Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Saturday 20 September 1862, page 7


THE LATE MR. NORTON.

MR JAMES NORTON arrived in the colony in 1818,

having before his arrival been admitted a solicitor of the Courts in England. His name first appears in a published list of the attorneys of the colony in the New South Wales Pocket Almanac for 1819, in con-junction with four others. The list is as follows -Thomas Wylde, Esq , W H Moore, Esq , Frederic Garling, Esq , T S Amos, Esq , and James Nor-

ton, Esq

Immediately upon his arrival he commenced the practice fl his profession, and speedily got into a very large business, in which he continued to be actively enguged irom that time to tne end of 1860 For many years, and until the order was made by the Supreme Court for the division of the profes-sion into its two branches of barristers and

ittonieys, Mr Norton practised most successfully as an adyocate, for which his cleir perception of fnct9, and his intimate knowledge of law eminently qualihed

him

To his profession Mr Norton gave the whole of his time ind attention , and though pressed upon mere thin one occasion to come forward as a candidate for

legislatotial honours, he invariably refused At the same time, upon great occasions, and when the interests of the colony appeared to him to demand the sacrifice of some portion of his time he never for a moment hesitated in bestowing it Thus, m the great Anti-'lranspoitation movement, the late gentleman was a leading member of the League then formed and gave his most strenuous exertions to the object tor which that League was formed

He was a member of the first Legislative Council under the new Constitution, having been unpointed to a seat in that House by Mr Cowper, soon after his taking ofhte, on the resignation of the Donaldson Ministry. He was also Registrar of the diocese of Sydney for many years, having been appointed Regis-trar to Archdeacon Scott, and holding the same office urder the successive Bishops of Sydney, from their first institution down to the present time.

He had n rough, blufl munner with him, that some-what repelled those who first made his acquaintance, and his habit of open speaking still further added to this impress« n , but, on intimate acquaintance, his kindness of heart, his goodness of disposition, and Ins affectionate nature made him generally beloved by all who were brou¿ht closely and intimately into contact with lum His chanties, though unostentatious, were

many

He expired nt his residence of Elswick, near Petersham, in the sixty-scventh year of his age, after a long and excruciating suffering, caused by the fearful disease lupus He got an almost imperceptible scratch on his noBe in the garden, but paid no attention to it, until, at list, the disease spread, and finally forced him to Buccumb He lingered in intense agony from May last, until Sunday, the 31st August, when ho expired

The mortal remains of this old and much respected colonist were, on the 2nd instant, conveyed to their final resting place-the family vault in the Church of England cemetery, Strawberry Hills The funeral cortege started from the late rebidence of the deceased, at Camperdown, between three and four o'clock, pro-ceeding along the Porramatta Road to Christ Church, where tne services were performed by the Rev Dean Cowper and Rev Canon Walsh, a selection from the Psalms being chanted by the choir The coffin having been again removed to the hearse the procession moved on to the bunal ground 'The following gentlemen officiated as pallbearers -Sir Alfred Sienhen, the Hon Sir William Manning, M L C , the Hon George Allen, M L C , the Hon Dr Mitchell, M L C , the Hon G K Holden, M L C , and Mr W Barker Ihe body having been lowered into the vault, the funeral service was read by the Rev Percy Smith, and the mournful ceremony, which had been attended by a large concourse of gentlemen who had been associated with the deceased in public and private life, was brought to a close