The paternal line

The Normans of the West Country

Nine generations of Normans, from the Devon–Somerset border to Detroit and Plymouth, Michigan.

The Norman surname line runs father to son from Edward Norman ?–1745, the earliest Norman in the family tree, down to Donald Eugene Norman. For about 150 years the family stayed close to the Devon–Somerset border. Then in the 1800s they moved to the towns: Bridgwater, then Birmingham. In 1911 James Norman crossed from Canada into Detroit.

Painted illustration of a West Country landscape: stone cottages and a church tower along a lane, hills, and a river town with a cathedral in the distance — The Devon–Somerset border country. AI-generated historical illustration; an artistic impression of the region, not a picture of any real Norman home or particular village.

The line, generation by generation

From Donald back to the earliest Norman in the tree. Each name links to a page with dates, places and sources.

The starting point of this family historyDonald Eugene Norman 1947–2026born Plymouth, Wayne, Michigan, USA; died Tavares, Lake, Florida, USA
Donald's fatherRobert Charles Norman 1923–2016born Livonia, Mich.; died Kalkaska, Mich.
Donald's grandfatherJames Norman 1891–1974born Birmingham, Warwickshire, England; died Plymouth, Wayne, Michigan, USA
Donald's great-grandfatherJohn Benjamin Norman 1858–1891born Bridgewater, Taunton, Somerset, England; died Aston, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Donald's 2nd great-grandfatherGeorge Norman 1815–?born Holcombe Rogus, Devon, England
Donald's 3rd great-grandfatherSamuel Norman 1789–1872born Stawley, Somerset, England; died Holcombe Rogus, Devon, England
Donald's 4th great-grandfatherChristopher Norman 1750–1798born Bampton, Devon; died Stawley, Somerset
Donald's 5th great-grandfatherChristopher Norman 1709–1776
Donald's 6th great-grandfatherEdward Norman ?–1745

The journey

Places as recorded in the family tree.

Morebath, DevonEdward Norman married Mary Blackmoor here, 20 June 1700; their son Christopher was baptised here, 24 March 1708/9
Bampton, DevonChristopher Norman the younger born 1750
Stawley, SomersetSamuel Norman born 1789; his father Christopher died here in 1798
Holcombe Rogus, DevonGeorge Norman born 1815; Samuel died here in 1872
Bridgwater, SomersetJohn Benjamin Norman born 1858; the family was living here in 1861
Birmingham, WarwickshireJames Norman born 1891; John Benjamin died at Aston the same year
Windsor → DetroitJames crossed into Detroit on 2 February 1911
Plymouth, MichiganThe family's home by 1930; Donald born here in 1947

James Norman: from Birmingham to Michigan

James Norman 1891–1974 was born in Birmingham on 12 January 1891 and baptised in Warwickshire the next month. His father, John Benjamin Norman 1858–1891, died at Aston, Birmingham, in July 1891, when James was about six months old. His mother was Betsey Thompson 1864–1931 of Wolverhampton.

record James left England at about 17. He sailed on the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Britain and landed at Quebec on 8 May 1908. That's written on the card made when he crossed from Canada into Detroit on 2 February 1911. He had paid his own passage. The card calls him a 20-year-old farm labourer on his way to a friend, Jim Homer, in Redford, Michigan, with $10 in his pocket, and describes him as 5 feet 5½ inches tall, with a ruddy complexion, dark brown hair and grey eyes. It gives his mother as "Betsy Picken" of Handsworth, Birmingham. The tree has her as Betsey Thompson, so she had probably remarried by 1911. That still needs to be checked. (Source: U.S. border-crossing card, Detroit, 1911, on FamilySearch.)

Painted illustration of a two-funnelled ocean liner arriving at Quebec, with passengers on a wooden wharf and the city on the cliffs behind — RMS Empress of Britain, the Canadian Pacific liner aboard which James Norman arrived at Quebec on May 8, 1908. AI-generated historical illustration based on period photographs. The setting and arrival scene are artistic interpretations.

James's naturalisation papers add more. By 1920 he was living in Detroit with his wife Frederica Marie Schrader 1887–1976, who was born in Port Sanilac, Michigan to a German family (see German roots). By 1930 they were in Plymouth, Michigan, where James died in 1974.

Granite headstone reading NORMAN, James 1891–1974, Frederica Marie 1887–1976, Together Forever — James and Frederica's headstone in Plymouth, Michigan. Photo by Robert R. Norman.

Becoming an American

record Three naturalisation papers survive for James.

Declaration of Intention (No. 20672, Wayne County Circuit Court, 15 February 1915). James was 24 and a machinist, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 130 pounds, with a fair complexion, brown hair and blue eyes. He was born in Birmingham, England, on 12 January 1891. His last home abroad was Brockville, Canada, and he came "on the vessel" CPR, the Canadian Pacific Railway. He gave his arrival at Detroit as about 20 December 1910, and was living at 94 Rosedale Court, Detroit.
Petition for Naturalization (Vol. 11, No. 1794, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Detroit, 6 May 1918). This time he gave his crossing as 2 February 1911, from Windsor, Canada into Detroit, by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. He was still a machinist, living at 253 Vancouver Avenue, Detroit. His wife Frederica was born at Port Sanilac on 29 September 1887, which matches the family tree. They had one child, Louis, born 7 June 1915 in Detroit. The tree only has "about 1916" for Louis James Norman, so this record gives his exact birth date. His witnesses were F. W. Lahser, a Detroit police officer, and John Gill, a painter and decorator, who had both known him since April 1912.
Citizenship (certificate No. 879994). The court granted his citizenship on 27 September 1918. By then James was 27, Frederica was 30, and there were two children in Detroit: Louis, 3 years 3 months, and Ruth Matilda Norman 1918–2007, 3 months.

James and Frederica had four children: Louis James Norman 1915–2006, Ruth Matilda Norman 1918–2007, William John Norman 1921–2004 and Robert Charles Norman 1923–2016, Donald's father.

Both papers renounce allegiance to "George V, King of Great Britain & Ireland". The two arrival dates don't agree, which is common in these papers. He may have come over in December 1910 and made his official crossing in February 1911. His years in Canada, 1908–1910, ended in Brockville, Ontario.

Source: Naturalization Petition and Record, and Naturalization Certificate Stubs, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, Detroit (National Archives, Great Lakes Region). These include his 1915 Wayne County declaration and a 1918 certificate of arrival from the Montreal immigration office. Free images are on FamilySearch, in Michigan, Naturalization Records, 1837–1997: petition and certificate stub (free login needed). The images aren't copied here because FamilySearch's terms don't allow reposting them.

The Devon and Somerset years

Christopher Norman 1709–1776 was baptised at Morebath, Devon, on 24 March 1708/9 (1709 in today's calendar), the son of Edward Norman and Mary Blackmore 1672–1744, who had married at Morebath on 20 June 1700. The parish register confirms both events. His son Christopher Norman 1750–1798 was baptised at Bampton, about two miles from Morebath, on 13 April 1750. The family then moved over the county line to Stawley in Somerset, where Samuel Norman 1789–1872 was born in 1789, and then back to Holcombe Rogus in Devon. Samuel married Mary Kind 1786–1866 and died at Holcombe Rogus on 15 February 1872. Their son George Norman 1815–?, born at Holcombe Rogus in 1815, married Harriet Oaten (see the Holman Clavel story) and was living in Bridgwater, Somerset by 1861. There his son John Benjamin Norman 1858–1891 was born in 1858. John Benjamin married Betsey Thompson and moved to Birmingham, where he died in 1891.

Morebath, Bampton, Stawley and Holcombe Rogus all lie in the same corner of the Devon–Somerset border. That's why the Tudor Normans of Morebath are so tempting. See Morebath: probable early ancestors.

What DNA says

DNA Four separate AncestryDNA matches descend from Samuel Norman 1789–1872 and his wife Mary Kind 1786–1866. A fifth match descends from Christopher Norman (1750–1798), as a half cousin through a different wife. This is strong support for the tree at these points, but not proof on its own, because the shared ancestors come from the matches' own trees. No DNA match reaches back as far as Edward Norman or the Morebath Normans yet. (Matches are living people and aren't named here.)

Caution: Edward Norman and Mary Blackmore each appear twice in the tree file, Christopher Norman (1708–1776)'s wife Sarah appears twice, and Samuel Norman (1789–1872) has two different mothers recorded (Susanna Cross and Susannah Williams) and two wives (Mary Kind and Mary Prout). Only one of each can be right; the DNA matches support Mary Kind. George Norman's marriage to Harriet Oaten and John Benjamin's to Betsey Thompson are also entered twice. The Morebath marriage and baptism are now confirmed in the parish register. The other places above come from the tree.

About the surname

According to H. B. Guppy's Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890), the Norman surname had more than one home in England. The two main ones were Cambridgeshire in the east and Somerset in the west. Our Normans belong to the western group.

unverified A "Lucas Normannus" is reported in Devon in the Hundred Rolls of 1273. This hasn't been checked against the published rolls.

family tradition "We're descended from the Normans who came over with William the Conqueror." It's a fun story, but it can't be proven. The surname generally means a "Northman" or a man from Normandy, and many unrelated families carry it.

What's next for the Norman line

Done: Edward Norman's marriage (Morebath, 1700) and Christopher Norman's baptism (Morebath, 1709) are confirmed in the parish register. Next: find Edward's own baptism, about 1670–78, which would name his father. See Morebath.
Check the Bampton churchwardens' accounts, 1712–1810 (name list on GENUKI). A John Norman is reported as a Bampton churchwarden in 1716. That's not verified, but it's a strong lead.
Confirm George Norman's baptism (Holcombe Rogus, about 1815) and his move to Bridgwater.
Done: James Norman's naturalisation papers (1915 and 1918). Done: his ship (Empress of Britain, Quebec, 8 May 1908). Next: his Canadian years, 1908–1910, and his mother's second marriage ("Betsy Picken").