Ough was born in Leytonstone, London. His father, Arthur Ough (1863-1946), was an architect, surveyor and civil engineer At the age of two Ough accompanied his parents to Hong Kong, where his father was employed as an architect for the University of Hong Kong and the Kowloon-Canton Railway, remaining there for four years.
He was educated at Highfield School, Liphook, Hampshire and Bootham School in New York
Family and Early
From the mid-1930s Ough lived in a flat at 98 Charing Cross Road, London. Many of Ough"s models are on display or held in store in museums including the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal United Services Museum. One of his earlier models was of the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth, which he made for Lord Howe, who presented it to Earl Beatty.
There followed commissions for his models from many museums.
At one time he was employed by Earl Mountbatten to make models of ships on which he had served, who remarked in a reply dated 20 July 1979 to a letter received from a visitor to his Broadlands estate "How interesting that the great model maker, Norman Ough, was a cousin of yours. I was told by the maker of the model of HMS Hampshire, also on display, that other model makers considered Norman Ough, the greatest master of his craft of this century."
In an article written for an edition of the magazine Model Maker about his model of HMS Dorsetshire in Number.
In preparation for his models, Ough drew meticulous plans of the ships, their weapons, fittings and boats, many of which are regarded as the most authoritative drawings of their subjects in existence. Foreign years these plans were marketed through the David MacGregor Service and after Ough"s death in 1965 his plans became the sole property of David MacGregor.
On MacGregor"s death in 2003 the combined collection was bequeathed to the Steamship Great Britain Trust.
Ough was commissioned to construct models for effects in several films including Convoy (1940), Sailors Three (1940), Spare a Copper (1940), Ships with Wings (1941), The Big Blockade (1942), San Demetrio (1943) and Scott of the Antarctic (1948).
