Sotonopedia

Sir Henry Englefield was a famous antiquary who published A Walk Through Southampton in 1801 (second edition,1805 and third edition, 1841), giving detailed written descriptions of streets, ancient buildings and other antiquities in the town, together with fine drawings of the same. In view of later destruction and development, this book is indispensable to every student of the topographical history of Southampton.

He was born in 1722, the son of Sir Henry Englefield, the sixth baronet, and spent most of his early life on the family estate in Berkshire. On the death of his father in 1780 Henry moved to Mayfair in London. His scholarship in a number of fields earned election to most of the learned societies in London, including the Royal Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Geological Society. He undertook a number of tours in England and Wales and some of his sketches made on these journeys still survive. His chief topographical work of this time is Picturesque Beauties of the Isle of Wight (1816). He died in London in 1822. Englefield Road in Bitterne Manor was named after him.

1. Henry Charles Englefield

Portrait by Thomas Phillips, 1815

2. West Wall

Drawing of the west wall and Blue Anchor Gate by Englefield, 1801

Newspaper clippings:

A brief memorial of Englefield - (A Walk Through Southampton, 3rd edition, 1841)

Further reading:

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004, Volume 18.
A Walk Through Southampton, by Henry Charles Englefield. (HS/h)

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