Born: Henry Heavisides was born on 29th November 1791 in Darlington. His parents were Michael Heavisides, the well-known bookseller, and Mary Marsh of Croydon who ran a private boarding school in Darlington.
Educated: He was educated at Darlington Grammar School.
Married: Around 1812 Henry Heavisides married Jane Bradley of Stokesley.
Family: Henry and Jane had a son named Edward Marsh Heavisides who died in 1849 and a son named Michael Heavisides who took over his father’s printing business in 1870 and became a well-known local author in his own right.
Home: In 1811 Henry Heavisides moved to Stokesley, where he worked for a local printer. He then moved to Stockton where he worked for Messrs Jennett and Company until 1857. At one time he lived in The Square, Stockton.
Known for: Henry Heavisides was active in radical politics in Stockton, particularly in the agitation for the Reform Bill in the early 1830s and the rise of the Chartist movement in the late 1830s. He took an active role in political campaigns whenever there was a general election. In 1857 Henry Heavisides set up his own business as a printer and stationer in Finkle Street, Stockton. His book of poetry, “The Pleasures of Home, and other Poems”, was published in 1837. He published “The Minstrelsy of Britain” in 1860 but he is best remembered locally for “The Annals of Stockton-on-Tees”, published in 1865.
Died: Henry Heavisides died on 13th August 1870 in Stockton-on-Tees and was buried in Holy Trinity churchyard in Stockton.
Further Information: “Durham Biographies volume one” Gordon Batho (ed) (2000)
“The Bards and Authors of Cleveland and South Durham” George M. Tweddell (1872)