanger in the Parish of Shottermill in the County of Surrey".
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWolverhampton South 1900–January 1910 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBlackburn December 1910–1923 With:Phillip Snowden 1910–1918 Percy Dean 1918–1922 Sydney Henn 1922–1923 | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baronet (of Honeyhanger) 1915–1939 | Succeeded by |
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