An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough
For a complete list of the A-Z posts
please head over to the bloglist.
Short
biography of John Smith Norris
John
Smith Norris was baptised on 28 November 1819 at St Leogardius church in
Basford, Nottingham. He was the son of Thomas Norris, a clerk, and later an
accountant, and his wife Mary: this may have been Mary Smith, who married a
Thomas Norris in 1809 at Quarndon in Derbyshire. The couple had at least four
children – Elizabeth Smith Norris (1817-1870); Thomas Smith Norris (1822-1880),
Mary Smith Norris (1826-post-1901), and John himself.
By
the age of 22, John was listed on the 1841 census return as a surveyor, and he,
his parents, and his siblings were living on Canal Street, Nottingham. On 27
July 1848, John married Anne Peet, the daughter Thomas, a lace manufacturer, at
the parish church in Sneinton. At the time, John was living on Eldon Terrace,
and Anne on Belvoir Terra, but the couple made their home at a property on
Sneinton Road, Nottingham. The 1851 census return shows John and Anne at
Sneinton Road, with their 1-year-old son, Henry John, and a servant. John’s
occupation is listed as an engineer and architect.
In
an 1854 trade directory, John is listed under architects, and his place of work
as Market Street, Nottingham, and in an 1855 newspaper article his occupation is
given as engineer to the local board. Between 1851 and 1861, John and Anne had eight
more children, brothers and sisters to Henry John. Frank Peet was born in 1852;
Katherine Anne in 1853; Charles was born in 1855); Edith Ellen followed in 1856);
Edward Thomas was born in 1857); Margaret Mary in 1858); Herbert William was
born in 1859, but sadly died in 1865, and finally Florence Louisa was born in
1861.
On
the 1861 census return, John, Anne, and the 9 children, were living on Blue
Coat Street (probably no.3), and John was listed as a civil engineer and
architect. The family were supported by two people, Elizabeth Comber, a servant,
and Sarah Hickson, a nursemaid. The life of an engineer, architect, and
surveyor, was varied. John acted, presumably in a personal capacity, as executor
to Samuel Henry Oaks, who died in 1861. In 1864 he was on the grand jury of the
Nottingham Quarter Sessions, and, in the same year, commenting upon plans for
ventilation and closets. As an architect, it was also in 1864 that he designed
the new Unitarian Chapel on Victoria Street in Loughborough, which replaced the
older one which was on what is now called Warner Lane, off Church Gate. For a
report of the opening, please scroll down! In 1868, John is surveyor to the assessment
committee of the Nottingham Union.
In
1871, John and Anne are both now aged 51, and four of their children – Edith,
Thomas, Margaret, and Florence – are still living with them at 3 Blue Coat
Street, Nottingham. John is still working as a civil engineer, and Thomas is
apprentice to a lace manufacturer, who is probably his uncle, Thomas Smith
Norris, who is living at no.5 Blue Coat Street, with his sister Mary and a
servant. In 1881, John, described as a civil engineer surveyor, and his wife Anne
are still at Blue Coats Street, and still have four children at home – Charles aged
26; Edward Thomas aged 23; Margaret M. aged 22, and Florence Louisa aged 20 –
and they are supported by servant Ann England
In
1885 John and Anne still at Blue Coats Street. John’s brother, Thomas, who was the
lace manufacturer living next door at no.5 died in 1880, so their sister, Mary,
is now living at no.5. By 1891, John has retired, and he and Anne have moved to
64 Mapperley Road, where their children, Edward Thomas, and Margaret are still
living with them, along with two servants.
John
Smith Norris died on 22 March 1892. Probate was granted to Anne, his widow, and
Edward Thomas his son the lace manufacturer, on 13 April. His effects were
£21,635 17s. 8., which was resworn in July 1892 and became £22,510 17s. 8d..
Now only was John Smith Norris survived by his wife, his mother also outlived,
who died on 15 May 1897; her effects were £693 12s. 6d..
In
1893, following the death of brother, Mary Smith Norris commissioned Nottingham
architect Watson Fothergill to design a terrace of eight almshouses on Sherwood
Rise. These became known as the Norris Almshouses, and were available only to well-educated,
upper class ladies over the age of 60, who found themselves in reduced circumstances.
Mary herself died in 1904.
____________________________________
What follows is a selection of
buildings designed by John Smith Norris
Note: this is a selective, not a
comprehensive listing.
____________________________________
*Loughborough Victoria Street Chapel,
Unitarian (1864)
____________________________________
Here’s
an account of the opening of the chapel, by the Nottingham and Midland
Counties Daily Express
OPENING
OE VICTORIA-STREET CHAPEL, LOUGHBOROUGH.
For
nearly two years and a half the congregation of the old Presbyterian Chapel, in
Warner's Lane, have been gathering a fund for the erection of a new place of
worship, in a better situation, with school-rooms attached.
The
new building, situated at the corner of Victoria-street and Park-place [now
Park Street], was opened on Wednesday, the 14th instant. It fronts towards
Victoria-street, and is an adaptation of the style prevailing in the early part
of the 13th century. The walling is of undressed Forest stone, and the
dressings of Hollington stone, the inside of the walls being faced with white
brick.
The
nave is lighted by six lancet windows, with a circular window over the doorway,
filled in with plate tracery. Accommodation for the choir is obtained by an
arched compartment, projected from the south-west corner of the nave, finished
externally with a slated spire, the finial of which reaches 72 feet from the
ground.
The
moulded arch of the principal door contains the tooth ornament, whilst the
jambs have Mansfield red shafts and moulded bases, with carved foliated
capitals. The chapel is fitted up with open deal benches varnished in the
natural colour, affording accommodation for 176 persons. The pulpit and
communion rail and table are constructed of polished pitch pine, the first
named having quatre foil panels on the four sides, while the angles are
enriched with eight-pollard oak shafts, and carved foliated capitals.
The
lighting is effected by ten handsome gas brackets, projected from the walls and
the usual branches to the pulpit. The heating is by means of hot water pipes
under continuous gratings on the aisles. The roof is open timbered, of
interlaced rafters.
Adjoining
to the chapel in the rear is a well-lighted and lofty school-room, with an
independent entrance from Park-place; also a vestry and an upper and lower
classroom. The school buildings are of red brick, relieved by a sparing
introduction of blue bands, and the windows, gable-copings, &c., are of
Hollington dressed stone. While the style of these buildings is preserved in
keeping with the chapel, the architectural features have been subordinated so
as to give a consistent prominence to the latter.
The
stone-walling, bricklayers' and plasterers' work, have been carried out by Mr.
W. Moss, of Loughborough; the carpenters' and joiners' work, by Lamb and
Stevenson, of Nottingham; the masonry, by W. Walpole, of Loughborough, assisted
by Mr. W. P. Smith, for the carved work; the glaziers' work and heating
apparatus, by Mr. Messenger of Loughborough; the painting &c., by Mr.
Greening, of Nottingham; and the gas fittings were furnished by Mr. Rhodes, of
Nottingham. The architect is John S. Norris, Esq., of Nottingham.
The
total cost of land, buildings, and other charges, will be little short of
£1,450; of this, about £1,360, including the value of the old chapel, are
already provided for; and of the remaining £80 or £90 beyond some £40 which
there is good hope of obtaining yet from other friends, about £50 are still
entirely to seek. The congregation will be grateful for any contribution which
their neighbours may be disposed to make towards the completion of this fund.
____________________________________
Basic facts
Name: John Smith Norris
Parents: Thomas Norris and Ann (possibly née
Smith) possibly m.1809, Derbyshire
Date
and place of Birth: baptised
28 November 1819, Basford
Spouse: Ann née Peet
(m.1848)
Children: Henry John (b.1850); Frank (b.1852);
Katherine Anne (b.1853); Charles (b. 1855); Edith Ellen (b.1856); Edward Thomas
(b.1857); Margaret Mary (b.1858); Herbert William, (1859-1865);
Death: 22 March 1892
Places
lived: Eldon Terrace,
Sneinton; Canal Street, Nottingham; Sneinton Road, Nottingham; 3 Blue Coat
Street, Nottingham; 64 Mapperley Road, Nottingham
Place
of work/Offices: Market
Street, Nottingham
____________________________________
I’m taking part in the April A-Z
Blogging Challenge!
____________________________________
Posted by
lynneaboutloughborough
With apologies for
typos which are all mine!
_______________________________________________
Thank you for
reading this blog.
Copyright:
The copyright
© of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to
quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct
citation for this looks as follows:
Dyer, Lynne
(2026). So Who Was John Smith Norris? Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/04/so-who-was-john-smith-norris.html [Accessed 16 April 2026]
Take down
policy:
I post no
pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All
text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or
electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted
something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of
you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address
listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.
External
Links:
By including
links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the
information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date
links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the
responsibility of the reader of the blog.
Blog
archive and tags:
If you are
viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the
blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed
if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'.
Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will
take you to the page you are interested in.
Searching
the blog:
You can
search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the
blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your
usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this
example:
site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor
House”
NOTE – the words you’re actually looking
for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space
Thank you for
reading this blog.
Lynne
