Author: Norval, James
Biography:
by
Ragaz, Sharon (SR)
NORVAL, James (1765-1847: Lawrance)
His play is dedicated to Lord Gardenstone, and the introduction is dated from Lochaber, 1787. A footnote says the play was written when he was nineteen. Lawrance identifies the author as a schoolmaster in Montrose and the author of a work on astronomy (not found). He was possibly born at Aberdeen to William Norval and his wife, Helen (Baron) and baptised at St. Nicholas on 14 June 1765. No records have been located for his education but he evidently earned the MA, possibly at Aberdeen. He married Janet Watson on 3 June 1798 at Montrose. In his recorded in the directories for Montrose as a teacher of English and Geography. Norval died in 1847 and was buried in the churchyard at Montrose. (ancestry.co.uk 2 Sept. 2025; Robert Murdoch Lawrance, James Norval, M.A., Schoolmaster, Playwright, and Author [1926]) SR