Sir Henry Hoyle Howorth (1 July 1842 – 15 July 1923) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician,

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

and amateur historian and geologist.''Obituary: Sir Henry Howorth, A Life of Wide Interests, Politics, Science, and Art'', The Times, 17 July 1923, p.14

Career

He was born in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

, the son of Henry Howorth, a merchant in that city. He was educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was fou ...

before studying law. He was called to the bar by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

in 1867, and practised on the Northern Circuit. He was also the maternal great uncle of anthropologist Sir Edmund Ronald Leach. He was a Unionist in politics, and was elected as Conservative

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Salford South in

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

. He was re-elected in

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies fo ...

and

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

before retiring from the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

at the 1900 general election. Apart from the law and politics, Howorth was deeply interested in

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...

, history,

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inc ...

and

ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...

. He was a prolific writer, contributing articles to a number of journals. In 1892 he was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

in recognition of his works on the history and ethnography of Asia. In 1893 he was made 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 mathemati ...

, against considerable opposition as he lacked any formal scientific education. He subsequently became Honorary Librarian of Chetham's College, Manchester, and a Trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. He was also a Member of the

Chetham Society The Chetham Society "for the publication of remains historic and literary connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester" is a text publication society and registered charity (No. 700047) established on 23 March 1843. History The ...

, serving as a Member of Council from 1877 until 1900. He was also a Member of the

Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit. & Phil., is one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom and second oldest provincial learned society (after the Spalding Gentlemen's Society). Promine ...

and a Freemason. Howorth was a controversialist, frequently airing his opinions on the letters page of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', sometimes under the pseudonym "A Manchester Conservative". He married Katherine Brierley in 1869 and they had three sons, one of whom was Sir Rupert Howorth. His wife predeceased him in 1921. Sir Henry Howorth died in July 1923 aged 81, and was buried in

Putney Vale Cemetery Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in southwest London is located in Putney Vale, surrounded by Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park. It is located within of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938 ...

Catastrophism

Howorth rejected the

uniformitarianism Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or the Uniformitarian Principle, is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific observations have always operated in the universe in ...

James Hutton James Hutton (; 3 June O.S.172614 June 1726 New Style. – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the father of modern geology, he played a key role ...

and

Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...

. He attacked the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

theory in his book ''The Mammoth and the Flood'' (1887). He defended a form of neo- diluvialism, that catastrophic floods had devastated large areas of the earth.Kruger, Tobias. (2013). ''Discovering the Ice Ages: International Reception and Consequences for a Historical Understanding of Climate''. Brill. pp. 282-283. He did not believe in a global flood and considered the biblical deluge just one of many

flood myth A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the prima ...

s to support his theory. He used geological evidence to support his theory in ''The Glacial Nightmare and the Flood'' (1893). In 1905, he wrote another book ''Ice or Water'' that attempted to refute the glacial theory in detail. Professional geologists were not convinced by his theory.

Works

The books and journals he authored summarise his vast areas of interest: On

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

: * H.H. Howorth (霍渥斯), ''History of the Mongols'' (in three-volumes, 1876–88): ** *
History of the Mongols: The Mongols proper and the Kalmuks: Part I
*
History of the Mongols, from the 9th to the 19th Century: Part I
** * H.H. Howorth, ''History of Chinghis Khan and his Ancestors''. * H.H. Howorth, "The Spread of the Slaves, Part III: The Northern Serbs or Sorabians and the Obodoiti", ''The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland'', 9 (1880), pp. 181–232. On the English Church: * H.H. Howorth, ''The History of the Church in England to the Eighth Century'' (in three volumes, 1912–17): ** ''

Saint Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

'' (1912); ** ''

Saint Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury (early 6th century – probably 26 May 604) was a monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.Delaney ''D ...

'' (1913); and ** ''The Golden Days of the Early English Church'' (1917). In his geological works, he attacked the theories of

, discounting the existence of

Ice Ages An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

in favour of great floods: ** H.H. Howorth
''The Mammoth and the Flood''
(1887); ** H.H. Howorth, ''The Glacial Nightmare'' (1893); and ** H.H. Howorth, ''Ice or Water?'' (1905).

References

External links

*
Chetham Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howorth, Henry H 1842 births 1923 deaths Catastrophism Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Presidents of the Royal Numismatic Society Members of the Inner Temple People educated at Rossall School UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Salford South Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Chetham Society Presidents of the Royal Archaeological Institute