THE HON. HENRY FORBES COLTHIRST (1821 - 1881)

The Hon. Henry Forbes Colthirst (1821 -1881)

The Hon. Henry Forbes Colthirst (1821-1881). Custos of Kingston. Merchant, Politician & Company Director. He was one of the most important figures in Jamaica during the Late 19th Century. Born Kingston, Jamaica 13th of November, 1821, younger son of James Forbes Colthirst (1795-18??), Kingston Merchant, and Frances Hall, his wife. Educated Privately. Senior Partner in the Firm of Davidson & Colthirst, of East Street, Kingston, Jamaica, then the largest Firm of Merchants in the Island. He married in 1850 Theresa Maria (Colthirst). They had 3 Sons and 2 Daughters. Member of Assembly for Kingston in the House of Assembly of Jamaica during the 1850s and 1860s and later a Member of the Legislative Council. Chairman of the Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance Society 1869-1881. Director of the Bank of Jamaica and the Sligo Water Company. Custos of Kingston. His country house, Paradise Pen, which he renamed Colthirst's Pen, was the setting for many important political and social events in Jamaica. The Hon. Henry Forbes Colthirst died in Kingston, Jamaica in 1881 and there is a monument and a stained glass window to his memory in the Kingston Anglican Parish Church. He was 60 years old. From a Photograph by an Unknown Photographer, c. 1869. Private Collection.