Profile Text
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, Anglo-Irish, Cornish, 1/16th Ashkenazi Jewish [matrilineal], more distant Guernsey Channel Islander, remote Dutch and Welsh
James Norton is a British actor. His roles include the films Cheerful Weather for the Wedding , Rush , Belle (2013), Mr. Turner , Bonobo , Northmen: A Viking Saga , Hampstead , Flatliners (2017), Mr Jones , Little Women (2019), Nowhere Special , Things Heard & Seen , Rogue Agent , Ex-Husbands , Bob Marley: One Love , Joy (2024), and Sunny Dancer ; the series Restless , Death Comes to Pemberley , Grantchester , Happy Valley , Life in Squares War & Peace , Black Mirror: Nosedive , McMafia , The Trial of Christine Keeler , The Nevers , Playing Nice , King & Conqueror , and House of Guinness ; the made-for-tv movies Lady Chatterley’s Lover (2015) and To Walk Invisible ; the video game Dragon Age: Inquisition ; and the music video for “Ride.”
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 born in Marylebone, London, and was 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. James’s great-grandmother 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 Lt-Col. Nicholas Trafalgar Biddulph, whose paternal grandmother was from Woodlodge, Drung, Caven, Ireland; and of Marion Flora Campbell Warburton. Francis was a member of the Royal Engineers. James’s great-grandmother Una was born in India, the daughter of English parents, Osborne Kendall Tancock, who was from Sherborne, Dorset, and was of partly Guernesey/Channel Islander and Cornish ancestry; and Theodosia Louise Hartnell, who was from Bristol.
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. James’s great-grandmother 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. James’s great-grandmother Dora was born in Devonport, Plymouth, 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/Henrietta Löwenthal. The Ree family alternated between Germany and Denmark, with many of their ancestors having been born in Copenhagen and Fredericia.
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 – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of James’s father – http://www.thepeerage.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