Norman was educated at Eton College,[2] where he was a notable cricketer, and where, at the age of 17, he won the 120 yards hurdle race in the then record time of 18 seconds.[3][4] He was later to play one season of first-class cricket in 1865 with the Gentlemen of Kent.[5]
Art
Norman was trained as a draughtsman and painter in watercolours at the Slade School, often exhibiting at the Royal Academy. A large part of his work consisted of depicting parts of London that he knew, particularly buildings or areas which stood as a survivor of a bygone past or which were about to be demolished.[4] Norman also recorded the history of the buildings which he painted or photographed, and works such as London Vanished and Vanishing, written in 1905, provide a fascinating record of bygone London.[3] The historian Hermione Hobhouse has described Norman as one-third of the "triumvirate" of key figures whose works record the topography of London between 1890 and 1950, the others being Walter Hindes Godfrey and Percy Wells Lovell.[citation needed]