Life
He was born in Dundee on 17 August 1862.
He was apprenticed as a photographer to Handu, Hardie and Federwitz on North Station Road in Dunfermline around 1876.[2]
In 1879 he took over his previous employer's premises and in 1885 he renamed it as Norval Photography. The company expanded in 1894 and moved to 123 New Row. Around this time they began to offer processing services to other photographers, the first step to bringing photography to all people, not just professionals. In 1895 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society.[2][3]
He joined Dunfermline Town Council in 1902 and became involved in the Planning function, befriending Patrick Geddes in Edinburgh.
He was knighted by King George V in 1936 a few months before he died.
He died at Skibo Castle on 13 August 1936 whilst visiting his close friend Andrew Carnegie,[2] and is buried in Dunfermline Cemetery. The grave lies on the east side of the eastmost roundel.
Norval Photography ceased to trade as a company in 2003, 118 years after its foundation. Its demise was primarily brought about by the advent of digital photography and severe drop in photo processing.[4]