Norton Villa (The Firs) was occupied in the mid-19th century by the Walker family, a cultured family connected by marriage to the Havergals, Frances Ridley Havergal, whose hymns and poems enjoyed immense popularity. Mrs, Walker was a progressive lady, the village having no schoolmaster, held classes in her home till 1832, and there after established a day school, and formed a lending library for parishioners in her own house.
A famous tragedy took its toll of the family in the 1870s. One of the Walker's son-in-law became a statesman, H. E. Childers, First Lord of the Admiralty, who had much to do with the development of the Dreadnought, an armoured ship named the 'Captain'. The ship had heavy gun turrets and was covered with armoured steel plates. She proved to be top-heavy, and on her first voyage, returning from Gibraltar she turned turtle in the Bay of Biscay. Among those who lost their lives was Midshipman Leonard Childers, son of the First Lord, and grandson of Mr. and Mrs Walker. The loss of his son and all on board is said to have caused Childer's breakdown in health, and to have ended his political career.