Direct descendant of Alexander Henry seeking information

[rrdb]

Hi - Alexander Henry was my great-great-grandfather, and I am re-starting researching his life here in edinburgh, where I live. Last time I did (1994), I had small kids (now grown up) and the internet didn't exist, to all intents and purposes!

I'd be very grateful if anyone has any references to him, or can recommend good material / sites etc.

I have the treatise on the British Martini Henry rifle book, and some extracts from others, and also some original letters of his.

Thanks



Richard

[jamie5070]

Richard, You might try asking over on the british gun site britishmilitariaforums.yuku.com. There is a lot more activity there on martinis.
john

[Jc5]

Search for the 1st volume of Wal Winfer's series of books on British Single-Shot Rifles. It focuses on Alexander Henry.

[rrdb]

Here's Alexander Henry's grave in Warriston cemetery, Edinburgh - note his year of birth is 1818, not 1828, as I've often seen.



Also, here is the answer to the family story I'd heard so much about from my late dad:



Tragic.

[rrdb]

This is held by the Museum of Scotland. It was donated by my father, Charles Henry Brown.

[Surpmil]

A man with that full a life must have left a great deal of papers etc. Have you been able to find out what happened to those? Wills are a good place to start as you probably know.

Was his son who was accidentally killed his only son?

[rrdb]

Thanks for the reply.

We have a book of "flimsies" (forerunners of photocopies - like a "carbon copy") of letters he wrote in 1873, which are interesting. Yes, I will find out about his will.

He had a number of children ... with several tragedies along the way ...

Eliza Mackay – my great grandmother, married Alexander Brown
Jemima
James Alexander – accidental shooting
William Orchardson – measles and teething
Isabella
Alexander - took over the business
John C

Somewhere along the way I discovered a “stillborn” in 1857 …

He's described as a "little man ... whom tragedy seemed to stalk ..." in one book.

Too right.

[Surpmil]

You'll probably find that the papers etc. were split up among his children and have spread out from there. You'll need to track all those descendants down to be sure you have found it all.

Are you planning on writing a biography of him? He certainly deserves one.

If guns are not your thing, that would be a steep learning curve to cover that aspect of his life. Of course that is the aspect that most people would want to read about.

If a biography is your intention, perhaps you can find a collaborator who is already a student of A.H.'s guns who could work with you on that aspect of it.

[rrdb]

It could turn into a biography, yes.

I understand that the guns would be of foremost interest to people.

It's not that I'm not keen on the guns side, but understandably, he's a "relative" and had quite a life ... plus there are interesting elements of Victorian Edinburgh and Scotttish life to be explored, so that's likely to be the focus.

I've got Wal Winfer's book, and Temple and Skennerton, plus have seen large extracts of Kirton.

Who knows where it will go ?!!

[rrdb]

For your interest, I gave a 45 min talk on Alexander Henry, and what was happening around Edinburgh to do with the Volunteers in the late 1800s, last week in Edinburgh ...

... making progress.