By David Waddleton
Norman passed away on
Thursday morning, 7th February, aged 91. He was the beloved husband of the
late Susan Jane, of bizzie lizzie and Ballinger Players fame, father to Helen,
Susan and David, a grandfather and a great grandfather. He lived an energetic
life of achievement, travels, and benevolent gifts to community organisations
and hospitals, and his most enduring gift was of a collection of modern art
and of nearly 28,000 books to Emmanuel College Cambridge.He was born into a family who found difficulty in putting food on the table during the great depression. He attended Darlington Grammar School and won a state scholarship to Emmanuel College in 1934. He left in 1937 for Hamburg, applied for his army commission, translated for the Polish Army in Royal Signals and was awarded the Polish Cross of Valour (KW), their highest award.
There followed a career in Marks & Clerk, a London patent agency, where he focused on every aspect of his work, driving through reforms with long lasting effect. His collecting hobby grew also, in particular modern art and the Waddleton collection of illustrated books. He was elected an honorary fellow of Emmanuel for his services to patents in 1984. He was enrolled as a member of the Guild of Benefactors of Cambridge in 2003.
In his later years he greatly enjoyed the teas held in Lee Common whilst he still had some mobility.