Henry van Laun

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Henri van Laun, a French teacher at Edinburgh Academy, lived at No. 8 for about a year, in 1870-71.1 He was born on 13 November 1819 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.2,3 About 1848 he moved to England and embarked on a brief career in journalism, before turning to teaching. He was French master successively at King William’s College, Isle of Man and Cheltenham College, before moving to Edinburgh.4 He taught at the Edinburgh Academy from 1869 to 1874.5 About 1876 he moved to London, and over the next twenty years served as French examiner for the Civil Service Commission and the War Office.6 He died at his home in Kensington, London on 19 January 1896.7

Van Laun was a translator and author, as well as school teacher. His translation of M. Taine’s History of English Literature was published while he was resident in Malta Terrace and he had already published the three volume A Grammar of the French Language (London, 1863-1864). His History of French Literature was published in 1876-1877, followed by French Revolutionary Epoch 1774-1870 in 1879.8 He was said to have “brought to his task a knowledge of French and English idiom such as few men possess, a cultivated critical taste, and a vast store of scholarly erudition.”9

Henri van Laun married Sophia Noah on 23 July 1853, at Lambeth, London.10 She was born in London about 1820, daughter of clothier Isaac (or John) Noah and his wife Sarah. She died in Notting Hill, London on 05 February 1900.11

They had three children, two sons and a daughter. Minnie Sophia van Laun was born at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in 186012 and died there two years later.13 Their sons were listed at No. 8 Malta Terrace in the 1871 census, aged 13 and 11 years,14 and both attended Edinburgh Academy during the family’s residence in Edinburgh.15

Henry Theodore van Laun was born at Castletown, Isle of Man on 18 April 1858.16 He began his career as a general merchant in the City of London and acting as a founder shareholder for several joint-stock companies. He was described as a merchant in the 1881 census.17 In the next census, in 1891 he was described as a student of law,18 having been admitted to the Inner Temple in November 1888. He was called to the bar on 17 November 1892.19 In 1891, backed by Cecil Rhodes and the British South Africa Company, he won the concession to build a railway from Beira to Rhodesia. This venture launched a career that saw him variously described as merchant, company promoter, shipping magnate, financier, horse dealer, company secretary and director, gold-mine owner, barrister, politician and author.20 He died at Bournemouth, Hampshire in 1932.21

At Kensington, on 25 May 1889,22,23 Henry T. van Laun married his first wife, Catherine Anne Clulow, whose divorce from her first husband, Samuel Gray, was decreed on 07 May 1889.24 She petitioned for divorce, her second, in 1900 and a separation was eventually agreed.25 Henry T. Van Laun married his second wife, Celia May Challis in 1914.26 She died aged 83 in 1954.27

Thomas Alfred van Laun was born at Castletown, Isle of Man in June 1859 and died at Atcham, Shropshire in 1915. He was a stockbroker. He married Maud Craker on 27 April 1903 at St James, West Hampstead, London.28 He was recorded in the 1911 census resident in Rowton Lodging House, Camden, and a widower.29

References

  1. PO Directory 1870-1871.
  2. Monumental inscriptions. England. Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey. 19 January 1896. van LAUN, Henri. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8231875/henri-van_laun: accessed 20 October 2023.
  3. Census records. Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 02 April 1871. Van LAUN, Henri (Head). 685/1 88/ 11. Ancestry collection ‘1871 Scotland Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 20 October 2023.
  4. Obituaries. The Times. 22 January 1896. Van LAUN, Henri. p. 10, col. E. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Times/1896/Obituary/Henri_van_Laun: accessed 20 October 2023.
  5. The Edinburgh Academy Register. (1914) Edinburgh: Constable for Edinburgh Academical Club. p. li. https://archive.org/details/edinburghacademy00edinuoft/page/n57/mode/2up?q=Laun: accessed 28 October 2023.
  6. Cooper, Thompson. (1899) ‘Van Laun, Henri’ in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 1885-1900. Oxford: OUP. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Van_Laun,_Henri: accessed 28 October 2023.
  7. Obituaries. Op. cit.
  8. Cooper, Thompson. (1899) Op. cit.
  9. Obituaries. Op. cit.
  10. Marriages (PR) England. St John’s Waterloo, Surrey. 23 July 1853. Van LAUN, Henri and NOAH, Sophia. P85/JNA3/049. London Metropolitan Archives. Ancestry collection ‘London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1938.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 28 October 2023.
  11. Probate records. England. London. Administration. 06 March 1900. Van LAUN, Sophia. Ancestry collection ‘England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 28 October 2023.
  12. Baptisms (PR) England. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. 03 October 1860. Van LAUN, Minnie Sophia. P78/1 in 1/17. Gloucestershire Archives. Ancestry collection ‘Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1913.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 20 October 2023.
  13. Burials (PR) England. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. 03 November 1862. Van LAUN, Minnie Sophia. P78/1 in 1/68. Gloucestershire Archives. Ancestry collection ‘Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1988.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 28 October 2023.
  14. Census records. Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 02 April 1871. Van LAUN, Henri (Head). 685/1 88/ 11. Ancestry collection ‘1871 Scotland Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 20 October 2023.
  15. The Edinburgh Academy Register. (1914) Edinburgh: Constable for Edinburgh Academical Club. p. 320. https://archive.org/details/edinburghacademy00edinuoft/page/n57/mode/2up?q=Laun: accessed 28 October 2023.
  16. Baptisms (PR) England. Casteltown, Isle of Man. 03 May 1858. Van LAUN, Henry Theodore. Ancestry collection ‘Isle of Man, Select Births and Baptisms, 1821-1911.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 31 October 2023.
  17. Census records. England. Kensington, London. 03 April 1881. Van LAUN, Henry T. RG11/41/10. Ancestry collection ‘1881 England Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 31 October 2023.
  18. Census records. England. Kensington, London. 05 April 1891. Van LAUN, Henry T. RG12/26/20. Ancestry collection ‘1891 England Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 29 October 2023.
  19. The Inner Temple. Collections. 2023. Van Lawn, Henry Theodore. https://archives.innertemple.org.uk/names/59a951db-548b-42cc-bb10-1323e4d34e31: accessed 29 October 2023.
  20. Deitz, Sarah. (2020) Entrepreneurship in the Age of Empire. London: Routledge. Chapter 3: The Role of the Company Promoter in Joint-Stock Enterprise. Henry Theodore Van Laun – The Promoter. Google books extract. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Entrepreneurship_in_the_Age_of_Empire/LK0PEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Henry+Theodore+van+Laun&pg=PT65&printsec=frontcover: accessed 29 October 2023.
  21. Deaths index (CR) England. Bournemouth and Christchurch, Hampshire. Q2, 1932. Van LUAN, Henry T. vol. 2b, p. 923. https://gro.gov.uk: accessed 28 October 2023.
  22. Marriages index (CR) England. Kensington, London. Q2, 1889. CLULOW, Catherine Ann and Van LAUN, Henry Theodore. vol. 1a, p. 366. Ancestry collection ‘England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837-1915.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 31 October 2023.
  23. Divorce records. England. London. Petition. 18 June 1900. Van LAUN, Henry Theodore. and Van LAUN, Catherine Anne. J 77/694/1103. The National Archives. Ancestry collection ‘England & Wales, Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1918.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 29 October 2023.
  24. Divorce records. England. London. Decree. 07 May 1889. CLULOW (GRAY), Catherine Anne v. GRAY, Samuel. J 77/403/2261. The National Archives. Ancestry collection ‘England & Wales, Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1918.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 29 October 2023.
  25. Divorce records. England. London. Petition. 18 June 1900. Van LAUN, Henry Theodore. and Van LAUN, Catherine Anne. J 77/694/1103. The National Archives. Ancestry collection ‘England & Wales, Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1918.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 29 October 2023.
  26. Marriages index (CR) England. St Martin, London. Q4, 1914. CHALLIS, Celia May and Van LAUN, Henry T. vol. 1, p. 1335. Ancestry collection ‘England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837-1915.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 31 October 2023.
  27. Deaths index (CR) England. Bournemouth, Hampshire. Q4, 1954. Van LAUN, Cecelia may. vol. 6, p. 190. https://gro.gov.uk: accessed 31 October 2023.
  28. Marriages (PR) England. West Hampstead, London. 27 April 1903. Van LAUN, Thomas Alfred and CRAKER, Maud. P81/JS/A/02/002. London Metropolitan Archives. Ancestry collection ‘London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1938.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 28 October 2023.
  29. Census records. England. St Pancras, London. 02 April 1911. Van LAUN, Thomas. Ancestry collection ‘1911 England Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 28 October 2023.

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