The firm of T. Norris & Son was one of the most prestigious makers of hand tools in England in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and famed for the quality and gracefulness of its output, notably of its metal planes. Both wooden and metal planes made in Norris's workshop survive as do other edge tools. Some Norris planes, especially bespoke models, are highly prized by woodworkers and collectors.
Lambeth
Thomas Norris is recorded as a joiners' tool-maker in Lambeth, Surrey by 1861, living at 57 York Street. A works address at 23 York Road, Lambeth, is also given on some tools and on the cover of the c. 1908 price list. Thomas James Norris, the eldest child of Thomas and Eliza Norris is recorded as a tool maker in the 1881 census and again in the 1891 census; by the 1911 census, however, he is recorded as living at 3 Sycamore Grove, New Malden, Surrey, with a "personal occupation" of "iron plane making & repairs for joiners and cabinetmakers also general tool dealers".
It is not known when Thomas J. Norris set up his workshop in the grounds of his house in New Malden. David Russell suggests that this had happened by 1919. Thomas James Norris died 3 July 1936 leaving an estate of £3640 13s 9d. W.J. Yarranton worked as an apprentice at the Norris workshop from October 1939 when he joined as a 14-year-old boy until April 1943 when he volunteered for the RAF. When he left he recalls that he was given a reference signed by the director, a Mrs H. Norris. According to the London Gazette, Helen Sellars Norris, the widow of Thomas was chairman of the company at the time of an Extraordinary General Meeting of T. Norris & Son Limited held on 31 March 1941 at which the resolution was duly passed that "the Company be wound up voluntarily". The Members' Voluntary Winding-up was to be reported at a General Meeting of the Members of the Company on 23 September 1941. The timing of change of ownership has yet to be clarified. It would seem, however, that she had taken charge of the business on her husband's death and that although perhaps no longer the owner of the firm in 1943 when Yarranton left, she was working on as a director after the firm had become Norris Planes Ltd. Helen Sellars Norris died 8 March 1952 at Worthing.
Norris patent adjustment device
The quest for full vertical and lateral control of the plane iron had been raging for many years. Leonard Bailey in Connecticut devised a system in 1867 that was to be adopted by Stanley. Charles Nurse in London invented a plane-iron regulator, a device that the firm of Norris & Son experimented with on its planes before Thomas James Norris created and patented an adjustment mechanism of his own.
First patent
Under patent 11,526 of 13 July 1913 Norris sought protection for his "Adjustment for Plane Irons". The 1914 Norris price list gives an outline explanation, whereas the HMSO report published in 1921 gives a full description of the mechanism. During the First World War Norris continued making tools. Economy designs were supplied to the government, some with Norris's patent adjustment device. On some later low-angle planes with pin-and-hole iron adjustment, the 1913 patent number was used without the 13 suffix.
Second patent
Under no. 199,198 of 22 June 1923 Thomas J. Norris patented modifications to his patent adjustment device.
Maker's marks
In the early days the mark varied considerably and often gave one of the Lambeth addresses. Later the simple "Norris London" was used.
Later years
Norris Planes Ltd and Norris Planes & Tools Ltd
The premises at 3 Sycamore Grove, New Malden, were leased in 1941 for the duration of the War plus three months to Aeronautical and General Instruments Ltd, with registered office Purley Way, Croydon, "for the manufacture of scientific instruments and the purposes of general engineering". Many planes made during this period used parallel steel channel rather than being dovetailed and peened. A certain Ernest George Long, Foreman, Aeronautical & General Instruments Ltd. was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 1951 New Year Honours. Although there is no known direct correlation with Norris planes, the award hints at a continuing excellence in engineering.
Legacy
Several makers have found inspiration in the workmanship and design of Norris planes:
Henley Optical Company, Oxford, made a range of exquisitely manufactured planes in the 1970s and 1980s.
Bill Carter has since 1987 been making planes many in the Norris tradition.
Holtey Planes; first inspiration came from a Norris plane in the 1990s.
Exhibitions
No evidence has yet been found of participation by T. Norris & Son in world's fairs.
