The Henty Children

"Oh, that would be jolly," Charley said, "I know, I papa, having fights with Indians, and all that sort of thing. Oh, it would be glorious!"

"Well, Charley," his father said, smiling, "I do not know that we shall have fights with Indians, nor do think it would be very jolly if we did. But we should have to rough it, you know; you boys would have to work hard, to help me in everything, and to look after the cattle and sheep."

George Alfred Henty, son of stockbroker James Henty and Mary Bovill, was born 8 Dec 1832 at Trumpington, near Cambridge, England. With the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, Henty and his brother Frederick joined the British Army. In 1855 they were sent to the Crimea, where Frederick died the following year of cholera. During George’s service in Crimea, he was stricken with a fever and sent home.

The now-promoted Captain married Elizabeth “Lizzie” Finucane, daughter of WHO and WHO, on 1 Jul 1857 in WHERE. Elizabeth was born 1836 in Neland, Ireland. She died of tuberculosis 1865 in WHERE. Overcome with grief which would take years for him to recover from, he resigned his position as captain because it wasn’t sufficient to support his family and launched into a career as war correspondent for The Standard, a British newspaper.

He began his story telling career with his four children. After dinner, he would spend an hour or two in telling them a story that would continue the next day. Some stories took weeks. A friend was present one day and watched the spell-bound reaction of his children suggesting that he write down his stories so others could enjoy them. In 1871 he published Out on the Pampas using his children as characters in the book. After this he became quite well known and wrote about 88 books for boys plus stories for magazines. He was dubbed as “The Prince of Storytellers” and “The Boy’s Own Historian.”

In his later life, George took a trip to the gold fields of California, but it wore him out. He remarried on 21 Dec 1889 to Elizabeth Keylock, his devoted housekeeper who for many years had assisted in caring for his children. During his lifetime, he suffered numerous bouts of illness and died in Weymouth Harbour on 16 Nov 1902 while aboard his yacht “The Egret”. He was buried beside his wife “Lizzie” and their daughters at Brompton Cemetery, London.

Children of George & Elizabeth Henty:

Ethel Mary Henty was born abt. 1863 in WHERE. She died March 1882 in WHERE.

Charles Gerald Henty was born in 1859 in Clapham, England. He died WHEN in WHERE.

Hubert George Henty was born abt. 13 Apr 1860 in Wandsworth, England and died WHEN in WHERE.

Maud Elizabeth Henty was born abt. 19 Jun 1861 in St. James Norlands, Kensington, England. She died 1879 in WHERE.