Henry de Beltgens Gibbins

Who was Henry de Beltgens Gibbins?

Henry de Beltgens Gibbins was a popular historian of 19th century England whose books were bestsellers in the late Victorian period; his Industry in England went to ten editions over fifteen years, and was published internationally.

On his father's side he was from a Huguenot family which had moved from Hampshire to London in the late 18th century; his maternal grandfather Jean de Beltgens was a member of the House of Assembly in Dominica, West Indies. He was educated at Bradford Grammar School and at Wadham College, Oxford, where he was Cobden Prizeman, and he was later ordained and awarded a D.Litt. from University College Dublin. He was Assistant Master at Nottingham High School from 1889 to 1895, Vice-Principal of Liverpool College from 1895 to 1899 and then Headmaster of King Charles I School, Kidderminster. His final appointment in 1906 was as Principal of Bishop's University in Canada, but he resigned due to ill health and died soon after at the age of 42.

He was a prolific author, specializing in the economic, industrial and social history of England in the nineteenth century.