Henry Christy (1810 - 1865)

Born 26 Jul 1810 in Lambeth, Surrey, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Died 4 May 1865 at age 54 in La Palisse, Allier, Auvergne, France

Biography

Henry was a Friend (Quaker)

Henry was the son of William Christy and Ann Fell. He was born in Clapham Road, Lambeth, Surrey on 26 July 1810.^[1][2]

Henry did not marry. The 1851 census records him, unmarried, in his parents' household at Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, age 40, occupation manufacturer, birthplace London.^[3]

Henry became a partner in his father's hat manufacturing business, and took over from his father as a Director of the London Stock Bank.^[4]

In 1847 Henry became closely involved in Quaker efforts to relieve the Irish famine, and to persuade the British government to give more help.^[4]

Henry's business interests left him scope to pursue scientific interests. He took a particular interest in ethnology, travelling extensively in Europe, Asia and North America from 1850 onwards, collecting items of ethnographic and anthropological interest. In 1858 he joined the Geological Society. In 1863 he and a French palaeontologist, Edouard Lartet, began to explore caves in the Dordogne area of France, where they discovered artefacts of the early stone age.^[5]

In April 1865 Henry took part in an expedition to caves in Belgium. There he caught a viral infection. He went on to return to La Palisse in France with Edouard Lartet: he died there of pneumonia on 4 May 1865.^[5] His death on that date was recorded in the Quake publication the Annual Monitor, with his normal residence given as Wandsworth, Surrey.^[6] Probate was granted on his estate on 23 June 1865 with his death date given as 4 May 1865.^[7]

Before he died, Henry had embarked on a substantial book about implements and bones found in caves in the Dordogne. This was completed by Edouard Lartet and a British palaeontologist, T Rupert Jones, after his death, and published in sections between 1866 and 1875.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/801, LONDON AND MIDDLESEX: Quarterly Meeting of London and Middlesex: Births, FindMyPast
2. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7JS-2NR : 11 December 2014), Henry Christy, 26 Jul 1810, Birth; citing p. 32, Kingston, Croydon & Wandsworth, Surrey, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
3. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGK8-7JM : 9 November 2019), Henry Christy in household of William Christy, Kingston, Surrey, England; citing Kingston, Surrey, England, p. 13, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Edward H Milligan. British Quakers in Commerce and Industry 1775-1920, Sessions Book Trust, 2007, P. 103
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by W J Harrison, revised by A Bowdoin Van Riper for "Christy, Henry", print and online 2004, revised online 2022
6. ↑ Annual Monitor - Deaths, FindMyPast
7. ↑ "England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPJS-VB7X : 30 August 2018), Henry Christy, 23 Jun 1865; citing Probate, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm

• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. Vol. 10, pp. 295-296, Wikisource
• Wikipedia: Henry Christy