James Norton

Norton in 2013, photo by Prphotos

Birth Name: James Geoffrey Ian Norton

Place of Birth: Lambeth, London, England, U.K.

Date of Birth: 18 July, 1985

Ethnicity: English, Irish, Scottish, Cornish, 1/16th Ashkenazi Jewish [matrilineal]

James Norton is a British actor. His roles include television’s Happy Valley, Grantchester, War & Peace, and McMafia.

He is the son of Lavinia Jane (Norman) and Hugh Biddulph Norton, who are teachers. He is from an upper-class family. His father was born in Tanzania.

James’s paternal grandfather was Ian Hugh Norton (the son of Hugh Ross Norton and Jessie Muriel Glover). Ian was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, and was a colonial official in Tanganyika. James’s great-grandfather Hugh was the Archdeacon of Sudbury, from 1945 to 1962; Hugh was the son of George Everitt Norton and Jane Helen Houstoun, who was born in Midlothian, Scotland. Jessie was the daughter of George Henry Glover and Hester Amy Collins.

James’s paternal grandmother was Jean Biddulph (the daughter of Col. Francis John Biddulph and Una Dorothy Kendall Tancock). Jean was born in Medway, Kent, England. Francis was the son of Nicholas Trafalgar Biddulph and Marion Flora Campbell Warburton, and was a member of the Royal Engineers. Una was born in India, the daughter of Osborne Kendall Tancock and Theodosia Louise Hartnell.

James’s maternal grandfather was David Geoffrey Norman (the son of Vice-Admiral Horace Geoffrey Norman and Norah Frances Geoghegan). David was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, England. Horace was an Allied Warship Commander, and was the son of William Horace Norman and Mabel Lampard. Norah was the daughter of Stannus Geoghegan, who was Irish, and of Norah Louisa Greenway, who was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, of part Irish ancestry.

James’s maternal grandmother was Janet Treluddra Nicholson (the daughter of Charles Hepworth Nicholson and Dora Barwis). Janet was born in Plymouth, Devon, England. Dora was the daughter of John Carne Barwis, who was born in Penzance, Cornwall, and of Harriet Rée. Harriet’s parents, Isidor Rée and Meta Rée, were German Jews, from Hamburg. Meta was the daughter of Anton Rée and Henriette Löwenthal.

Through his Rée lines, James descends from the same Danish Jewish ancestors as Prime Minister of the U.K., David Cameron. The line leads back to Hirsch Isac Rée, who was born c. 1671.

Sources: Genealogy of James Norton (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com

Genealogy of James’s father – http://www.thepeerage.com

Genealogy of James’s mother – https://www.geni.com

James’s maternal great-grandmother, Dora Barwis, on the 1901 England and Wales Census – https://www.familysearch.org

James’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Harriet Rée, on the 1871 England and Wales Census – https://www.familysearch.org

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