Henry Man was born in 1747/8 on Prescot Street, Whitechapel, Middlesex, the eldest son of John and Mary (Balchen) Man, and was baptized on 14 February 1747/8 at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel High Street, Whitechapel, Middlesex. 

He married Eleanor Ann Thompson on 17 May 1777 at St Mary Aldermary, Bow Lane (now Queen Victoria Street), London.  Henry died on 4 December 1799 while living on Fenchurch Street in London and was buried on 12 December at St. Margaret Patten (in the Church), Rood Lane, London.  He left a WILL.

Eleanor Thompson was born on 13 November 1744 in London, the daughter of James and Ann (Easthem) Thompson, and was baptized on 21 November at St. Mary Aldermary.  Eleanor died on 13 March 1823 at Maidstone, Kent, and was buried on 21 March at St Margaret Pattens, London.

Henry and Eleanor belong to Generation Three; their children belong to Generation Four and are:

1. PETER BRUELS
2. EMMA CLAUDIANA REBECCA
3. SARAH CAROLINA
4. HARRY STOE
5. JAMES
6. JOHN
7. ELEANOR ANN RANKIN

[References: Henry's birthplace and baptism - FHL Film # 0094693; his marriage and Eleanor's birth date and baptism - FHL Film # 0374484; his date of death - the introduction to his posthumously published 'Miscellaneous Works' (1802); their burials - records obtained at London Metropolitan Archives. Henry's burial in the church is also on microfilm at the Guildhall Library which keeps the parish records for St Margaret Pattens. Microfilm Number 5287/2 ]

Below the baptismal record for Henry Man at St. Mary Matfellon. His entry appears on the last line: 14 Henry Man Son of John and Mary. Prescott Street.

NOTES:  Henry was Deputy Secretary to the South Sea House, Threadneedle Street, London, (shown above) as well as an author.  His works were gathered up after his death and posthumously published in 1802 in two volumes. These volumes are each over 200 pages and can be accessed from this page. Volume One can be viewed here (290 pages over 17 mb) and Volume Two can be viewed here (260 pages over 11 mb) .  An entry for Henry Man appears in the Dictionary of National Biography and he is recalled in Thomas Frognall Dibdin's 'Reminiscences', as well as in Charles Lamb's 'Essays on Elia'.  There is also in our possession his letter to a friend as well as letters to his wife Nelly. He frequently wrote for the Morning Chronicle using the pseudonym HOMO however others too used the same pseudonym and Henry was forced to declare:

A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WORKS OF HENRY MAN (1747-1799).

Henry Man, as author, never wrote under his own name, as was usual at the time, but as 'The Trifler', or as HOMO, or else anonymously. Copies of all of the works listed below are in the possession of David Man and if anyone would like a copy sent them please email dm286@columbia.edu.  Henry Man's articles 'Cursory Thoughts on Education'  (<--- follow this link) published in the Morning Chronicle as well as some articles using the anonym HOMO.

1. 1771. The muse in miniature, a series of moral miscellanies, humbly attempted by the Trifler. Published in London and printed for the author by E. Moore, No 16, Old Broad Street, Consisting of viii, 146 pages. Verse.  (To read The Muse in Miniature in PDF (156 pages) click HERE).
2. 1775. Cloacina; a comi-tragedy. Published in London and printed for George Kearsly, (A dramatic satire on various literary and political figures, including Johnson and Chesterfield). (Note the handwriting on this copy is that of Horace Walpole).
3. 1775. Mr. Bentley, the rural philosopher: a tale. In two volumes. Published in London and printed for W. Goldsmith. (To read volume one of Mr. Bentley in PDF click (226 pages) HERE; to read volume two in PDF (234 pages) click HERE). This book was also reviewed soon after it was published and the review can be read HERE.
4. 1775. Bentley, der Philosoph auf dem Lande: eine Erzahlung. Published in Leipzig, Germany Bey [By] Weidmanns Erben und Reich, 284 p. (To read 'der Philosoph'  click HERE (<--- PDF)).
5. 1777. Mr. Bentley: or, the rural philosopher. A tale. In two volumes... Published in Dublin and printed for W. Whitestone, (successor to the late Mr. Ewing), 274 Pages.
6. 1780. The elders: A farce in two acts [41] leaves. (Also in our possession is a photocopy copy of the original handwritten version which was made by the Huntington Library).
7. 1783. The Trifler No I - VI in The Gentleman's Magazine.
   
8. 1797. Henry Man is supposed to have had some articles published in Volume One (1797) of the following journal: The Spirit of the public journals: Being an impartial selection of the most exquisite essays and jeux d'esprits, principally prose, that appear in the newspapers and other publications. Published in London, and printed for James Ridgway, Vol. 1 (1797).
(Notes: We do not know which of the various pieces that make up this volume belong to Henry, so the entire volume can be accessed from the above link and we leave it to the reader to decide which pieces are Henry's.)
9. 1802. The miscellaneous works, in verse and prose, of the late Henry Man. Published in London by J. Nichols, 1802; Volume One Can be read HERE and Volume Two can be read HERE. A contemporary review of the book appeared in The Poetical register, and repository of fugitive poetry for 1802 ..., Volume 2  as follows: These volumes, it may be presumed, are published by some friend of the late Author. "Heaven defend me from my friends, and I will defend myself from my enemies," was of old said, and not unjustly. The injudicious kindness of friends has, if possible, a more mischievous tendency than even the harshness of splenetic and interested Critics. Nothing but the very folly of friendship could have thought of calling the attention of the world to Mr. Man's writings. They may have pleased in a private circle, but they possess none of the requisites which command the public praise. Mr. Man seems to have written upon every occasion, and by that means to have attained a facility of rhyming. His verses have little either of elegance or thought. By no stretch of courtesy can they be dignified with the title of poetry. They have also a worse fault than being trite; they are sometimes indelicate. His Essays are in a strain of common-place thinking.
   

The following items are about Henry Man and/or his works.

1. Charles Lamb in Essays on Elia describes Henry Man.
2. Dibdin, Thomas Frognall; Reminiscences of a Literary Life. Published: London J. Major, 1836. (Describes Henry Man as 'more of a wag than a wit').
3. Hogan, Beecher Charles. The London Stage 1660-1880, Part 5, 1776-1880. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. Some Account of the English Stage from the Restoration in 1660 to 1830. Vol. VI. Pages 149-150, E. Carrington, Bath.
4. Prance, Claude A (1983) Companion to Charles Lamb: A Guide to people and places 1760-1847. Mansell publishing, New York. Letter No. 343 from Charles Lamb to Sarah Hutchinson January 20, 1825.
5. The English Novel (1740-1850): A catalogue including prose, romances, short stories, and translations of foreign fiction, by Andrew Block (1961). Published by Dawsons, London.
6. Location Register of English Literary Manuscripts and letters: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Volume II, K-Z. Edited by David C. Sutton. Published by the British Library, 1995. Pages 624-625. (Refers to two letters from Henry Man to William Pitt the Younger and one to Walter Sterling held by the Public Records Office in London (PRO 30/8/155/2/172-175). Copies of these may be got through the PRO). We have not got a hold of these yet.
7. Biographica Dramatica; or, a companion to the playhouse: containing historical and critical memoirs, and original anecdotes of British and Irish dramatic writers ... Vol. 1, Part 1 (Reprinted by AMS Press of New York in 1966) pages 451-452. Contains quite a detailed description of the Man himself, his life and works.)
8. America in English Fiction (1760-1800): The influence of the American revolution. By Robert Bechtold Heilman. Published in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by the Louisiana State University Press, 1937. (This work makes brief references to Edward Niklin's 'The History of Sir Geoffrey Restless ...' and 'Flights of Inflatus' which are wrongly attributed to Henry Man. It is somewhat abstract and scholarly. Pages 267 and pages 411- 414.
9. A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors: living and deceased... Vol. II. By S. Austin Allibone. Published by J. B. Lippincot & Co. of Philadelphia, 1872 and republished by The Gale Research Company, Detroit (1965).

Works attributed to Henry Man but are NOT by him.

The following are attributed to Henry Man but in fact were written by Edward Nicklin. The British Library (and many others) catalog 'The Trifler' and the other works listed below as by Henry Man, but they are all the product of another writer, Edward Nicklin. To read a rational of why these are not be Henry Man click here.

1. 1775. The trifler: or, a ramble among the wilds of fancy, the works of nature, and the manners of men ... Vols. 1 and 2. Published in London and printed for R. Baldwin, 1775-77. (Note: 'The Critical Review or Annals of Literature by A Society of Gentlemen', London, Volume 44, 1777, contains an anonymous review of 'The Trifler: or a ramble among the Wilds of Fancy ...' page 64.)
2. 1777 The trifler: or, a ramble ... Vols. 3 and 4. Published in London and printed for R. Baldwin.
3. 1779. The trifler: or, a ramble among the wilds of fancy, the works of nature, and the manners of men. Published in Dublin and printed for W. Colles, G. Burnet, T. Walker, C. Jenkin, W. Hallhead, W. Gilbert, L. L. Flin, and J. Beatty. 322 pages.
4. 1791. The history of Sir Geoffrey Restless, and his brother Charles. By the author of the Trifler. Published in Birmingham and printed by E. Piercy, for W. Lowndes, London.
5. 1791. Flights of Inflatus; or, the sallies, stories, and adventures of a wild-goose philosopher. By the author of The trifler. Published in London and printed for C. Stalker and sold by J. Holl, & W. Smart, Worcester; Sharp, Warwick; Walford, Stratford; Luckman, Coventry; Sandford, Shrewsbury; and Swinney, Birmingham, Two Volumes.

Among those listed as subscribers to Henry Man's posthumous 'Miscellaneous Works' were David Ricardo (left) and his brother Nicholas; the former being one of the great economic thinkers of the eighteenth century.  Since Henry Man's obituary lists him as a 'Stockbroker', as were the Ricardo brothers, it is safe to assume that the Ricardos knew Henry from the exchange. See also the exchange of letters between Henry's cousin George Cumberland and David Ricardo. The letters can be read here.

Below, the interior of St. Mary Matfellon where Henry Man is said to buried and where his children were
baptized (see note below). However a number of attempts to locate Henry's tomb within the church have proven unsuccessful.

NOTE: Although Henry's children were baptized at St. Gabriel, Fenchurch between the years 1778 to 1788, it must be kept in mind that during The Great Fire of London in 1666, St. Gabriel's was destroyed and never rebuilt.  The explanation for this apparent discrepancy is probably that after the Great Fire many of the City of London churches that were not rebuilt were combined with adjacent parishes.  The parish of St Gabriel Fenchurch was combined with St Margaret Pattens in 1670.  In many cases such combined parishes continued to use either two separate registers, or one register with two separate sections for the parishioners of each part of the combined parish.  Obviously with time the practice was discontinued but this would depend on the individual church and incumbent as to when this happened.

Thus Henry, who resided at Fenchurch Street, was a parishioner of a parish without a church and although his children's baptisms took place in the church of St Margaret Pattens they were recorded in the registry of St. Gabriel.  Below the churchyard of St Gabriel which is all that remained after the church burned.