Thomas Henry Lister
Thomas Lister | |
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| Born | Thomas Henry Lister 1800 |
| Died | 5 June 1842(aged 41–42) London, England |
| Occupation | Registrar General |
| Nationality | British |
| Genre | Novelist |
| Notable works |
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| Spouse | |
| Children |
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Thomas Henry Lister(1800 – 5 June 1842) was an English novelist and biographer, and served asRegistrar Generalin the British civil service. He was an early exponent of thesilver fork novelas a genre and also presaged "futuristic" writing in one of his stories.
Life and writings
[edit]Lister was the son of Thomas Lister ofArmitage Park,Staffordshire,and his first wife Harriet Anne Seale. His maternal grandfather was John Seale. His paternal half-sister Adelaide Lister was first married to their second cousin,Thomas Lister, 2nd Baron Ribblesdale,and then toJohn Russell, 1st Earl Russell.Lister was educated atWestminster SchoolandTrinity College, Cambridge.[1]He was the brother of novelistHarriet Cradock.[2]
His several novels includeGranby(1826),Herbert Lacy(1828), andArlington(1832).Granby,an early example of the silver fork novel, was favourably reviewed bySydney Smithin theEdinburgh Review.[3]He also wrote aLife ofClarendon.His 1830 story entitled "A Dialogue for the Year 2130" might be described as an early example of science fiction or "futuristic" writing, of the kind later popularized byJules VerneandH. G. Wells.Published inThe Keepsake,a literary annual, it looks forward to a world in which gentlemen go hunting on machines and shoot horses, while a certain Lady D. owns a troublesome automatic letter-writer and is served by a "steam-porter", which opens doors.
In 1836 he was appointed the first Registrar General forEngland and Walesheading a newGeneral Register Office.He set up the system ofcivil registrationof births, deaths and marriages and organized the1841 UK Census.[4]
Personal matters
[edit]On 6 November 1830, Lister married LadyMaria Theresa Villiers,daughter ofGeorge Villiersand Theresa Parker, both of noble families. They had three children:
- Thomas Villiers Lister(1832–1902) diplomat,< married first Fanny Harriet Coryton and secondly Florence Selina Hamilton, daughter of the geologistWilliam Hamiltonby his second wife, Margaret Frances Florence Dillon.
- Maria Theresa Villiers Lister (died 1 February 1863), married the politicianWilliam Vernon Harcourt,by whom she had a son,Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt.
- Alice Beatrice Lister (died 28 March 1898), marriedAlgernon Borthwick, 1st Baron Glenesk,owner of the London newspaper theMorning Post,by whom she had a daughter,Lilias Margaret Frances Borthwick,who marriedSeymour Bathurst, 7th Earl Bathurst.
Thomas Henry Lister died oftuberculosisin 1842, while living atAdelphiTerrace, London.
References
[edit]- ^"Lister, Thomas Henry (LSTR819TH)".A Cambridge Alumni Database.University of Cambridge.
- ^"Author: Harriet Grove Cradock".Victorian Research.Retrieved11 June2022.
- ^Hawes, Donald (2004). "Lister, Thomas Henry (1800–1842)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford New York: Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16768.ISBN9780198614128.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)(subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries)
- ^"The Registrars General 1836-1945: Thomas Henry Lister, 1st Registrar General 1836-1842"(PDF).statistics.gov.uk.Office for National Statistics.2004. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 9 March 2005.Retrieved26 October2005.
External links
[edit]- Works by or about Thomas Henry Listerat theInternet Archive
- "Lister, Thomas Henry".Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- Portrait of Thomas Henry Lister,National Galleries Scotland
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Cousin, John William(1910).A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.London: J. M. Dent & Sons – viaWikisource.- Lister familyat Stirnet
- T. H. ListeratLibrary of Congress,with 7 library catalogue records
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1800 births
- 1842 deaths
- People educated at Westminster School, London
- Writers from London
- English male novelists
- 19th-century English novelists
- 19th-century English male writers
- Tuberculosis deaths in England
- 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis
- Registrars-General for England and Wales
- Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery
- Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge