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| Norman, Percy's first son with Alice Criddle was born in 1875 in Addlestone, Surrey, England. Though he was young when the family moved to Canada, he still had memories of the voyage and the sickness that it visited upon him. Norman's health was fragile at the best of times and the long voyage to the New World was certainly not the best of times. Though Norman's sickness delayed the voyage by several days, he managed to survive and complete the trip.
Norman Criddle benefited from his father's interest in science and art. Norman's achievements as a naturalist were considerable: he studied, wrote about, and painted the plants and insects of the prairie. Amongst entomologists of the day his name and his work were well known and respected. |
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| Percy's diary shows that Norman's interest in flora and fauna began early; he was often in the garden at their English home and had learned the names of all sorts of plants and insects by the time he was three years old. As he grew up in Manitoba he helped on the farm as did his other siblings; however, when his brothers and sisters were skating or playing cricket, Norman was often pursuing other objectives. Norman would sit in the prairie grass and hone his painting skills by painting prairie flowers and other plants. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| As Norman grew older and his skill increased, he began to enter his paintings in competitions in Brandon. Percy's diary notes that his son's paintings were well received. In these early days Norman had little money and was unable to afford good quality supplies. Norman's diary laments this inadequacy: “The whole trouble can be summed up in the word cash. I have been endeavouring for many years now to become somewhat skilled in painting, with the use of very inferior colours and paper.” |
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| Norman Criddle with a crow perched on his hat | ||||||||||||||||||||
| The financial difficulty that Norman experienced lasted for quite some time, but was eventually resolved. Ultimately his pictures drew significant academic attention. Dr. Fletcher, an entomologist from the east, travelled to the area when a swarm of grasshoppers were invading crops in the area. Norman developed a grasshopper poison that worked quite well and was endorsed wholeheartedly by Dr. Fletcher. It was at this time that Dr. Fletcher first viewed Norman's paintings.
Over the years a friendship developed between Dr. Fletcher and Norman, and in around 1905 they jointly produced a book called “Prairie Weeds in Canada.” Dr. Fletcher wrote the text portions and Norman supplied the many illustrations for the book. Norman went on to illustrate several other books and was commissioned by several botanists and entomologists to craft paintings of their specimens. |
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| The preservation of plants and wildlife was very important to Norman. He became a Game Warden after many years of warning would-be hunters that they were hunting out of season. He also tried to curb the tendency of farmers to chop down trees, burn bushes, and generally harm nature. Norman believed that people were not treating the environment with proper respect; today he would probably be labelled an environmentalist. |
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| Norman received a government appointment in 1913 and another permanent appointment a year later that included money for a laboratory. He became rapidly busier, publishing another book and travelling around to investigate possible outbreaks of insect plagues. Work also took Norman to Ottawa on several occasions where he worked with other well known researchers of the time. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Norman's work did not go unrecognised or unappreciated. He was honoured by his Ottawa associates with a party and gifts upon leaving the city after a particularly long stay. Throughout Norman's life everyone spoke of his mild mannered patience, his politeness and his honesty. In 1933, a few months before his death, the Manitoba Agricultural College conferred their highest honour on him, an honorary diploma in agriculture. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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