Henry Gally Knight

Henry Gally Knight, FRS (2 December 1786 – 9 February 1846), a country gentleman of Yorkshire, educated at Eton and Cambridge, was the author of several Oriental tales, "Ilderim, a Syrian Tale" (1816), "Phrosyne, a Grecian Tale", and "Alashtar, an Arabian Tale" (1817). He was also an authority on architecture, and wrote various works on the subject, including "The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy", and "The Normans in Sicily", which brought him more reputation than his fictions.

He owned Firbeck Hall in Rotherham. Sir Walter Scott's novel "Ivanhoe" is set nearby, and Knight may have been Scott's source of local information when he was writing the book. He was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society on 20 May 1841. [cite web | url=http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=1727 | title=Lists of Royal Society Fellows | accessdate=2006-12-15]

References

External links

* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp02576 A portrait] at the National Portrait Gallery
* [http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/graphics/Learning/Archives+and+Museums/Rotherham+Greats/_The+19th+Century.htm A very brief biography]