Eardley John Norton (19 February 1852 – 13 July 1931) was a

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, coroner and politician of British origin. He was also one of the earliest members of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and a champion of civil liberties and rights of the Indian people.

Early life

Eardley was born in India in 1852, the eldest son of lawyer

John Bruce Norton 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. He was the father of the barrister and Indian independence activist Eardley Norton. Earl ...

, who had served 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 ...

. He received his education in

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He matriculated on 15 October 1870 at the age of 18 and graduated in arts from

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He read law at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1876. In 1879, he set sail to India to practice in the

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

Practice in Madras

Eardley Norton practised as a lawyer in Madras from 1879 to 1906. Norton was elected to the

Imperial Legislative Council (India) The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of British India from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Government of India Act 1858 by providing for the addition of six additional members to the Governor General Council for l ...

in 1894 but had to resign within a month due to an adultery suit against him. In 1897, a furor was raised over the appointment of a lawyer

V. Bhashyam Aiyangar '' Diwan Bahadur Sir'' Vembakkam Bhashyam Aiyangar Kt. (January 1844 – 18 November 1908) was a lawyer and jurist who served as the first Indian Advocate-General of the Madras Presidency and later, as a Justice of the High Court of Ma ...

as Advocate-General of the Presidency. Norton suggested that it was better to seek the opinion of the Bombay Bar over it and his suggestion was implemented. Norton was a close friend of G. Subramania Iyer, who founded ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

''. He wrote a column in ''The Hindu'' called "Olla Podrida" under the pseudonym Sentinel. This column ran from May 1889 to December 1889. Norton started the Indian Aluminium Company for the manufacture of utensils in 1900.

Indian National Congress

Norton was associated with the Indian National Congress for about seven years from 1887 to early 1895. He participated in the 1887 session at Madras in the course of which he made a much acclaimed speech defending his support for Indian nationalists and association with the Congress.

Besant Besant may refer to: * Besant (surname) * Besant, Saskatchewan * Besant Nagar, area of Chennai See also * Bezant In the Middle Ages, the term bezant (, from Latin ) was used in Western Europe to describe several gold coins of the east, all de ...

, p. 40 He gave a magnificent garden party for the visiting dignitaries, as did the Governor

Lord Connemara Robert Bourke, 1st Baron Connemara, (; ; ; ; 11 June 1827 – 3 September 1902) was a British Conservative politician and colonial administrator who served as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1874–80, 1885–86) and Governor of ...

at Government House and the

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, the , which is common ...

of Madras, S. Ramaswami Mudaliar.

, p. 51 Norton attended the Allahabad Congress of 1888 and moved a resolution for simultaneous Civil Service examinations in England and India. He campaigned in England along with Dadabhai Naoroji and W. C. Bonnerjee for greater political rights for Indians and there they enlisted the support of

Charles Bradlaugh Charles Bradlaugh (; 26 September 1833 – 30 January 1891) was an English political activist and atheist. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866, 15 years after George Holyoake had coined the term "secularism" in 1851. In 1880, Br ...

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

Member of British Parliament for

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

. The three said Congressmen, along with William Digby created a UK chapter of the Indian National Congress.

Indian National Evolution Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

, Pg 127

, p. 137 The UK-wing, known as the

British Committee of the Indian National Congress The British Committee of the Indian National congress was an organization established in Britain by the Indian National Congress in 1889. Its purpose was to raise awareness of Indian issues to the public in Britain, to whom the Government of Indi ...

, was established in July 1889 under the leadership of Bradlaugh, who was accorded the title "Member for India".

, p. 128 Norton was also part of the Congress' first deputation to England in 1889.

, p. 136 He attended the Bombay Congress of 1889 which came to be popularly called 'Bradlaugh Congress' because Bradlaugh attended it. In that Congress, he introduced the Madras scheme for reform of the Indian Legislative Councils and that scheme, due mainly to the efforts put by Bradlaugh and the Indian Congressmen, metamorphosed into the

Indian Councils Act 1892 The Indian Councils Act 1892 ( 55 & 56 Vict. c. 14) was an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced various amendments to the composition and function of legislative councils in British India. Most notably, the act expanded the ...

. He participated in the tenth session of the Indian National Congress held in Madras in 1894.

, p. 187 The scandal of his affair with a married woman, whom he married after her divorce from her husband, wrecked his political career. After resignation from the Congress in 1895, he only attended one further Congress, the Madras Congress held in 1903.

Death

Eardley died on 13 July 1931, aged 79, at Bexley, Kent.

Legacy

Norton lived in Dunmore House in Alwarpet, Madras. He moved to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

in 1906. When he was called a 'veiled seditionist' for his association with the Indian National Congress, he responded to the charge in a hard-hitting speech in the Madras Congress of 1887:

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Eardley 1852 births 1931 deaths British people in colonial India People from the Madras Presidency Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India People educated at Rugby School