- Philip Norman
Philip E Norman FSA (
9 July 1842 -17 May 1931 ) was a British artist, author and antiquary.Biography
Born in 1842 in
Bromley , he was the son of George Warde Norman (1793-1882) and brother ofFrederick Henry Norman , the merchant banker.He was educated at
Eton College where he was a notable cricketer, and where, at the age of 17, he won the 120 yardshurdle race in the then record time of 18 seconds. He was later to play one season of first-classcricket in 1865 with the Gentlemen of Kent.He was trained as a draughtsman and painter in watercolours at the
Slade School , often exhibiting at theRoyal Academy . A large part of his work consisted of depicting parts ofLondon that he knew, particularly buildings or areas which stood as a survivor of a bygone past or which were about to be demolished. Norman also recorded the history of the buildings which he painted or photographed, and works such as "London Vanished and Vanishing", written in 1905, provide a fascinating record of bygone London. The historianHermione Hobhouse has described Norman as one-third of the "triumvirate" of key figures whose works record the topography of London between 1890 and 1950, the others being Walter Hindes Godfrey andPercy Wells Lovell .Norman was elected a
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1886, acting as Treasurer from 1897 to 1913 and Vice-President from 1913 to 1917.He died in 1931 in
South Kensington at the age of 88. His photographs are now held by theNational Monuments Record and his watercolour paintings and drawings of London are kept by theVictoria and Albert Museum .Selected works
* "London Signs and Inscriptions", London: Elliot Stock, (1893)
* "London Buildings Photographed, 1860-1870", London Topographical Record II, (1903)
* "London Vanished and Vanishing", London: Adam & Charles Black, (1905)
* "Survey of London", London County Council, (1909)
* "Cromwell House Highgate: Its history and associations", London: John Murray, (1917)
* "The London City Churches", London: The London Society, (1929)References
*cite journal |year=1931 |month=May 30 |title=Obituary: Philip Norman |journal=Notes and Queries |pages=396 |issn=0029-3970
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