John Bruce Norton (8 July 1815 – 13 July 1883) was a British barrister and educationist who served as the Advocate-General of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

. He was the father of the barrister and

Indian independence activist The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

Eardley Norton Eardley John Norton (19 February 1852 – 13 July 1931) was a Madras barrister, Coroner and politician of British origin. He was also one of the earliest members of the Indian National Congress and a champion of civil liberties and rights of th ...

Early life

John Bruce Norton was born in London in 1815, a son of the British soldier and lawyer John David Norton (1787–1843) who served as a judge of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in 1841–42. John Bruce Norton was educated at Harrow and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

, then in 1841 enrolled at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

to read for the bar. Norton was an avid cricketer and played in the Harrow School Cricket Eleven during the 1832–33 season.Mr. Eardley Norton" (obituary), ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' ondon 16 July 1931: 14. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 2 Apr. 2014

Career

In 1842 Norton moved with his father to India and commenced a legal practice in

. He was appointed

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

of Madras in 1843, serving until 1845, in which year he was appointed as Government Pleader, continuing in that post until 1862. In 1863 he was appointed as

Advocate-General of Madras The Advocate-General of Madras was charged with advising the Government of the British administered Madras Presidency on legal matters. The Presidency existed from 1652 to 1950. Prior to 1858, when it was administered by the East India Company, t ...

, serving until his retirement in 1871. He was also a member of the

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

from 1862 to 1868.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, John Bruce 1815 births 1883 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn Advocates General for Tamil Nadu Members of the Madras Legislative Council