Meet George Norton
In 2016, the Friends in association with the Civic Trust made contact with the University of York’s History of Art and Architecture department and were offered the opportunity to joint-fund a studentship. The scope of this was to have a post-graduate student work with the Friends at the Mansion House one day a week for a 12 month period in order to design an exhibition on the work of James Paine. In addition, the student would undertake a Master of Arts dissertation on the Mansion House.
In the summer of 2016, a panel from the University, the Friends and the Civic Trust appointed 22 year old George Norton to take up the studentship.
George had graduated with a first class honours BA in History of Art from the University of York in 2015 and had worked for the National Trust at Gibside ( a James Paine project ) giving tours to the public and organising events.
At the launch of the James Paine Festival at the Mansion House in March 2017, George talked about how he had put together the James Paine Exhibition and at the James Paine celebration event in October 2017 George talked about the findings of his dissertation.
George Norton’s Dissertation
Doncaster Mansion House and its place in the social and architectural landscape of the Doncaster District, 1750-1800
The dissertation begins with a thorough assessment of what Doncaster Mansion House was, addressing its typology in line with its function in chapter one, entitled ‘What Was Doncaster Mansion House?’ This reveals how the Mansion House operated in its original form to understand the intentions of the Corporation and their ambitions for the advancement of Doncaster. Comparisons are made to its only purpose-built predecessors at York and London to establish how it breaks away and evolves from the mould set by its contemporaries. These links put forward historical evidence that the Corporation of Doncaster was deeply conscious of its surroundings, improving and advancing its facilities not only in pace with other towns, but in many ways, exceeding them.
Once a clearer typology has been established, the internal divisions of the Mansion House are explored in chapter two. This addresses how the layout of the building not only catered to the social rituals of the 18th century elite, but effected change in their customs, using space to elevate the pageantry of its events and become the most significant social space in the region.
Finally, chapter three looks at the wider impact of Doncaster Mansion House, as its placement along the Great North Road coupled with Paine’s publication carried the influence of the new building beyond the boundaries of the town.
Ultimately, the dissertation argues that Doncaster Mansion House became a social and stylistic benchmark for the elite, setting the visible standard by which all others could judge and be judged.
The dissertation reinvigorates public and scholarly attentions in the finest surviving Georgian building in Doncaster, and by extension, the growth of the town in the late 18th century. It is a study that can be carried forwards into the later revisions and alterations of the Mansion House and ultimately fill in a significant gap in the lengthy history of Doncaster.
You can download and read the full dissertation by clicking here.
Published with kind permission