Houghton, Henry

Henry Houghton married George Eliot's half-sister Fanny, who was fourteen years older than Eliot, probably in 1835 or 1836. Until then Fanny had kept house for her elder brother Robert at Kirk Hallam. Houghton was a Warwickshire land valuer who signed the Baginton tithe map in 1841 and valued the Wappenbury tithes in 1852. He lived first at Baginton and later at Leamington. Eliot's letters mention him only through Fanny. He visited Eliot at Foleshill in April 1848, and in December 1855 he promised to meet her at the station. He was often unwell. Eliot worried about his health in 1848, and after his accident in May 1857 she suggested a seaside resort where he might recover. That same month, when Eliot told Fanny about her life with Lewes, Fanny cut her off, almost certainly at their brother Isaac's direction. The sisters' correspondence ended, and they never met again. No letters by Houghton survive, and no life dates for him have been found.

George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org

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Henry Houghton, Houghton, Henry, Social Network Gallery, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed November 11, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/97223