Henry van Wart
Encyclopedia
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, founded the Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
Stock Exchange and served as one of Birmingham's first Aldermen
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
and a director of the Birmingham Banking Company.
He was married to Sarah Irving, the sister of author Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
. They had four children: William (1812 - 1868), Matilda (b. 1814), Marianne (b. 1816). and George (b. 1817; later a wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
merchant). William later named his first- born Washington Irving Van Wart (b. 1836), whose niece in turn was called Rosalinda Irving Van Wart (b. 1874).
Henry and Sarah met when he was employed by her family's New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
company, Irving & Smith, and they moved to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
when he was tasked with opening a Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
branch of the firm.
After that enterprise failed, they moved to Birmingham, and he set up a profitable business, exporting the city's goods to America.
Washington Irving lived with the van Warts at four of their homes in Birmingham, light- heartedly christening two of these buildings "Castle van Tromp" and writing some of his most successful stories at them.
He is also known to have worshipped at St Paul's Church in St Paul's Square, Birmingham.
Van Wart developed a friendship with Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
businessman Frederick W. Tilton
Frederick W. Tilton
Frederick William Tilton was a New Orleans, Louisiana, businessman and philanthropist who endowed the F.W. Tilton Library at Tulane University....
, who became Van Wart's agent in New Orleans. Tilton endowed the library at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
.