his paternal grandparents were mary johanna (née van horne) norrie and adam norrie, a native of aberdeen, scotland who was an iron merchant and a founder of st. luke's hospital. his maternal grandparents were ambrose lanfear and mary (née hill) lanfear. his aunt, louisa sarah lanfear, was married to ogilvie blair graham and david a. ogden jr. (son of david a. ogden). among his cousins was norrie sellar, a prominent cotton broker who married sybil katherine sherman (the daughter of william watts sherman).