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Born in Wandsworth in London, in 1809, Henry was the son of Abraham and Sarah Norman. As a young boy Henry and his brothers were apprenticed to London watchmakers and jewellers. Henry then joined his father, who trained him as a flour miller in Suffolk and at West Winch in Norfolk in 1830 he married Harriet née Chapman. The marriage produced four sons and a daughter, but his wife died at Norfolk in March 1847 and Henry subsequently married Sarah Cason at Kings Lynn (Norfolk). Prior to immigrating to Australia he took a course in photography at the Royal London Polytechnic Institute under Richard Beard, after which he and his family immigrated to Portland in Victoria, Australia, arriving on 25 August 1852. After spending some time on the Ballarat goldfields he returned to Portland and opened a small shop on Julia Street where he traded as a photographer, watchmaker and jeweller. When his wife returned to England in 1854 he and his family moved to Hamilton and in 1860 to Mount Gambier in South Australia, where he established Norman’s Photographic Studio. Besides photography, he traded as a watchmaker and jeweller. A carte-de-visite from 'H. Norman / Photographic Artist’ (R.J. Noye Collection, Mortlock Library) states that the photography side of his business was established at Mount Gambier in 1860. Ennis included four of Henry Norman’s cdvs (c.1867-c.1877) in Mirror with a Memory. Most of the children worked in the business, with Abraham , William , Harriet and Henry junior (1833-96) each for a time running the photography studio while Norman returned to full-time horological activities. The Norman photography studio continued to operate at Mount Gambier into the twentieth century {Ennis says to 1899} although Henry Norman is not known to have been involved beyond the mid 1872. He died at Mount Gambier on 14 March 1887.

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Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

2023