Henry Robinson Hartley (12 November 1777 Southampton – 24 May 1850

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, France) was an English

eccentric Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. He was the benefactor behind the founding of Southampton's Hartley Institute or Hartley Institution, which later became the University of Southampton.

Early life

Henry's parents were Henry Hartley (1731–1800) and Susanna née Lavender (1742–1821). His father was a mayor of Southampton, 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 ...

, and also a strict Calvinist who had inherited a successful wine business from his childless uncle George Robinson (1700–1776). The young Henry was baptised at Holyrood Church, Southampton. Later, he attended Southampton Grammar School (now

King Edward VI School, Southampton King Edward VI School (also known as King Edward's, or KES) is a selective co-educational independent school founded in Southampton, United Kingdom, in 1553. The school was founded at the request of William Capon, who bequeathed money in his ...

). As a youth, probably as a reaction against his strict upbringing, he adopted a

libertine A libertine is a person devoid of most moral principles, a sense of responsibility, or sexual restraints, which they see as unnecessary or undesirable, and is especially someone who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour ob ...

lifestyle. This left him with venereal disease which gave him problems during the rest of his life. His marriage to Celia Anne Crowcher (1779–1848) on 24 November 1798 at St Mary's Church, Portsea was a failure and was annulled in 1802. He disputed the paternity of their only daughter, Sarah Anne, and never publicly acknowledged her.

Later life and death

In 1821 he inherited a townhouse and a considerable fortune on his mother's death. He led a reclusive life and, in 1825, left Southampton never to return, spending his time between Calais in France and

Newington, Surrey Newington is a district of South London, just south of the River Thames, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey. It was the location of the County of ...

, near London. In 1842, he made a will leaving most of his estate to the city of Southampton. He wished his house to become a museum designed to promote the study of natural history, astronomy, antiquities, classics, and oriental literature. In 1850, he died in

, France, and was buried in the Dissenters' burial ground,

Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...

, in London.

Legacy

Death duties swallowed one half of Hartley's £100,000 estate. His daughter challenged his will and took a portion of the residual value. Using the remaining funds, the City of Southampton founded the Hartley Institute (1862) by combining a museum, library and venue for public lectures. This Institute became, in turn, Hartley College (1896), Hartley University College (1902), University College of Southampton (1914), and eventually the University of Southampton (1952). Hartley's house was demolished.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley, Henry Robinson 1777 births 1850 deaths English philanthropists People from Southampton Founders of English schools and colleges Deaths in France Burials at Bunhill Fields