Henry Gally Knight
Henry Gally Knight, F.R.S. (2 December 1786 – 9 February 1846) was a British M.P., traveller and writer.
He was the only son of Henry Gally (afterwards Gally Knight), barrister, of Langold, and was educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge.[1] He succeeded in 1808 to estates at Firbeck and Langold Park which his father had inherited in 1804 from his brother John Gally Knight.
He was appointed High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire for 1814–15.
He was the author of several Oriental tales, Ilderim, a Syrian Tale (1816), Phrosyne, a Grecian Tale, and Alashtar, an Arabian Tale (1817). He was also an authority on architecture, and wrote various works on the subject, including The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy, Hannibal in Bithynia and The Normans in Sicily, which brought him more reputation than his fictions. He was the nephew of the novelist Frances Jacson.[2]
His best claim to fame may be the satirical poem "Ballad to the Tune of Salley in our Alley" by Lord Byron, in which Byron facetiously accuses him of being not only a poetaster, but a dandy as well.
He owned Firbeck Hall in Rotherham. Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe is set nearby, and Knight may have been Scott's source of local information when he was writing the book. He was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society on 20 May 1841.[3]
He married Henrietta, the daughter of Anthony Hardolph Eyre of Grove Park, Nottinghamshire and the widow of John Hardolph Eyre. They had no children.
References
- "GALLY KNIGHT, Henry (1786-1846), of Firbeck Hall and Langold Park, Yorks.". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
- ↑ "Gally (or Gally-Knight), Henry Gally (GLY805HG)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ↑ ODNB entry for Frances Jacson: Retrieved 19 November 2010.
- ↑ "Lists of Royal Society Fellows". Retrieved 2006-12-15.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons. Wikisource
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Gally Knight
- Portraits of Henry Gally Knight at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- A very brief biography
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry Dawkins Henry Fynes |
Member of Parliament for Aldborough 1814–1815 With: Henry Fynes |
Succeeded by Granville Harcourt-Vernon Henry Fynes |
| Preceded by Francis Jeffrey John Charles Ramsden |
Member of Parliament for Malton 1831–1832 With: Francis Jeffrey 1831 Lord Cavendish of Keighley 1831 Charles Pepys 1831–1832 |
Succeeded by William FitzWilliam Sir Charles Pepys, Bt |
| Preceded by Viscount Lumley Thomas Houldsworth |
Member of Parliament for North Nottinghamshire 1835–1846 With: Thomas Houldsworth |
Succeeded by Lord Henry Bentinck Thomas Houldsworth |