Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists: A Guide & Handbook

NORMAN, Edmund 1820–1875

NORMAN, Edmund 1820–1875

Born Devonport, England: arrived New Zealand 1842 with Samuel Brees as a New Zealand Company surveying cadet. Is thought to have helped Brees with Wellington and Wairarapa surveys. Returned to England with Brees 1845 but came back in the early 1850s, and lived and painted in Lyttelton until 1859. In November 1855 offered for sale accurate sketches of Lyttelton, Canterbury Plains etc, these being on show in Lyttelton. Three were published as lithographs. About 1866, after unsuccessful gold prospecting, he became a boundary rider on Sawdon Station, and was employed there until June 2nd 1875, when he froze to death on his way home from the Burke's Pass Hotel; his body was found the next morning beside a parcel containing his sketchbooks, a pair of socks, and a bottle of whisky. Represented: Hocken, Turnbull.