Sir Torquil Norman | |
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| Born | 11 April 1933 Marylebone, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse | Lady Elizabeth Ann Montagu (m. 1961) |
Sir Torquil Patrick Alexander Norman, CBE (born 11 April 1933) is a British businessman, aircraft enthusiast, and arts philanthropist. [1]
Norman is the youngest of three sons born to Air Commodore Sir Nigel Norman, 2nd Baronet, and Patricia Moyra Annesley, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel James Howard Adolphus Annesley. His father, the only child of journalist and politician Sir Henry Norman, 1st Baronet, and novelist Ménie Muriel Dowie, was killed in action in 1943, shortly before Torquil's 10th birthday. His eldest brother, Sir Mark Annesley Norman, inherited the baronetcy and his middle brother, Desmond Norman, was an aviation pioneer. [1]
Norman was educated at Eton College, Harvard University [2] and Trinity College, Cambridge. [1]
Standing 6'7", Norman gained his pilot's licence at eighteen, and did his National Service in the Fleet Air Arm. After he left, he bought a Piper Comanche, flew in No. 601 Squadron RAF, [3] and took up skydiving.
After working as an investment banker in the United States for eleven years, Norman returned to the United Kingdom in the 1960s and subsequently entered the toymaking industry, first as chief executive of Berwick Timpo [4] toy company from 1973. In 1980, he founded Bluebird Toys, makers of the Big Yellow Teapot House, the Big Red Fun Bus, and the successful Polly Pocket line of dolls. [5]
A long-term Camden resident, Norman bought the derelict Roundhouse arts venue in Chalk Farm for £3 million in 1996 "as an impulse buy", having read it was proposed to turn it into an architectural museum. [6]
As founder and chairman of the Roundhouse Trust he then raised £27 million from public and private sources, including almost £4 million more of his own personal funds, to restore the crumbling Victorian former railway repair shed, which had been a major arts venue in the 1960s and '70s. The restored Roundhouse reopened in June 2006 as a 1,700 seat performance space, with a state-of-the-art creative centre for young people in the undercroft, and a new wing with a purpose-built bar and café. [7] [8] It was soon the base for a major season by the Royal Shakespeare Company, played host to regular big-name rock concerts, and by 2008 had involved over 12,000 teenagers in creative arts projects. [9]
Norman, who was previously appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, stepped down as chairman of the Roundhouse Trust in 2007, [10] and was knighted the same year for his "services to the arts and to disadvantaged young people". [11] In 2007, he won the Beacon Fellowship Prize for his work with young people through the Roundhouse Trust. [12]
A collector of classic aeroplanes, Norman wrote a vivid account of flying a DH Leopard Moth across the Atlantic. [13] In 1995 Norman and Henry Labouchère undertook a long distance flight in a light aircraft, culminating in their East-West trans-Atlantic flight in a (then) 59-year-old De Havilland Dragonfly, with both of them being awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Royal Aero Club.
Norman went on to found the Global Vehicle Trust (GVT) to provide simple, affordable, and versatile transport for rural areas in developing countries using a purpose-built truck designed and conceptualised by Sir Gordon Murray. GVT established OX Delivers as a for-profit entity to carry out GVT's goals, using a scalable business model that enables electric transport to be accessible, affordable, and reliable in emerging markets. The OX truck has since shifted away from diesel, and was redesigned to be fully electric.
On 8 July 1961, Norman married Lady Elizabeth Ann Montagu, the daughter of Victor Montagu, 10th Earl of Sandwich. They have five children, including Conservative Party MP Jesse Norman, the artist Amy Sharrocks, and ten grandchildren. [1]
Montagu Collet Norman, 1st Baron Norman DSO PC was an English banker, best known for his role as the Governor of the Bank of England from 1920 to 1944.
Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute.
Baron Northbourne, of Betteshanger in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1884 for Sir Walter James, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Kingston upon Hull in the House of Commons as a Conservative. His son, the second Baron, sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Gateshead. The latter's great-grandson, the fifth Baron, who succeeded his father in 1982, was one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that were allowed to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, and sat as a cross-bencher until his retirement in 2018. As of 2019, the titles are held by his son, the sixth baron, who succeeded his father in that year.
The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhouse, a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was used for that purpose for only about a decade. After being used as a warehouse for a number of years, the building fell into disuse just before World War II. It was first made a listed building in 1954.
Walter Francis John Montagu Douglas Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch and 11th Duke of Queensberry, was a Scottish peer, politician and landowner. He served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in the Second World War, and represented Edinburgh North in the House of Commons for 13 years.
Hugh Michael Seely, 1st Baron Sherwood, known as Sir Hugh Seely, 3rd Baronet, of Sherwood Lodge, Nottinghamshire, from 1926 to 1941, was a British Liberal politician.
Baron Rokeby, of Armagh in the County of Armagh, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1777 for The Most Rev. Dr Richard Robinson, Church of Ireland Lord Primate of All Ireland and Lord Archbishop of Armagh, with remainder to his brothers and his father's second cousin Matthew Robinson and the heirs male of their bodies. In 1785 he also succeeded his elder brother as 3rd Baronet according to a special remainder. Lord Rokeby never married and was succeeded in the barony and baronetcy according to the special remainders in the letters patent by his third cousin Matthew Robinson-Morris, the second Baron and fourth Baronet. He was the son of Matthew Robinson, son of Thomas Robinson, son of Sir Leonard Robinson, brother of William Robinson, great-grandfather of the first Robinson Baronet and the first Baron Rokeby. The second Baron was an academic, politician and eccentric. Born Matthew Robinson, he assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Morris in 1746 on succeeding to the Mount Morris Estate in Monks Horton, Kent through his mother. He never married and was succeeded by his nephew Morris Robinson, the third Baron. He was the elder son of Morris Robinson.
Alexander Jesse Norman is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hereford and South Herefordshire since 2010.
Paul Blackman is a British theatrical producer and director.
Arthur Saunders Gore, 2nd Earl of Arran, KP, PC (Ire), styled The Honourable Arthur Gore from 1758 to 1762 and Viscount Sudley from 1762 to 1773, was an Irish peer and politician.
Sir Charles Nicholas Mander, 4th Baronet is a British baronet, historian and businessman.
The Norman Baronetcy, of Honeyhanger in the Parish of Shottermill in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 22 June 1915 for the journalist and Liberal politician Henry Norman. The second Baronet, Sir Nigel Norman was an Air Commodore in the Auxiliary Air Force (Reserve) and was killed in action in 1943. The third Baronet was high sheriff of Oxfordshire from 1983 to 1984 and a Deputy Lieutenant of the county in 1985.
Evelyn Hester Macleod, Baroness Macleod of Borve DL was a British public servant.
Air Commodore Sir Henry Nigel St Valery Norman, 2nd Baronet, was a consulting civil engineer and Royal Air Force officer during the first half of the 20th century.
Sir Tristram Beresford, 3rd Baronet was an Anglo-Irish soldier, politician and baronet.
James Annesley, 2nd Earl of Anglesey FRS, styled Lord Annesley from 1661 to 1686, was a British peer.
Dominick Burke or Bourke was an Irish politician from County Galway.
Group Captain Sir Archibald Philip Hope, 17th Baronet, was a Scottish aristocrat and aviator who flew with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
Elizabeth Montagu, Duchess of Manchester, formerly Elizabeth Dashwood, was the wife of George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester. Dowager Duchess of Manchester from 1788-1832.
Elizabeth Annesley, Countess of Anglesey was an English noblewoman. She was the wife of James Annesley, 2nd Earl of Anglesey, and the mother of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Earls.
Sir Torquil Norman graduated from Harvard and Trinity College, Cambridge.
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