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Henry Ling Roth (3 February 1855 – 12 May 1925) was an English-born anthropologist and museum curator, active in Australia.


Early life

Roth was born in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
, the son of Dr Mathias Roth, an
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
n-born surgeon, and his English wife Anna Maria, ''née'' Collins.Helga M. Griffin,
Roth, Henry Ling (1855 - 1925)
, ''
Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia ...
'', Vol. 11, MUP, 1988, pp 461-462. Retrieved 2009-11-16
Henry was educated at
University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...
, London, and studied natural science and philosophy in Germany. At 20 years of age, Roth visited
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was ...
. In the spring of 1876 Roth visited
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
and remained there until December 1877. Shortly afterwards his ''Notes on the Agriculture and Peasantry of Eastern Russia'' was published at London.


Career

In 1878 Roth went to Australia (preceding his brothers Reuter Emerich Roth and
Walter Edmund Roth Walter Edmund Roth (2 April 1861 – 5 April 1933) was a British colonial administrator, anthropologist and medical practitioner, who worked in Queensland, Australia and British Guiana between 1898 and 1928. Roth and his brother, Henry Ling R ...
) commissioned to investigate the Queensland sugar industry by English investors. Roth settled at Mackay in northern
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
, and published ''A Report on the Sugar Industry in Queensland'' (1880). Papers on "The Climate of Mackay" and "On the Roots of the Sugar Cane" appeared in the ''Journal and Proceedings'' of the
Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June 1 ...
in 1881 and 1883. He had an article in
The Brisbane Courier ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...
for 1 April 1884, subsequently returned to England, and in 1888 was established in business at
Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th cen ...
. In 1890 he published ''The Aborigines of
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
'', a careful and able gathering together of the available information relating to a vanished race. A second edition appeared in 1899. In 1896 Roth brought out another important book, ''The Natives of
Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, K ...
and British
North Borneo (I persevere and I achieve) , national_anthem = , capital = Kudat (1881–1884);Sandakan (1884–1945);Jesselton (1946) , common_languages = English, Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, Sabah Malay, Chinese etc. , gove ...
'' (published by Truslove and Hanson), largely based on the manuscript of Hugh Brooke Low. He spent much time in a wide range of ethnological studies and many of his papers were published in scientific journals. In June 1900 Roth was appointed honorary curator of the
Bankfield Museum Bankfield Museum is a grade II listed historic house museum, incorporating a regimental museum and textiles gallery in Boothtown, Halifax, England. It is notable for its past ownership and development by Colonel Edward Akroyd, MP, and its ...
, Halifax,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
, then in a very run-down condition. Roth soon improved the museum, and in 1912 was appointed half-time keeper and later on he worked full-time on the museum. Roth published ''Great Benin; Its Customs, Art and Horrors'' (1903), and ''The Yorkshire Coiners, 1767-1783'' (1906), and ''Notes on Old and Prehistoric Halifax'' (1906). That Roth still retained his interest in Australia is indicated by his book on ''The Discovery and Settlement of Port Mackay, Queensland'', which was published in 1908. Roth's ''Oriental Silverwork, Malay and Chinese'', appeared in 1910 (again with Truslove and Hanson). Around this time he began publishing a long series of
Bankfield Museum Bankfield Museum is a grade II listed historic house museum, incorporating a regimental museum and textiles gallery in Boothtown, Halifax, England. It is notable for its past ownership and development by Colonel Edward Akroyd, MP, and its ...
notes, of which 23 numbers eventually appeared. In 1916 ''Sketches and Reminiscences from Queensland, Russia and Elsewhere'', was privately printed. His health was not robust and in August 1924 he resigned from the museum, but continued to help in its work when his health permitted. Roth died on 12 May 1925 and was survived by his wife (Nancy Harriette, ''née'' Haigh) and two sons.


Legacy

Roth was a modest man, his work in anthropology was very largely based on the fieldwork of other men, but he had a talent for collating information and records, and his volumes on the Tasmanian aborigines and the natives of Sarawak and North Borneo were standard books. Roth's work has not been fully appreciated; a list of his publications will be found in ''Man'' for July 1925. Henry Ling Roth's collection of books was acquired by the
library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
of the
University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
in 1917.


References

* *Gorman, A.C. 2008 The primitive body and colonial administration: Henry Ling Roth's approach to body modification. In Russell McDougall and Iain Davidson (eds) The Roth Family: Anthropology and Colonial Administration, pp 93–103, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek CA


External links

* *
Henry Ling Roth Papers
at the
John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriqueta ...
, Manchester. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Henry Ling 1855 births 1925 deaths English anthropologists People educated at University College School