Thomas Henry Lister (1800 – 5 June 1842) was an English novelist and biographer, and served as

Registrar General General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital recor ...

in the British civil service. He was an early exponent of the silver fork novel as a genre and also presaged "futuristic" writing in one of his stories.

Life and writings

Lister was the son of Thomas Lister of Armitage Park, Staffordshire, and his first wife Harriet Anne Seale. His maternal grandfather was John Seale. His paternal half-sister Adelaide Lister was first married to their second cousin, Thomas Lister, 2nd Baron Ribblesdale, and then to

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and a ...

. Lister was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. He was the brother of novelist Harriet Cradock. His several novels include ''Granby'' (1826), ''Herbert Lacy'' (1828), and ''Arlington'' (1832). ''Granby'', an early example of the silver fork novel, was favourably reviewed by

Sydney Smith Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 – 22 February 1845) was an English wit, writer, and Anglican cleric. Early life and education Born in Woodford, Essex, England, Smith was the son of merchant Robert Smith (1739–1827) and Maria Olier (1750–1801) ...

in the Edinburgh Review. He also wrote a ''Life of Clarendon''. His 1830 story entitled "A Dialogue for the Year 2130" might be described as an early example of science fiction or "futuristic" writing, of the kind later popularized by Jules Verne and

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

heading a new

General Register Office General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital recor ...

. He set up the system of

civil registration Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events ( births, marriages, and deaths) of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database has different names in different countries and even in differ ...

of births, deaths and marriages and organized the 1841 UK Census.

Personal matters

On 6 November 1830, Lister married Lady Maria Theresa Villiers, daughter of George Villiers and Theresa Parker, both of noble families. They had three children: * Thomas Villiers Lister (1832–1902) diplomat,< married first Fanny Harriet Coryton and secondly Florence Selina Hamilton, daughter of the geologist William Hamilton by his second wife, Margaret Frances Florence Dillon. *Maria Theresa Villiers Lister (died 1 February 1863), married the politician William Vernon Harcourt, by whom she had a son,

Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt (born Reginald Vernon Harcourt; 31 January 1863 – 24 February 1922), was a British Liberal Party politician who held the Cabinet post of Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1910 to 1915. Lord ...

. *Alice Beatrice Lister (died 28 March 1898), married Algernon Borthwick, 1st Baron Glenesk, owner of the London newspaper the

Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Po ...

, by whom she had a daughter, Lilias Margaret Frances Borthwick, who married Seymour Bathurst, 7th Earl Bathurst. Thomas Henry Lister died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

in 1842, while living at Adelphi Terrace, London.

References

External links

* *
Portrait of Thomas Henry Lister
National Galleries Scotland *

at Stirnet.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lister, Thomas Henry 1800 births 1842 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London Writers from London English male novelists 19th-century English novelists 19th-century English male writers Tuberculosis deaths in England 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Registrars-General for England and Wales Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge