Frederick John Horniman

Frederick John Horniman (8 October 1835 – 5 March 1906) was an English tea trader and founder of the Horniman Museum in London.[1]

F.J.Horniman
Frederick Horniman by Trevor Haddon (detail)
Frederick J. Horniman

Life

Frederick, born in Bridgwater, Somerset, was the son of John Horniman, who established Horniman's Tea, a tea business using mechanical packaging. By 1891, it was said to be the biggest tea company in the world.

He founded the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, south London. In 1901, he gave the 15 acres (6.1 ha) freehold estate, museum and the art and natural history collections to London County Council for use by the people of London.[2][3]

He was a member of the London County Council, and Liberal Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth in Cornwall from 1895 until 1906.[2]

In 1859 he married Rebekah Emslie (1825–1895).[2][4] Their son Emslie John Horniman (1863–1932)[5] was Liberal MP for Chelsea (1906–10). He continued to develop the museum, and was a noted art collector and patron in his own right, who rebuilt his homes at Burford Priory in Oxfordshire (under Walter Godfrey) and at Garden Corner, Chelsea (under C.F.A. Voysey). Their daughter, Annie Horniman (1860–1937), worked in theatre, being a founder of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.[4]

His first wife died in 1895, and in 1897 he married Minnie Louisa Bennett; they had two daughters.[2]

References
  1. Charlotte Fell Smith (1912). "Horniman, Frederick John" . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. Michael Horniman, ‘Horniman, Frederick John (1835–1906)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2007 accessed 21 Jan 2011
  3. "Falmouth". The Cornubian and Redruth Times (1965). 15 February 1901. p. 5.
  4. ‘Horniman, Annie Elizabeth Fredericka (1860–1937)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 accessed 27 Feb 2013
  5. Who was Who 1897–2007
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
William George Cavendish-Bentinck		 Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth
1895–1906		 Succeeded by
Sir John Barker


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