Person    | Male  Born 8/10/1835  Died 5/3/1906

Frederick Horniman

Tea merchant, benefactor and politician. Born Frederick John Horniman at Bridgwater, Somerset. He inherited his father's tea business, which by 1891 was described as the biggest tea firm in the world. He embarked on a three month trip to India and Ceylon, collecting items that were to form the basis of the future museum. He entered parliament in 1895, and immeditely set off on a world tour. Died at his home, Falmouth House, 20 Hyde Park Terrace.

2020: During the Black Lives Matter protests the Chief Executive of the museum was quoted: "... as far as we know ... our founder Frederick Horniman did not own slaves or plantations – in fact he was born two years after the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. We do, however, acknowledge the fact that the family wealth that enabled his collection and the creation of the museum was derived from the tea trade, which was reliant on the exploitation of people living in the British Empire."

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Frederick Horniman

Commemorated ati

Forest Hill mural

{Panel 1:} A Brief Local History In medieval times this area was known as The...

Read More

Frederick Horniman

Greater London Council The Horniman Museum and gardens were given to the peop...

Read More

Horniman at Hay's

The plaque is incorrect in giving Thomas Cubitt as the designer. It was in f...

Read More

Other Subjects

Blanche Esther Barnett

Blanche Esther Barnett

Blanche Esther Berliner was born on 4 November 1876 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, the eldest of the three children of Berman Berliner (1848-1913) and Helen Harriet Benjamin Berliner née Thoemin (1...

Person, Benefactor

1 memorial
Hilda Seligman

Hilda Seligman

Author and sculptor. Born Hilda Mary McDowell. In the 1930s she entertained both Mahatma Gandhi and Haile Selassie at her home in Wimbledon, and sculpted the bust of Selassie which now stands in Ca...

Person, Benefactor, Literature, Sculpture, India

1 memorial
Sir Charles James Freake

Sir Charles James Freake

Architect, builder and patron of the arts.

Person, Architecture, Benefactor, Property

1 memorial
Memorial to the Women of World War II

Memorial to the Women of World War II

A York-based group of volunteers set up to raise funds for the memorial in Whitehall.

Group, Benefactor, History

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Willie Rushton

Willie Rushton

Satirical cartoonist, comedian and author. Born 3 Wilbraham Place, Chelsea. Worked on 'That was the week that was', 'Not only...But also', 'I'm sorry I haven't a clue' (where he revelled in the arc...

Person, Humour, TV & Radio

2 memorials
Edmund Payne

Edmund Payne

Actor, comedian and singer. Born in Hackney. He used his short stature and malleable features to create a popular comic persona. On stage he was often partnered by George Grossmith junior. See ther...

Person, Humour, Music / songs, Theatre

1 memorial