Ronald Collet Norman
Ronald Collet Norman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date |
| Died | December 5, 1963 (aged 90) |
| Occupation(s) | Banker, public official, political figure |
| Known for | Chairman of the BBC (1935–1939), Chairman of London County Council (1918–1919) |
Ronald Collet Norman JP (15 November 1873 – 5 December 1963) was a distinguished banker, public official, and political figure. He led the Board of Governors of the BBC between 1935 and 1939 and held the position of chairman of the London County Council from 1918 to 1919.
Biography
Born to banker Frederick Norman of the notable Norman family, Norman received his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, earning his MA in 1901. In March 1900, he took on the role of unpaid assistant private secretary to Conservative Under-Secretary of State for War, George Wyndham.
He was elected as a Municipal Reform member of the London County Council in 1907, later serving as its chairman from 1918 to 1919 and as an alderman from 1922 until 1934. In the 1930s, Norman acted as vice-chairman of the National Trust, where he brought greater professionalism to its finance committee; notably, his son Mark Norman chaired this committee during the difficult period of the 1970s. Prior to his chairmanship, Norman was vice-chairman of the BBC from 1933 to 1935 and then served as chairman until April 1939.
Descendants
Norman was wed to Lady Florence Sibell Bridgeman (1877–1959), daughter of the 4th Earl of Bradford. Together they had four children: three sons and one daughter:
- Brigadier Hugh Norman (1905–1979), father to Patricia Norman (born 1940), who married into nobility including the family of the 3rd Baron Kindersley.
- Mark Norman (1910–1994), who became a prominent merchant banker.
- David Norman, whose daughter Isabella Julia Norman married Timothy Nicholas Sean Knatchbull, a descendant of Queen Victoria through Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma.
- Sibyl Margaret Norman (1908–2010), who first married Archibald Edward Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe; their lineage includes Mark Edward Cubitt, 5th Baron Ashcombe, and Lady Isabella Stanhope, spouse of the 7th Earl Cawdor.
- Richard Norman (1917–1994), who married into an Anglo-Spanish aristocratic line tracing back to the Bourbon Dukes of Marchena.
Family connections
The Bridgeman lineage links the descendants of Ronald Collet Norman and Lady Florence to notable English and Scottish nobility such as the Duke of Gloucester, the 7th Marquess of Salisbury, and the 9th Duke of Buccleuch.
Ronald’s brother, Montagu Norman, held a lengthy tenure as governor of the Bank of England and was ennobled as the 1st Baron Norman, a title which has since become extinct. Both brothers descended from grandfathers who were directors in banking institutions, highlighting their family's enduring prominence in finance and administration.