Thomas Hanbury (1832 - 1907)

Born 21 Jun 1832 in Clapham, Surrey, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Katharine Aldam (Pease) Hanbury — married 11 Mar 1868 in Henbury, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom

Died 9 Mar 1907 at age 74 in La Mortola, Ventimiglia, Italy

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Biography

Thomas was a Friend (Quaker)

Birth and Parents

Thomas was the son of Daniel Bell Hanbury and Rachel Christy. He was born at Bedford New Road, Clapham, Surrey on 21 June 1832^[1][2]

After education in Croydon, Surrey and Epping, Essex, Thomas started working for a firm of tea brokers in London. In 1853, with financial help from his father, he co-founded a firm of silk merchants, Hanbury and Co, at Shanghai, China.^[3][4] There he leant Mandarin Chinese - relatively unusual for British business people in China at the time - and helped to establish gardens and a hospital.^[3]

His business interests diversified: he was a Director of the first railway in China, dealt in currency, and supplied Chinese cotton to Britain when American supplies were disrupted by the American Civil War. He acquired a substantial amount of real estate in Shanghai.^[3]

On an extended visit to England and Europe in 1866-9, Thomas bought a Palazzo at La Mortola near Ventimiglia in Liguria, where he established botanical gardens with the help of his brother Daniel, who had a special interest in medicinal plants.^[3][4] The gardens attracted famous visitors, including Queen Victoria and other members of the British royal family.^[3] These gardens are now the Giardini Botanici Hanbury.

On 11 March 1868 Thomas married Katharine Adam Pease, daughter of Thomas Pease^[3] and Lucy Fryer,^[4] at Henbury Quaker Meeting House, Gloucestershire.^[5][6] The marriage was registered in the Thornbury district of Gloucestershire in the first quarter of 1868.^[7] They travelled to New York,^[8] and then by railway to San Francisco, where they embarked for China. They had three sons and a daughter:^[3][4]

• Cecil, born in Shanghai in 1871^[3]
• Horace Orazio, born at La Mortola, Venimiglia, Ligurie on 24 May 1880^[9]
• Daniel, who birth was registered in the Croydon district of Surrey in the 3rd quarter of 1876^[10] and whose death was registered in the Pancras district of London in the 3rd quarter of 1948^[11]
• Hilda B, who married James Currie in Italy in the period 1911-1915^[12]

In 1871 Thomas left Shanghai, and he and his wife made La Mortola their main home. In Liguria they engaged in philanthropic activity, including setting up schools. He was made a Cavaliere of the Cross of the Crown of Italy in 1885 and a Commendatore in 1888. He set up a botanical institute at Genoa, and this was formally dedicated in 1892.^[3]

Thomas was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1901.^[3]

Thomas bought a large garden at Wisley, Surrey following the death of its owner, George Fergusson Wilson, in 1902. He donated it to the Royal Horticultural Society in 1903, and it is now the RHS Garden Wisley.^[3]

Thomas adhered to the Quakerism of his parents, and was a long-term member of Kingston Quaker Monthly Meeting, Surrey.^[3]

Death

Thomas died at La Mortola on 9 March 1907, and was cremated at San Remo, Liguria.^[3][4] Probate was granted on his estate on 8 July 1907, with his death date recorded as 9 March that year.^[13]

Research Notes

Son Cecil

Transferred from profile of Thomas's mother

Cecil was MP for North Dorset 1924 to 1937. In 1913 he married Effield Dorothy Cecil Symons-Jeune (b 1889 Oxford), daughter of Sir John Frederic Symons-Jeune and Frances Susanna Bunbury. They had three children: Thomas Francis Jeune, Hanmer Cecil and Caroline Fox.

Capt. Thomas Francis Jeune Hanbury married first Joan Eve and they had one child: Susan Eve who married Col. Philip Nicholas Miles Jebb, son of Col. Joshua Henry Miles Jebb and Gwendolin Gladys Yarnold.

Thomas married second Aline Cummings. They had three children:

Simon Thomas Cecil (b 1943 d 30 May 1997), Benjamin and Timothy Jon.

Simon married Carolyn Sarah Seymour, daughter of Maj. William Napier Seymour and Rachel Mary Hambro. They had three children: Serena Mary, Melissa Jane and Jonathan Cecil.

Serena married Amos Edward Sebastian Courage, son of Piers Raymond Courage and Lady Sarah-Marguerite Curzon.

Benjamin married first Moira Elizabeth Milborne-Swinnerton-Pilkington, daughter of Maj. Sir Arthur William Milborne-Swinnerton-Pilkington 13th.Bt.

Benjamin married second Elizabeth Mary Harrison,. They had two children: Emma Jane and Amanda Aline.

Timothy Jon Hanbury married Anthea L. Gordon. They had three children: Jesse (b 1974 d 4 Mar 2010 in Notting Hill), Griffin Thomas A. and Luella Kate.

Thomas married third Irene Richards (b 1904) in 1955.

Sources

1. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/415, LONDON AND MIDDLESEX: Monthly Meeting of Gracechurch Street, City of London: Births, FindMyPast
2. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F3B5-M93 : 11 December 2014), Daniel Bell Hanbury in entry for Thomas Hanbury, 21 Jun 1832, Birth; citing p. 119, London & Middlesex, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Anita McConnell for 'Hanbury, Sir Thomas', published online 2009
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} Edward H Millgan. British Quakers in Commerce and Industry 1775-1920, Sessions Book Trust, 2007, p. 227
5. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NFB4-315 : 13 March 2020), Daniel Ball Hanbury in entry for Thomas Hanbury, 1868
6. ↑ Bristol, England, Non-Conformist Baptism, Marriage and Burial Registers, 1644-1981, Ancestry.co.uk
7. ↑ England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005, FindMyPast
8. ↑ "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK9Q-3J8W : 13 August 2022), Thomas Hanbury, 1869
9. ↑ "Italia, Imperia, San Remo, Stato Civile (Archivio di Stato), 1805-1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2S8-1Z2C : Fri Oct 06 16:09:41 UTC 2023), Entry for Horace Orazio Hanbury and Tommaso Hanbury, 24 May 1880
10. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2X69-4WB : 1 October 2014), Daniel Hanbury, 1876; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Croydon, Surrey, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England
11. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVC7-8Q39 : 4 September 2014), Daniel Hanbury, 1948; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Pancras, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England
12. ↑ British Armed Forces And Overseas Banns And Marriages, FindMyPast
13. ↑ "England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W73T-3GT2 : 25 August 2022), Thomas Hanbury, 8 Jul 1907; citing Probate, London, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm 251,400

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