Henry Frederick Amedroz (8 November 1854 – March 1917) was a leading British orientalist.

Life

Amedroz was born in London, the eldest of the two sons of Henry Frederick Amedroz, a secretary to the First Lord of the Navy, and Magdalene Judith Thornton. He was of French Huguenot descent through his father, and through his mother he was descended from a mixed-race family of planters from

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

. Amedroz was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

, gaining an entrance scholarship there in 1866. Amedroz tried to embark on an army career, but was rejected on medical grounds. He attended what is now

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

was called to the bar in 1882 and spent several years working as a bar reporter in the Chancery Courts. During this period he began to study Arabic. Wealthy thanks to an inheritance from his mother's family, he was able to retire while still in his forties, and became a noted scholar of the early Islamic period, with a particular focus on the history of manuscripts and of coins. His books include ''The historical remains of Hilāl al-Sābi'' (1904) and ''History of Damascus, 263-555 A.H., by Ibn al-Qalānisi'' (1908), while journal articles appeared in ''The Journal of the Asiatic Society'', as well as German and Italian academic publications. He served on the council for the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

from 1912 to 1915, was one of the Gibb Trustees, and was a fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society. Amedroz family vault in Highgate Cemetery

Amedroz never married, and died childless in March 1917.

Selected works

*''The Mazalim Jurisdiction in the Ahkam Sultaniyya of Mawardi'' (1911) *''The Office of Kadi in the Ahkam Sultaniyya of Mawardi'' (1908) *''The Hisba Jurisdiction in the Ahkam Sultaniyya of Mawardi'' (1916)

References

1854 births 1917 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery English orientalists English Arabists {{England-academic-bio-stub