Henry Devenish (left), Sir Henry Harben (centre), Henry Andrade Harben (right)

Henry Andrade Harben FSA (12 August 1849 - 18 August 1910) was a barrister, insurance company director, politician, and historian of London. His highly regarded book, ''A Dictionary of London'', was published posthumously in 1917.

Early life and family

Henry Harben was born at Hounslow, Middlesex, on 12 August 1849 to Sir Henry Harben (1823-1911), chairman of the

Prudential Assurance Company Prudential plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working people. Prudential has dual primary listings on the London Stock E ...

, and his wife Ann, née Such. He graduated from the

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

in 1868."Mr. H. A. Harben", ''The Times'', 19 August 1910, p. 9. He married Mary Frances James in 1873. Their son was the politician and supporter of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

, Henry Devenish Harben. They had five other children.

Career

Harben was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1871. In 1879, he followed his father into the Prudential as a director and was chairman of the company from 1907 until his death.

Public positions

In 1878, Harben became a freeman of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. Harben entered local politics as a member of the Paddington Vestry and from 1900 for the successor Paddington Borough Council, and he was

Mayor of Paddington This is a list of people who held the office of mayor of the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington. The office was created in 1900 and abolished in 1965. List of mayors of Paddington from 1900-1965 1900s * 1900-1901 John Aird MP. Created a barone ...

in 1902–03. He was a

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic liber ...

member of the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

, first elected to represent Paddington (South) in 1898 and re-elected twice, retaining his seat until 1907. He was chairman of the Central Hospital Council of London and in 1897 joined the board of St Mary's Hospital. He was chairman from 1903 and then held various other positions at the hospital. He was a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

and the County of London.

History

Harben was elected a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

in 1893 and became a member of the

Sussex Archaeological Society The Sussex Archaeological Society, founded in 1846, is one of the oldest county-based archaeological societies in the UK. A registered self-funding charity whose charitable aims are to enable people to enjoy, learn about and have access to the he ...

in 1894. Around 1888, Harben began to compile a new edition of

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles'', ''The C ...

's ''Survey of London'' (1598) but progress was very slow and that objective was abandoned after C.L. Kingsford's new edition of Stow appeared in 1908 and Harben decided to turn his book into a dictionary of London instead. The book was still unfinished at the time of his death and was eventually completed by his friend I.I. Greaves and published posthumously in 1917 as ''A Dictionary of London''.A Dictionary of London.
''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

''. Retrieved 30 April 2018. (Originally published 17 November 1917) It deals only with the City of London."Historians"
in

Death and legacy

Harben died on 18 August 1910 at 29 Wimpole Street, London,1910 Probate Calendar.
p. 29. following complications after surgery. His address at the time of his death was

Newland Park Newland may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places Australia * Electoral district of Newland, a state electoral district in South Australia *Hundred of Newland, a cadastral unit on Kangaroo Island in South Australia *Newland, South Australia, a locality in the ...

Chalfont St. Peter Chalfont St Peter is a large village and civil parish in southeastern Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts which also includes Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont. The villages lie between High Wycombe ...

, Buckinghamshire, and Hertfordshire. He left an estate of £349,845. Harben left his collection of around 2,000 items relating to the history of Greater London to the London County Council.Bloomfield, Barry Cambray. (1997) ''A Directory of Rare Book and Special Collections in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland''. 2nd edition. London: Library Association. p. 219.

Selected publications

*
A Dictionary of London: Being notes topographical and historical relating to the streets and principal buildings in the city of London ... With six plans
'' H. Jenkins, London, 1918

917 __NOTOC__ Year 917 ( CMXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * August 20 – Battle of Achelous: A Byzantine expeditionary fo ...

(Edited by I. I. Greaves)

References

External links

*http://jot101.com/2015/08/henry-harben-and-his-dictionary-of-london/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20120417063744/http://www.motco.com/Harben/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Harben, Henry 1849 births 1910 deaths English barristers Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Historians of London Mayors of Paddington Members of London County Council Prudential plc people Businesspeople in insurance Harben family English justices of the peace People from Hounslow Alumni of University College London 19th-century English lawyers