Perhaps the most famous 'old boy' of Norton Free School was Francis Chantrey who began school at the age of six years in 1787 which was, also the date of the rebuilding. He was the son of a small farmer and joiner and the house at Jordanthorpe in which he was bom still stands today. Chantrey's father rented the house and 45 acres of land from the Offley family of Norton Hall and, in his capacity of joiner, he made the desks at the school, charging a fee of 14 guineas. Chantrey's mother worked as housekeeper to Robert Newton at Norton House.
Francis had some education before he began at the village school. According to Harold Armitage's book, 'Chantreyland', 'he learned his letters at home and when he was 6 years of age, having imbibed such education as it was in the power of Dame Rose to bestow, he was sent to the village school.'
This is the only evidence we have of a Dame School at Norton. These were private schools intended for very young children and attained varying degrees of efficiency, the worst of them being little more than child minding agencies.
Francis Chantrey was an irregular attender at school because he was often kept at home to help on the farm or in his father's workshop.
One of his duties was to take the milk, eggs and butter from the farm, loaded on the back of a donkey, into Sheffield. He found the clay which he picked up in Derbyshire Lane excellent for modelling and with a few strokes of a knife, he could transform an awkwardly shaped piece of wood into an object of beauty.
Many stories have been told of Chantrey's boyhood. One was that his mother allowed him to draw on the stone flags of the kitchen once a week just before they were due to be washed. It is said that he moulded butter, candle-ends and on at least one occasion, pastry, into shapes and figures, long before he worked in more lasting marble.
There is also a story that one day, as Chantrey sauntered along by the side of his donkey, he was noticed to be whittling the knob of a stick. When asked what he was doing, he replied that he was carving the likeness of 'Old Fox", the schoolmaster. This was the then master of Norton Free School, Thomas Fox. The person who asked Chantrey about his carving thought it such a good likeness that he gave him 6d, probably the first money received by Chantrey for his skill.
When he was 12 years old, his father died and his mother remarried. He became a grocer's assistant and later he worked for a wood-carver in High Street.
By 1802, he was able to set up his own studio in Paradise Square and there he spent 8 years painting portraits. This was not a very profitable pursuit and he moved to London where he had the opportunity of studying at the Royal Academy. He was blind in one eye and at one time he was so poor that he worked in a garret with only one candle for light.
In spite of his difficulties, he was determined to succeed and from these humble beginnings, he rose to fame and fortune as a sculptor. He was knighted and moved in royal circles enjoying the friendship of the rich and famous. Four reigning monarchs sat for him as did many other famous people and examples of his work can be found throughout this country and in many parts of the world. Locally, he designed the terrace at The Oakes.
Sir Francis Chantrey died in 1841 and although he could have been interred in Westminster Abbey with the great, he elected to be buried in Norton Churchyard.
In his will dated 31st December 1840, he left an annuity of £200 to the Parish of Norton on condition that his grave should remain undisturbed. £50 of this was to be paid to the schoolmaster of Norton School for the instruction of 10 poor boys in reading, writing, arithmetic and other branches of general education, free from any expense.
There is a bust of Chantrey in Norton Free School and in Norton Church, there is a larger than life plaster cast of him and also a marble tablet to his memory.