Hornby, Hugh Frederick (1826 -1899)

Hugh Frederick Hornby, of Sandown Lodge in Wavertree, Liverpool, was born in 1826, the eldest son of Hugh Hornby, a merchant specialising in trade with Russia, and Louise, daughter of Luc François Cortazzi, Consul of the Venetian Republic at Smyrna. He married Mary Christina daughter of Skinner Z. Langton Esq. of Barrow House, Cumberland in 1859. Hornby took little interest in the family’s business affairs, preferring to devote his time to amassing a collection of rare books, prints and autographs. On his death in 1899 he bequeathed the collection to the City, together with the sum of £10,000 to pay for a building to house it in. The result was the Hornby Library, part of the Central Libraries complex in William Brown Street, opened in 1906. A catalogue of the library was produced to coincide with the opening on the library. Hornby’s stamp is the same as his bookplate.