Henry Huff Pritchard (abt. 1782 - 1828)

Born about 1782 in St Helena

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Hodson) Pritchard — married 9 Nov 1808 (to 1819) in Saint Helena

Husband of Eliza (Greentree) Pritchard — married 5 Sep 1822 in Saint Helena

Descendants

Died 11 Jan 1828 at about age 46 in Saint Helena

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Biography

Henry was born about 1782 on Saint Helena. He was baptised 15 Dec 1782 at St James, son of James and Penelope Pritchard.

1802 - Pritchard, Henry Huff; Ensgn. HEIC

9 Nov 1808 - Bachelor Henry Huff Pritchard married Spinster Elizabeth Hodson at St James

1814 - Pritchard, Henry Huff; Maj., Supt. of Telegraphs, HEIC St Helena Corps of Artillery, Service Start 1814 Oct 13,

1 Oct 1815 - Pritchard, H.H.; Position Supt Telegraphs Department Civil & Medical Period HEIC, Salary (£) 90 0s 0d

1815 -1828 (Chaplin Who's Who): Pritchard, Henry Huff Capt. Year Present or Arrived 1815, Affiliation Army, In charge of Telegraphs Regiment St Helena Foot Regt., Died 1828

1815-1821 Principal House List 075: 1821 - Pritchard, H H, Capt., Supt. of Telegraphs, Ladder Hill

15 Sep 1822 - Widower, Major Henry Huff Pritchard married Widow, Elizabeth Alexander at St James.

1827 Inhabitants list (Fox) 236: Pritchard, Henry Huff, Major, St Helena Artillery

Henry passed away in January 1828 and was buried in the St James churchyard. A memorial tablet in the garden of St James Church reads:

"Sacred to the Memory of Major H.H. PRITCHARD of this estment who departed this life 11th Jan 1828 aged 44 years. Also his first wife Elizabeth died April the 5th 1819 aged 51 years and two of their infant children."

His burial registration is actually dated 10 Jan, the day before that listed as date of death on the memorial. His actual date of death was probably the 9 Jan 1828.

Life Sketch

The Pritchards can be traced back to Stephen (known as James) Pritchard, who emigrated to St Helena after the Great Fire of London, 1666.

His descendant Maj. Henry Huff Pritchard was adjutant to Lt Col. Sir Hudson Lowe, governor of St Helena, when Napoleon was exiled there in 1815, and was expected to report to the governor on the activities of the ex-emperor and his staff. Henry Huff Pritchard died on 11 January 1828, on the day that his promotion to Colonel was gazetted.

Charles the youngest son of Henry Huff and Elizabeth Ann Eleanor Pritchard was born c. 1814. At about 18 he was commissioned an ensign in the service of the English East India Company on 11 March 1833. On the dissolution of the Company is 1836, Charles was pensioned and emigrated to the Cape, settling in Beaufort West.

Short of funds Charles set off to Cape Town on horseback in order to attempt to commute his annual pension of 120 to a lump sum of 300. On the way he fell ill and was nursed back to health by a farmer's daughter, whom he married in 1840.

Charles Pritchard * St Helena, died Simonstown 1905; arrived SA 1836; farmed Langeberg; one of the pioneers of Beaufort West; Member of the Legislative Assembly by 1874; for 25 years a member of the Cape Parliament married Durbanville 12-5-1840 Johanna Hermina DE VILLIERS, * 5-11-1822, + Three Anchor Bay 16-9-1909; both buried in DRC cemetery, Beaufort West She was the eighth child of David de Villiers (born 5-10-1787; lived on farm where Durbanville laid out; moved 1836 to Beaufort West; died BW 22-4-1860) and Anna Susanna RETIEF (12-1-1788 - 27-3-1845; cousin of Voortrekker leader Pieter Retief

They had 13 children. [Malherbe, Juna & Malherbe, Alet. Genealogy of the De Villiers Family in South Africa, 2 vols.. Franschhoek: De Villiers Publication Fund, 1997] Added by Christine (Wolhuter) Schwarz 21 Oct 2021

Family

Sources

• Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA). The Diocese of St Helena Parish Registers and Indices held at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Historical Papers Research Archive series AB2073:
  • Saint Helena Baptism Register St James 15 Dec 1782 [1]
  • Saint Helena Marriage Register St James 9 Nov 1808 [2]
  • Saint Helena Marriage Register St James 5 Sep1822 [3]
  • Saint Helena Burial Register St James 10 Jan 1828 [4]
• A St Helena who's who, or a directory of the island during the captivity of Napoleon in 1815-1821 by Chaplin
• 1827 East India Company Register & Directory (British Library F/4/1264)
• 1939 Kitching, GC, Handbook & Gazetteer of the Island of St Helena

MARRIAGE: 1808 - to Elizabeth Ann Eleanor Hodson "World Miscellaneous Marriages, 1662-1945", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLG7-RZ1 : 10 February 2020), Elizabeth Hodson in entry for Henry Huff Pritchard, 1808.

MARRIAGE: 1822 - to Elizabeth Eyalander "World Miscellaneous Marriages, 1662-1945", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLG7-NJZ : 10 February 2020), Henry Huff Pritchard, 1822.

Acknowledgments