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General First nameMajor Harry Hartley Waite
LastnameSouthey
GenderMale
CountryWales
Date of birth1871-00-00
Place of birthMerthyr-Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales
Date of death1917-03-30
Place of deathGaza, Palestine


About

From the Masonic Great War Project:
https://www.masonicgreatwarproject.org.uk/legend.php?id=2892

Major Henry Southey came from a wealthy family who owned the Merthyr Express newspaper. In his military career he became a captain of one of Merthyr Tydfil’s “Companies of Territorials” and he also served as a Major in the 5th Welsh Regiment. During his career he travelled widely throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East where he was able to collect Roman, Grecian, Egyptian and Asian objects. Major Southey was an enthusiastic amateur and collector rather than a serious academic with a particular area of study and it appears that he simply collected objects that pleased him.

Unfortunately, his enthusiasm for collecting did not extend to recording details of where he obtained the objects so that information about his collection is limited. At Cairo, he became friendly with a curator of an Egyptian museum who helped him to collect “spoils from the tombs”. Major Southey packed these objects away safely in wooden crates ready to be shipped back to Wales.

Major Southey was killed in action during the Battle of Gaza in the First World War and his family generously donated his collection to Cyfarthfa Castle Museum in Merthyr Tydfil after his death. Despite the fact that there is little documentation, his collection is both an outstanding and fascinating legacy.

Media


Archive statistics Career1889 - 1910
Tournament wins1
Matches11
Match wins4


Tournament wins 1896 - Mid-Kent Championships (Amateur)


Tournaments Le Havre - 1910 Mid-Kent Championships - 1907 Le Havre - 1904 Étretat - 1904 Étretat Jouet Challenge Cup - 1904 Mid-Kent Championships - 1896 Bournemouth - 1896 Western India Championships - 1889