Sir Norton Knatchbull
(1808-1888)
3 July 1861
Volume 4, page 162, sitting number 4719.
[This sitting took place on the same day that the Prince Consort and the Princess Royal visited Silvy's studio.]
Born on 10 July 1808 at Provender in Kent, Norton Joseph Knatchbull was the eldest son of the the Right Honourable Sir Edward Knatchbull, 9th Baronet.
He was educated at Winchester and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford. He inherited his father's title on 24 May 1849, becoming the 10th Baronet Knatchbull of Mersham Hatch, County Kent.
On 31 May 1831 at St George's in Hanover Square he married Mary Watts-Russell, daughter of Jesse Watts-Russell of Ilam Hall in Staffordshire and Biggin House in Northamptonshire. Their marriage produced seven children.
Sir Norton appears on the 1861 census living with his family at Merhsam Hatch in Kent. He gave as his profession 'Landed proprietor, Baronet, Magistrate, Deputy Lieutenant.' Also present on the night of the census were a governess and fourteen servants, including a butler, a footman, a coachman, a groom and a page.
Sir Norton Joseph Knatchbull 'late of Mersham Hatch in the Parish of Mersham in the County of Kent' died, aged 59, on 2 February 1868 at his London residence, 3 Chesham Place, Belgravia. He left an estate valued at £1000.
A lengthy obituary and a detailed description of his funeral appeared in the Kentish Gazette (11 February 1868). 'As a kind friend, a liberal landlord, an unostententatious benefactor of the poor, and a generous supporter of all useful institutions, the deceased baronet was known all over the county. [...] In particular, he was a warm patron of the Ashford Volunteers [...] and among all the rank and fashion which graced the gatherings at the Canterbury Cricket Week, there was no face more kindly welcomed than that of this fine old English gentleman.'
The obituary also mentions his work as a magistrate, quoting 'the Ashford local journal,' though its praise is in places a little equivocal. According to this otherwise unnamed newspaper, the deceased was 'for many years a member of the Ashford Bench of Magistrates [...] His infirmity of deafness was, of course, a great disadvantage to him as a Magistrate; but so great was his care in examining the evidence, that probably no one was ever damaged through Sir Norton not understanding the whole bearings of a case. [...] In all cases he exercised a sound judgment and endeavoured to do his duty faithfully and fearlessly; and rarely was an imputation of bias or prejudice raised against him.' Elsewhere, the obituary praises his 'attainments as a scholar' and as a public speaker: 'occasionally he exhibited some of the greatest powers of an orator. [...] Few men had greater power of grasping their subject, or a more forceful way of placing it before their hearers. [...] He took a great interest in politics, and contested the eastern division of the county on the Conservative side, unfortunately without success. [...] After the last election the late baronet retired from political life, but he always to the last was ready to render any service in his power to the good of the cause.'