Cecil Herbert Norton

Born: 1 December 1881

Died: 29 April 1915

Rank and Regiment: Lance-Corporal 25983 in the 14th Battalion of the Royal Montreal Regiment, Canadian Infantry at Valcartier

Resting Place: body unrecovered

Memorials: All Saints, Brandon Parva, United Kingdom; War Memorial at King’s School, Worcester and; Ypres Menin Gate Memorial, Belgium.

Cecil was born in Worcester on the 1st December 1881 to Reverend Philip Norton, Rector of Brandon Parva, and his wife Louisa Jane (nee Edmunds).

In 1892, he entered King’s School in Worcester as a day boy and won a scholarship in 1896. After leaving school, he qualified as a civil engineer. In 1901 Cecil was 19 and worked a civil engineer and living at the family home at 8 Rainbow Hill Terrace in Worcester. The Terrace is a row of handsome Grade II listed, stuccoed townhouses dating from the 1830s, situated close to Worcester City Centre. Cecil lived with his parents (Philip was still working as a clergyman) and his siblings: Louisa (aged 27), Florence (aged 26 working as a singing teacher), Arthur (aged 24 employed as a school teacher) and Ethel (aged 16). The family also employed one servant, Margaret Oliver (aged 21).

On 15 March 1911, Cecil Norton disembarked from SS Lake Manitoba in Saint John, New Brunswick Canada to start a new life. Meanwhile, his parents and Florence had moved to the Brandon Parva Rectory and lived with one servant, Alice Morton (aged 20).

As war broke out, Cecil hastened to volunteer. He enlisted as a Private in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force on 21st September 1914 in Valcartier, Canada. It is recorded that he was 5ft 10ins tall with blue eyes, fair hair and a dark complexion. He was then promoted to Lance Corporal on 15th March 1915. Tragically, he was reported missing on 29th April 1915 after the battle of Neuve Chapelle. On 12th April 1916 he is recorded as ‘Previously reported missing; now for official purposes presumed to have died on or since April 29th 1915.’

He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial. There is a memorial cross to him in the churchyard of Brandon Parva Church, and he is also commemorated on the War Memorial of King’s School, Worcester.