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

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Early life

Roth was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the son of Dr Mathias Roth, an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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's ...

'', Vol. 11, MUP, 1988, pp 461-462. Retrieved 2009-11-16 Henry was educated at University College School, London, and studied natural science and philosophy in the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. At 20 years of age, Roth visited

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

. In the spring of 1876 Roth visited the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

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) commissioned to investigate the Queensland sugar industry by English investors. Roth settled at Mackay in northern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, 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. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...

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 town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woo ...

. In 1890 he published ''The Aborigines of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

'', 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 States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

and British North Borneo'' (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 building, listed historic house museum, incorporating a regimental museum and textiles gallery in Boothtown, Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax, England. It is notable for its past ownership and development ...

, Halifax,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, 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

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 Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

of the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

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 Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

, Manchester. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Henry Ling 1855 births 1925 deaths English anthropologists People educated at University College School British emigrants to the Colony of Queensland