Frederick John Horniman

F.J.Horniman
Frederick J. Horniman

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

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 museum to London County Council for use by the people of London.[1]

He was a member of the London County Council, and Liberal Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth in Cornwall from 1895 until 1906.[1]

In 1859 he married Rebekah Emslie (1825–1895).[1][2] Their son Emslie John Horniman (1863 1932)[3] 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.[2]

In 1897 he married Minnie Louisa Bennett; they later had two daughters.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Michael Horniman, ‘Horniman, Frederick John (1835–1906)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2007 accessed 21 Jan 2011
  2. 2.0 2.1 ‘Horniman, Annie Elizabeth Fredericka (1860–1937)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 accessed 27 Feb 2013
  3. Who was Who 1897–2007

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
William George Cavendish-Bentinck
Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth
18951906
Succeeded by
Sir John Barker