Torquil Norman

His father, the only child of journalist and politician Sir Henry Norman, 1st Baronet, and novelist Ménie Muriel Dowie, was killed in action in 1943, shortly before Torquil's 10th birthday.

[5] A long-term Camden resident, Norman bought the derelict Roundhouse arts venue in Chalk Farm for £3 million in 1996 "as an impulse buy", having read it was proposed to turn it into an architectural museum.

The restored Roundhouse reopened in June 2006 as a 1,700 seat performance space, with a state-of-the-art creative centre for young people in the undercroft, and a new wing with a purpose-built bar and café.

[9] Norman, who was previously appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, stepped down as chairman of the Roundhouse Trust in 2007,[10] and was knighted the same year for his "services to the arts and to disadvantaged young people".

Norman went on to found the Global Vehicle Trust (GVT) to provide simple, affordable, and versatile transport for rural areas in developing countries using a purpose-built truck designed and conceptualised by Sir Gordon Murray.