Sir Arthur Lionel Pugh Norrington (27 October 1899 – 21 May 1982) was a British publisher,

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Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, Vice-Chancellor of

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, and creator, in 1963, of a scoring system for ''The Times''' table of Oxford colleges' examination results which since then has been known as the

Norrington Table The Norrington Table was an annual ranking of the colleges of the University of Oxford based on a score computed from the proportions of undergraduate students earning each of the various degree classifications based on that year's final examinat ...

Early life

Norrington was born at Normandy Villa, Godstone Road,

Kenley Kenley is a suburb within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located south of Charing Cross and within the southern boundary of London, England. Surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt on three sides, it includes the large open spaces of K ...

, Surrey, England, the only son and eldest child of Arthur James Norrington, a merchant in the

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, and his wife, Gertrude Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of William Pugh, a merchant from

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. He was a scholar at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

from 1913, where he earned the nickname Thomas because of his

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of received lore. In 1918, he enlisted with the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

and though he did not see active service, he lost a little finger in an accident. In 1919, he

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d as a scholar to Trinity College, Oxford, achieving a first class in classical

Honour Moderations Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores''). Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ...

in 1920, followed by a second in '' Literae Humaniores'' in 1923.

Career

Moving to London, he worked for the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, who posted him to their branch in

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. Returning to

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in 1925, he took the post of junior assistant secretary to the Delegates of the Press. Norrington became assistant secretary to the Delegates of Oxford University Press in 1942; in 1948, he took the post of senior administrative officer of the Press and was elected a professorial fellow of Trinity College. Norrington focussed on expanding the range of the Press's educational books, particularly the successful 'Great Wartime Series' ''Oxford Pamphlets''. He was instrumental in expanding the Press' recognition outside

. Norrington was a keen musician and contributed a great deal to the Press'

music publishing A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectua ...

as well as being a member of the

Oxford Bach Choir The Oxford Bach Choir is an amateur choir based in Oxford, England. Founded by Basil Harwood in 1896 to further the music of J. S. Bach in Oxford, the Choir merged in 1905 with the Oxford Choral & Philharmonic Society, whose origins can be tr ...

, he became chairman of its committee in 1949. In 1952, he was invited to become the next president of Trinity College, which he accepted and took up in 1954. He took the affairs of the University seriously, both on the council and on the general board. He also held a post on the revising committee for the ''

New English Bible The New English Bible (NEB) is an English translation of the Bible. The New Testament was published in 1961 and the Old Testament (with the Apocrypha) was published on 16 March 1970. In 1989, it was significantly revised and republished as the ...

'', and in 1960 became the first chairman of the government committee for the publication of cheap books abroad. His name in Oxford is remembered for having devised the Norrington Table, a system of assessing the results of the

Oxford colleges The University of Oxford has 36 colleges within universities in the United Kingdom#Traditional collegiate universities, colleges, three societies, and four permanent private halls (PPHs) of religious foundation. The colleges and PPHs are autonom ...

in final examinations, the table continues to be compiled and the results published in the national press. In 1960, Norrington became

Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University The vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford is the chief executive and leader of the University of Oxford. The following people have been vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford (formally known as The Right Worshipful the Vice-Chancel ...

and proceeded to spend time looking at the status of dons who were not fellows of colleges, and to the future planning of the Science Area. In 1968, he received a knighthood. Norrington room

As well as publishing, with professors H. F. Lowry and F. L. Mulhauser, an edition of the poems of

Arthur Hugh Clough Arthur Hugh Clough ( ; 1 January 181913 November 1861) was an English poet, an educationalist, and the devoted assistant to Florence Nightingale. He was the brother of suffragist Anne Clough and father of Blanche Athena Clough, who both becam ...

in 1951, he wrote ''Blackwell's, 1879–1979: the history of a family firm'', published posthumously in 1983. Retiring from Trinity in 1970, he became Warden of

until 1974.

Awards and legacy

He was made an

honorary fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

of Trinity,

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, and Wolfson College. He became an officer of the

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in 1962.

Blackwell's Blackwell UK, also known as Blackwell's and Blackwell Group, is a British academic book retailer and library supply service owned by Waterstones. It was founded in 1879 by Benjamin Henry Blackwell, after whom the chain is named, on Broad Stree ...

bookshop in

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created a large room in 1966 under Trinity College land and named it the "Norrington Room" after him.

Inspiration for other ranking tables

As well as the

, other tables ranking different

have drawn upon Norrington's name, such as the "Vegetarian Norrington Table". First published in 2016, this table ranked the best and worst colleges in Oxford for their vegetarian and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

food, using data provided by students of the University. The use of Norrington's name in this table was not without controversy, however, and drew criticism from a number of college bursars.

Personal life

Norrington married Edith Joyce Carver on 15 September 1928. Their son is the conductor Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. Edith died at an early age in 1964 and on 9 December 1969 Norrington married a widow, Ruth Margaret Waterlow (née Cude). Norrington died in the

John Radcliffe Hospital John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR or the John Radcliffe) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe (physician) ...

, Oxford, on 21 May 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norrington, Arthur 1899 births 1982 deaths People from Kenley People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford English classical scholars English publishers (people) Fellows of Trinity College, Oxford Knights Bachelor Officers of the Legion of Honour Oxford University Press people Presidents of Trinity College, Oxford Vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford 20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from the London Borough of Croydon British Army personnel of World War I Royal Field Artillery soldiers