Norval Marley

Norval Sinclair Marley (b. around 1881; d. May 20, 1955, Kingston, Jamaica) was the white English father of the famous reggae musician Bob Marley. Norval Marley was of Jamaican and British political nationality and of ethnic English descent.

Marley was born in Clarendon, Jamaica to Ellen Bloomfield and Albert Thomas Marley, an English family which originated from Sussex. He was a respected Marine officer and captain, and also a plantation overseer on land he owned. He was married to Bob Marley's mother, Cedella Booker. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child, but he seldom saw his son as he was away on trips often. Norval died of a heart attack in 1955, when Bob Marley was just 10 years old.

After the death of his father in 1955, Bob Marley was raised by his mother, Cedella Marley, who moved them to Kingston's Trenchtown slum.

Most biographies about his son state he died at the age of around 60, which would mean he was born around 1895. Other sources say he was born around 1881 which would mean he was 74 years old when his son was born. His father died in 1885, which indicates that Norval Marley must have been born before (which is more likely), or his mother had another relationship with an unknown person and eventually gave birth to Norval Marley around 1895.

Rumours of Norval Marley's association with Wales has been discredited; he only lived in an English border county for a brief part of his life, and he had no Welsh relations.

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