Henry Christmas (1811 – March 10, 1868), at the end of his life going by the surname Noel-Fearn, was an English clergyman, a man of letters and editor of periodicals, known also as a

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...

Life

Born in London in 1811, he was the only son of Robert Noble Christmas of

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, by Jane, daughter of Samuel Fearn. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge, and graduated B.A. in 1837, M.A. 1840. He was ordained in 1837, and after serving several curacies was in 1841 appointed librarian and secretary of

Sion College Sion College, in London, is an institution founded by Royal Charter in 1630 as a college, guild of parochial clergy and almshouse, under the 1623 will of Thomas White, vicar of St Dunstan's in the West. The clergy who benefit by the foundation ...

, holding the office till 1848. From 1840 to 1843 and from 1854 to 1858 Christmas edited the '' Church of England Quarterly Review''. He also edited ''

The Churchman ''Churchman'' is an evangelical Anglican academic journal published by the Church Society. It was formerly known as ''The Churchman'' and started in 1880 as a monthly periodical before moving to quarterly publication in 1920. The name change to "C ...

'' (1840–3), the '' British Churchman'' (1845–8), and the '' Literary Gazette'' (1859–60). He was for some years lecturer at St Peter's Church, Cornhill, and later filled the curacy of

Garlickhithe St James Garlickhythe is a Church of England parish church in Vintry ward of the City of London, nicknamed "Wren's lantern" owing to its profusion of windows. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London ...

. He was also for some time Sunday evening preacher at St. Mildred's in the Poultry. Christmas was a versatile scholar: he was a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

, and 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. Soci ...

, a member of the Royal Academy of History at Madrid, and (in 1854–9) professor of English history and archæology in the Royal Society of Literature (England). He died in London suddenly, from

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

, on 11 March 1868, aged 57, and was buried in

Norwood cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of L ...

. Shortly before his death he had assumed the name of Noel-Fearn. He married, in 1838, Eliza Fox, by whom he had one son and three daughters.

Works

Christmas's works included: * ‘The Voyage: a poem,’ London, 1833. * ‘Universal Mythology; an account of the most important systems,’ &c. London, 1838. * ‘Capital Punishments unsanctioned by the Gospel, and unnecessary to a Christian State,’ a letter, London, 1845, (26,000 copies are said to have been sold). * ‘A Concise History of the Hampden Controversy, … with all the documents that have been published,’ &c. London, 1848. * ‘The World of Matter and its Testimony; an attempt to exhibit the connection between Natural Philosophy and Revealed Religion,’ London, 1848. * ‘The Cradle of the Twin Giants, Science and History,’ 2 vols. London, 1849. * ‘Echoes of the Universe: from the World of Matter and the World of Spirit,’ London, 1850 (seventh edition published in 1863, two editions in America). * ‘The Shores and Islands of the Mediterranean, including a visit to the Seven Churches of Asia,’ 3 vols. London, 1851. * ‘Scenes in the Life of Christ’ (Lectures), 2nd edit. London. * Memoir of Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia, in Shaw's ‘Family Library’ (1854), and memoir of the Sultan Abdul Medjid in the same library. * ‘The State and Prospects of Turkey and Mohammedanism,’ a lecture, 1854. * ‘Christian Politics: an Essay on the Text of Paley,’ 1855. * ‘A Letter on the … Society of Antiquaries,’ London, 1855. * ‘A Brief Memoir of … Napoleon III,’ London, 1855. * ‘Preachers and Preaching,’ London, 1858. * ‘The Hand of God in India’ (lectures), London, 1858. *‘The Christmas Week: a Christmas Story,’ Edinburgh, 1859. * ‘Sin, its Causes and Consequences’ (Lent lectures), London, 1861. Christmas translated

Augustin Calmet Antoine Augustin Calmet, O.S.B. (26 February 167225 October 1757), a French Benedictine monk, was born at Ménil-la-Horgne, then in the Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire (now the French department of Meuse, located in the region of L ...

's ''Phantom World'' (1850), Christoph Martin Wieland's ‘Republic of Fools’ (1861, 8vo), and other writings. He edited works including

Samuel Pegge Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

's ‘Anecdotes of the English Language’ (1844), the ‘Works of Bishop Ridley’ (1841), and the ‘Select Works of Bishop Bale’ (1849), the last two for the

Parker Society The Parker Society was a text publication society set up in 1841 to produce editions of the works of the early Protestant writers of the English Reformation. It was supported by both the High Church and evangelical wings of the Church of England, an ...

Numismatics

Christmas had a reputation as an English numismatist. From June 1844 till 1847 he acted as joint honorary secretary of the Numismatic Society of London, and madecontributions to the ''

Numismatic Chronicle The Royal Numismatic Society (RNS) is a learned society and charity based in London, United Kingdom which promotes research into all branches of numismatics. Its patron was Queen Elizabeth II. Membership Foremost collectors and researchers, bo ...

'' (Old Series). He also compiled part of a work on British copper currencies: a few copies were printed in 1864, but were never published. Portions of the text and the wood-blocks of coins prepared for Christmas's work were by H. Montagu in ''Copper, Tin, and Bronze Coinage of England'' (1885). Christmas collected British, Saxon, and English silver and copper coins, and also of specimens of the Scotch, Irish, and Anglo-Gallic series. His collection was sold by auction at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

from 1 February 1864.

Notes

References

;Attribution

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christmas, Henry 1811 births 1868 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests English numismatists Noel-Fearn Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Burials at West Norwood Cemetery Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 19th-century Anglican theologians