Norman Josiffe

Norman Josiffe (born 12 February 1940), better known in the media as Norman Scott, is an English former dressage trainer[citation needed] and model who was a key figure in the Thorpe affair, a major British political scandal of the 1970s. The scandal revolved around the alleged plot by his ex-boyfriend, Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, to murder Scott after Scott threatened to reveal their relationship to the media.

Early life, 1940–1960[edit]

Josiffe was born in Sidcup, Kent,[1] to Ena Dorothy Josiffe (née Lynch,[2] formerly Merritt,[3] 1907–1985), and Albert Norman Josiffe (1908–1983),[2][4] her second husband, who abandoned his wife and child soon after Norman's birth.[5] Educated at Bexleyheath, he later changed his surname to "Lianche-Josiffe" by amending his mother's maiden name, Lynch, and for a time called himself "the Hon Norman Lianche-Josiffe".[6][7]

Relationship with Jeremy Thorpe, murder attempt and trial, 1961–1979[edit]

In 1961, Josiffe worked as a groom for Brecht Van de Vater (born Norman Vivian Vater),[8] at Kingham Stables in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, when he met Jeremy Thorpe, MP, a friend of Vater. After Josiffe left his job at Vater's stables, he suffered from mental illness and spent some time in a psychiatric hospital. On 8 November 1961, a week after discharging himself from the Ashurst clinic in Oxford, he went to the House of Commons in London to see Thorpe. He was penniless, homeless and, worse, had left Vater's employment without his National Insurance card which, at that time, was essential for obtaining regular work and access to social and unemployment benefits. Thorpe promised he would help.[9] This was when the relationship between the two men was alleged to have started. Thorpe gave him the nickname "Bunnies"[10] but always denied any physical element in the relationship. When Jeremy Thorpe, MP, took him to stay with his mother, Ursula Thorpe, he introduced himself as "Peter Johnson".[6] Josiffe's claims of mistreatment by Thorpe, led to his[who?] being reported to the police, in the course of which the relationship was revealed.[11]

The relationship allegedly led indirectly to the 1975 attempted murder of Josiffe, who was by then calling himself Norman Scott.[12] His attacker, Andrew Newton, was arrested[13] after shooting dead Josiffe's dog, Rinka, but it was not until later that Josiffe's accusations against Thorpe became public.

In 1979, Scott testified at Thorpe's trial, Thorpe and three others were acquitted of conspiracy to murder. While the Sexual Offences Act 1967 had decriminalised homosexual acts in most of the UK, the resulting scandal lost Thorpe his popular support and he was forced to stand down as leader of the Liberal Party.

Personal life[edit]

On 13 May 1969,[14] after his relationship with Thorpe, Josiffe (now calling himself Scott) married Angela Mary Susan Myers (1945–1986), sister-in-law of the English comedy actor Terry-Thomas. Susan Scott was already 2 months pregnant at the time of their marriage and her family were not supportive of the marriage – her mother and sister refused to attend the ceremony and Captain Myers (his father-in-law) denounced Scott as homosexual at the wedding reception stating that the marriage "was doomed".[15][16] The couple had a son – Diggory Benjamin W. Scott, who was born later in 1969 in Spilsby, Lincolnshire.[17][11][18] Susan Scott left Scott in 1970, subsequently divorced, remarried in 1975 and died in 1986.

In 1971, while living in Tal-y-Bont in North Wales, where he found casual work, Scott met widow Gwen Parry-Jones, whose late husband had been a soldier in the Welsh Guards. She was a former local village postmistress and was an acquaintance of Liberal MP Emlyn Hooson. Parry-Jones arranged a meeting with Hooson, who interviewed Scott (with Liberal MP David Steel) about his relationship with Thorpe and started his own investigations, but could not substantiate the allegations. After the break-up with Scott, Parry-Jones became very depressed. In 1972, her aunt failed to get any response at her home for several weeks and the police discovered that she had died, which the coroner subsequently recorded as alcohol poisoning.[18]

In 1975, he began a relationship with a woman named Hilary Arthur, with whom, in May 1976, he had a daughter, Bryony.[19]

After 1979, Scott retreated into obscurity. At the time of Thorpe's death in 2014, he was living in Ireland,[12] but by the time of the 2018 dramatisation he had returned to the UK to live in Devon.[20]

In popular culture[edit]

In 2016, John Preston published a book about the scandal.[21]

In 2018, the BBC miniseries A Very English Scandal were aired and Scott was portrayed by Ben Whishaw.[22] Scott remarked to The Irish News: "I'm portrayed as this poor, mincing, little gay person ... I also come across as a weakling and I've never been a weakling."[23]

The mini-series' director, Stephen Frears, has described Scott as "erratic", stating that his reactions to both book and television series are inconsistent.[24] Thorpe's biographer Michael Bloch described Josiffe as both a liar and a fantasist.[25]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ General Register Office; United Kingdom; Birth Register Indexes; Reference: Volume 2a, p. 2064
  2. ^ a b General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London: General Register Office. Bromley, Q4
  3. ^ General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London: General Register Office. Dartford, Q2
  4. ^ General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London: General Register Office. Bromley, Q2
  5. ^ Simon Freeman with Barrie Penrose: Rinkagate: The Rise and Fall of Jeremy Thorpe. Bloomsbury, 1996. p. 37.
  6. ^ a b "Murder most Liberal". The Telegraph. 19 October 1996. Archived from the original on 18 December 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  7. ^ Leonard Downie, Jr. (3 June 1979). "Murder Conspiracy Trial Leaves Thorpe a Ruined Man". Washington Post. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  8. ^ "Murder most Liberal". telegraph.co.uk. 18 October 1996. Archived from the original on 18 December 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  9. ^ Freeman and Penrose, pp. 40–43
  10. ^ "Who was Norman Scott and what was his relationship with Jeremy Thorpe?". Radio Times. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  11. ^ a b Ash Percival (20 May 2018). "'A Very English Scandal': The Real Story Of Jeremy Thorpe, Norman Scott And The Alleged Murder Plot That Rocked British Politics". HuffPost. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  12. ^ a b Gordon Rayner (4 December 2014). "Jeremy Thorpe scandal: where are they now?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  13. ^ Preston, John (2016). A Very English Scandal. London: Viking. pp. 207–208. ISBN 978-0241215722.
  14. ^ General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. Kensington, Q2
  15. ^ General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London: General Register Office. Spilsby, Jun 1986; birth registration not traced
  16. ^ General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. Spilsby, Jun 1986
  17. ^ General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London: General Register Office. Spilsby, Q4
  18. ^ a b "Did Norman Scott really get married and have a baby?". Radio Times. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  19. ^ Preston, John (5 May 2016). "Chapter 28". A Very English Scandal: Now a Major BBC Series Starring Hugh Grant. Penguin Books Limited. p. 518. ISBN 978-0-241-97375-2.
  20. ^ Helen Rumbelow (12 April 2018). "Jeremy Thorpe tried to kill me – Norman Scott on the scandal that shook Seventies Britain". The Times. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  21. ^ Chris Mullin (9 May 2016). "A Very English Scandal review – Jeremy Thorpe's fall continues to fascinate". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  22. ^ Emma Nolan (21 May 2018). "A Very English Scandal: Who was Norman Scott? Who was his wife?". The Express. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  23. ^ "Norman Scott criticises 'weakling' portrayal in BBC's A Very English Scandal". The Irish News. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  24. ^ Mark Brown (3 June 2018). "Stephen Frears queries reopening of Jeremy Thorpe investigation". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  25. ^ Andrew Rawnsley (18 January 2015). "Jeremy Thorpe review – Michael Bloch's gripping and insightful biography". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2018.

Sources[edit]

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