History of Norton Motorcycles

James Lansdowne Norton, was a remarkable man.  He was born in Birmingham in 1869 and raised in a strictly religious middle class family.  He was apprenticed to a toolmaker when he left school and was soon involved in making bicycle chains.  Work was interrupted when he suffered a severe bout of rheumatic fever when he was 19.  The attack was so bad that the doctor advised that a sea trip would be the best form of convalescence, and in 1888, he went to New York and back on one of the new Trans Atlantic liners.

The trip helped but he suffered ill health all his life which prematurely aged him and led him to be nicknamed “Pa” whilst still a TT competitor.  His next milestone came in 1898, when he set up the Norton Manufacturing Company in Bromsgrove Street, Birmingham.

One of his friends was Charles Riley Garrard, a wealthy entrepreneur, who decided that the new craze was a potential money-spinner.  At that time, the French were pioneers, and in 1902, Garrard concluded a deal to import Clement engines which he would build into bicycles and market as the Clement-Garrard.

Norton was soon building frames for Garrard and in November 1902 advertised the first Norton, called the Energette.  It was claimed to be the “ideal doctors bike” and suitable for business, touring and racing.

In addition to building frames for Garrard, and his own Energette, Norton had been expanding the components side of the business.  It was obvious that Norton had decided to diversify.  The name Energette was dropped in November 1903 and this was the first hint that a larger machine was on its way.

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