Norman, Barak

Barak Norman 1651-1724

London, St Paul's Churchyard, at the Sign of the Bass Viol. 

From 1690 to 1724 Barak Norman was probably the most important instrument maker within the large community of makers and music sellers on the North-West corner of St Paul's Churchyard. 

From a revised biography

He was born in 1651 and apprenticed from 7 September 1668 to 15 November 1675 to William Harding a member of the Weaver's Company. Harding became upper bailiff of the company in 1694 suggesting that he was more engaged in the mercantile end of the weaver's trade, perhaps explaining how Norman was able to move into becoming a successful retailer of musical instrument. Norman's age of 17 when he entered his apprenticeship rather than the usual age of fourteen is also indicative of an individual who had received a grammar school education, and this was the same age that a university scholar would normally matriculate. 

Almost nothing is known about Barak Norman after his apprenticeship, but on 24 February 1684 he married Mary Turner at All Hallows London Wall close by to Gravel Lane in Aldgate where the viol maker William Turner was active in the 1650s suggesting a possible family link. Another association with the broader instrument making world comes from the marriage of Edward Lewis in the previous year, which also took place at All Hallows church. Perhaps for specific religious reasons Norman would continue to be attached to All Hallows despite he and Lewis working in the parish of St Gregory by St Paul. Norman was married a total of four times, each time back at All Hallows. 

Whilst Edward Lewis was active at the sign of the Harp in St Pauls' Alley from 1684, apparently inheriting the business of John Pitts, Norman remains unknown for several further years. In 1688 instruments made by him appear in the probate inventory of Meeres Clarke, another of the instrument sellers in St Paul's Alley, and from 1689 a viol survives with the label "Barack Norman Londini fecit 1689", being typical of the kind of labels that a 'small master' working for the wholesale trade would write, giving details of authorship but lacking details about where they could be found. 

In 1690 Barak Norman established his shop at the Bass Viol described alternately as in St Paul's Churchyard or as in St Paul's Alley. With no precise maps surviving from the period, the assumption is that his shop was on the corner. This certainly makes sense when considering that his shop appears to have been the single most successful in terms of the numbers of instruments that survive: Roughly 20% of all surviving English viols made before 1725 are by him. The move to his shop at the sign of the bass viol probably coincides with the completion of the buildings around the North Piazza of St Paul's Churchyard after the Fire of London coinciding with the commencement of building works on the new cathedral by Christopher Wren, and it is from 1690 that a general expansion of music shops in the St Paul's Churchyard area is witnessed. 

Barak Norman's viols are relatively easy to distinguish, although he built to several patterns. The finest have a bearded head on the pegbox and inlaid geometric motifs on the sides, but the more common variety has a pierced scroll and plainer decoration. His earliest works show a certain amount of reference to Richard Meares, but his application of Maggini-style trefoils on the back, and a more compact style of tulip on the front set his instruments aside from the fashions of the preceding years. Of special note is his use of marquetry for fingerboards and tailpieces, taking styles that were established in English furniture and clock making. Although there is some evidence that he sold marquetry fittings on to other makers of the period including to Richard Meares (II) but these are also found on earlier instruments, suggesting that he may have modernised celebrated older viols as a part of his business. 

Norman was also making violins in 1688, although it is very rare to find anything before 1700. Instruments bearing his label tend to have Italianate traits following the same influences exemplified in Daniel Parker's work, but it appears that these give rise to a broader workshop working under Norman's leadership with considerable different approaches to violin making, for example we have seen near identical violins made with and without the ribs let into the back. Some scrolls can appear quite flattish on the sides - this and certain other details draw comparisons to the decorative carving styles found in St Paul's Cathedral which was being built at the time, suggesting interaction between the craftsmen availabe in the neighbourhood and Norman's shop - certainly this was consistent with his fingerboards in which marquetry by the same hand can be found on clocks, and carved heads which were demonstrably made in batches to be used over a long period of time. The similarities between Lewis, Parker and Norman's violins can lead to complications and legitimately labelled examples by Barak Norman have proven to be made by Parker. 

In the case of violoncellos we can be a little bit clearer. In 1714 Nathaniel Cross appears to have completed an informal apprenticeship, and was chiefly a cello maker. The majority of cellos by Norman come from this ten-year period, and Cross's own work follows on directly into the 1730s. This pattern, normally of a small size with large Amati-like c-bouts always (in our opinion) shows the joint workmanship of Norman and Cross, even when it is branded, labelled and monogrammed as Nathaniel Cross's work. 

Barak Norman was dead or at least retired from business in 1724 when his wife Elizabeth was one of the retailers subscribing to A Pocket Book for Gentlemen and Ladies. In 1724-25 labels of Barak Norman and Nathaniel Cross at the Bass Viol in St Paul's Church-Yard are known, but the labels are surmounted by St Crispin's cross, which Cross used as his mark, suggesting that these instruments are labelled posthumously for Norman at a time that Cross was trying to take over the business. However, better business prospects in Piccadilly meant that he left the business by 1725 and it remains in Elizabeth's hands until 1730. An advert of 29 March reads: 

This evening the sale of Musical Instruments will be continu'd at the Church Coffee House in St Paul's Churchyard beginning at five o'clock and every evening until all are sold, among which are A very curious Harpsichord several instruments of Wind, Musick, and a Collection of Musick books songs and sonnets Operas &c not expressed in the Catalogue which may be viewed at the place of sale, where Catalogues may be had, also at Will's Coffee House near Temple-Bar Rudd's Coffee House in the Haymarket, the British Coffee House in Finch Lane and at the Widow Norman's in St Paul's Churchyard. 

The shop passed briefly into the hands of Daniel Wright, a music publisher from elsewhere in St Paul's Churchyard, before being taken over by Robert Thompson, presumably a pupil of Norman's. It remained a violin shop through Charles & Samuel Thompson, then Whittaker & Button, until being demolished in the Regency period to make way for a new North Piazza to St Paul's. 

Barak Norman's parents were Barak (0) and Anne of "[?]Pullors[?]", London whose still-born daughter Anna was buried at St Margarets Uxbridge, Middlesex on 12 April 1658 away from the family home. In all likelihood Barak was a twin brother to Anna, since her death date ties with later documents showing that Barak was 45 in 1703. Whatever the circumstances, his father the elder Barak Norman died on 11 September 1663 and was buried at St Sepulchre in London, followed by his wife on 27 May 1666, some weeks before the Fire of London. Both parents died in years of the plague, leaving Barak and whatever remaining siblings as orphans.

In principle, the fate of orphans reliant on the Parish overseer for the poor, with large sums of money made available to the Corporation of London from its own funds and from the King for poor relief following the Fire of London. Whilst this essentially enabled orphans to be cared for, much also rested on the residual funds and influence of the deceased family, and it is difficult to navigate Barak Norman's circumstances with any great deal of certainty. Like poor orphans, he entered into apprenticeship at the earliest legal age of ten years old (seven for girls), whereas other children would have stayed with their parents until the age of fourteen before becoming indentured servants. However, without any parents there may have been no purpose in extending time before finding a master, and since the master oversaw the education and wellbeing of an apprentice, it would be just as applicable to a orphan with means, it may even have formalised a pre-existing guardianship - we cannot tell. Neither can we particularly tell if Norman had a privileged apprenticeship or not. Apprentices existed in many ranks, and whilst a well appointed apprentice would have been taught his master's trade, a wealthy merchant was just as likely to keep indentured apprentices from the poor to work as labourers and ultimately as journeymen without obtaining their freedom from the company. Nevertheless, it seems that his was a privileged apprenticeship






The fate of orphans was reliant on whatever residual funds and family influence they could depend on, although large sums of money had been made available to the Corporation of London for poor relief following the Fire, and orphans came under the care of the parish overseers. Whilst many children would enter apprenticeship at the age of fourteen, the earliest age was ten for boys (and seven for girls). This was common for the children of the poor, but without parents it is equally possible that an orphan of relatively good station would also enter apprenticeship at this point whereupon his master would be responsible for his education in all matters (since he was already out of the care of his natural parents). William Harding to whom he was apprenticed was a member of the Weaver's Company and evidently a London merchant of some standing as he rose to become Upper Bailiff of the company in 1693 (Alfred Plummer, The London Weaver's Company 1660-1970, 452), and according to his will, dying a wealthy man in 1719 in St Leonard's Shoreditch. (PROB 11/569). Under the terms of the poor law, an apprentice expected to receive lodgings from their master until the maximum age of twenty-four, and it is at this point that Norman's life normalises to some extent, as around the age of 26 he married Mary Turner at All Hallows London Wall. Two things are possible. First, that Mary may have been a relative of William Turner, a viol maker working in Gravel Lane Aldgate, not far from the church where they were married. The second is that if Harding was dwelling in Shoreditch from as early








 discernible. (One would hope for the former, the latter being the more likely). At the age of twenty-six he was free of his apprenticeship, and had married Mary Turner at All Hallows London Wall. His relationship to Mary Turner may be some clue to his initial training as a musical instrument maker if she can be shown to be a daughter of William Turner the viol maker working close by to the church at Gravel Lane in Aldgate during the 1650s. Within a few years in 1688 both viols and violins made by Barak Norman are listed in the shop stock of Meares Clarke in St Paul's Churchyard, and the earliest viol by Barak Norman with an authentic label is from 1689 "Barack Norman / Londini Fecitt 1689". 1690 sees him at the Sign of the Bass Viol in St Paul's Churchyard, whilst the marriage allegation for John Brice of Littleworth and Mary Yatman in Oxfordshire, was sworn on 24 June 1690 by Barak Norman of St Gregory's by St Paul's, Weaver, confirmation if it were necessary, that he was working and living there.








Pugh's Timeline: 
1651 Traditional purported birth date
1657/58 Estimated year of birth from age BN gives in 24.8.1703 as 45 years old.
1658: 12/4 Buried St Margaret's Uxbridge, Anna Norman daughter [i.e. still born] of Barak Norman of ?Pullors? London and Ann his wife.
1663: 11/9 Buried at St Sepulchre, London Barrick Norman.
1666: 27/5 Buried at St Sepulchre, Anne Norman.
1665-1672 or 1671/2-1678/9 possible years of apprenticeship to Weaver's Company. [BH to compare against Weaver's Company archive for clarity] Pugh suggests that if BN's parents died when he was in infancy, he may have been put into an apprenticeship earlier than age 14 in order to cover his care. BH: that 1663/6 are Plague years (Anne dies before the FoL) makes this increasingly likely - at any rate  1668: 7 September - apprenticed to William Harding, Bailiff of Weaver's Company. Under these circumstances, an apprenticeship at the age of 10 would seem likely (and common practice in Parish apprenticeships - girls at 7), also helping with a 1657/58 birth date.
1684/5 1st Marriage, Mary Turner, All Hallow's by the Wall
[BH - 1688 Viol in MC inventory, 1689 earliest labelled instrument]
1690 24/6 Marriage allegation of John Brice of Littleworth, Co Oxon 30 years and Mary Yatman 30, spinster Co Oxon, Sworn by BN of St Gregory's by St Paul's Weaver - neither can be identified as a relative of BN, 4 children between 1691 and 1702 at Stonesfield, Oxon.
1692 Land Tax
BN pays in St Faith's Paternoster Row.
Immediate neighbours:
Edward Shepard 18
John Hare 18 (Instrument Maker)
Edward Lewis 16 (Instrument Maker)
Barak Norman 17  (Instrument Maker)
Widow Fenton 16
Thom Newbrough 16 (Bookseller, printer and publisher)
(approx 190 names in St Faith's LT)

1698 11/1 St G/P Burial of Benjamin Hely, "a lodger in Mr Norman's House Petty Canons Alley"

1701 25/11 St G/P Burial of BN's 1st wife Mary Norman
[no baptisms or burial of any child of this marriage recorded]
1701 14.10 All Hallow's London Wall second marriage to Sarah Watts [BH: Check dates, did he really remarry before the burial of his first wife]

1703.24/6 All Hallow's London Wall 3rd marriage, Elizabeth Seale. Marriage license gives his age as 45, Elizabeth an maid of St Olave, Southwark and at her own disposal - i.e. not requiring permission -  Pugh argues that age may be modified IF he were older, but [BH] seems entirely consistent with a new 1657/8 date - made plausible by his apprenticeship at 10 as a Plague orphan.

1706 Barak Norman attends the vestry meeting StG/P when Edward Lewis is Churchwarden in order to vote John Hare as overseer of the Poor. BN is never to my knowledge a churchwarden, this is a misunderstanding of the vestry minutes.

Land Tax 1710 - 13 Barak Norman cannot be found paying LT in surviving city records. Notably his in not in the place he occupied in St Faith Paternoster Row (1692-1709) nor anywhere else in the administrative district, nor is he at the site he will pay LT 1714-26

1705 - 1713 St G/P Births from 3rd marriage

William  28/6/1705 bt 8/7/1705 'of Paul's Alley"
Ann 11/7/1706 bt 26/7/1706
Barak 14/6/1708 bt 2/7/1708 - no burial recorded but presumed dead after
Barak 2/6/1710 bt 3/7/1710
Elizabeth 4/1/1711-12 bt 5/1/1711-12
Mary b? bt 13/7/1713
N.B. Parish of birth important in claiming Parish Relief in future, as they could return to it. May explain why he baptised children in a wealthy parish, when AHLW was his preferred place for marriage etc.

1711 - seems to be earliest use of "Bass Viol in St Paul's Churchyard" 
LT 1713-15 Appears to be sharing property with Widow Smith, looks as if she is landlord and BN sub-letting a shop space, but BN may occupy most of building. Husband John Smith died 16 Jan 1712/13 buried in New Vaults, GtGP, and paid LT at this site in 1693 and 1703-1712 without apparently sharing payment.
LT 1716-1719 Widow Smith still present, but in these years BN's space not specified as shop, although payments are similar to before.

LT 1720-26 Widow Smith no longer present, although only pays for one tax component, and no burial for WS at StGP identified.




Barak Norman (0) and his wife Anne appear for the first time in Uxbridge, Middlesex on 12 March 1658 when the burial of their still-born daughter, Anna is listed in the parish records.







VIOLONCELLOS

Violioncello by Barak Norman (LOB 732mm) labelled 'Barak Norman at the Bass Viol in St Pauls Alley / London fecit 1705' and stamped within the button BARAK NORMAN FECIT. Later scroll, and a good example of his occasional use of nitric acid to colour the wood.