Person 2

William Miller Christy

1778 – 1858

Description

An English Quaker hatter, textile manufacturer and banker (1778-1858); inventor of the Christy towel and populariser of the beaver hat. He was the father of Henry Christy (donor of many world art works to the British Museum) and Richard Christy. W.M. Christy was not widely known as a collector, and left only a single, remarkable tapa cloth to Kew.

Through Richard, he was also the paternal uncle of his namesake, the North American traveller and philanthropist William Miller Christy (1863-1939), who later presented both entomological collections to the Natural History Museum and botanical collections to Kew.

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Details

Title

Other Names

Miller Christy

Date of Birth

1778

Date of Death

1858

Version

Entry created on 28 August 2020