Harold Hartley

Harold Thomas Hartley (28 October 1851 – 29 September 1943) was a British journalist, publisher, mineral water manufacturer, and professional organiser of exhibitions. He was closely associated with Joseph Lyons and the early development of the J. Lyons & Co. catering company. He was also a noted art collector and bibliophile.

Early life and family Harold Hartley was born in London on 28 October 1851, the eldest son of T.H.P. Hartley. He was educated at the City of London College. In 1878 he married Katie Brewer, the eldest daughter of Francis Brewer from which marriage he had a son, Harold Brewer Hartley (1878–1972), who had a distinguished career as a chemist and was knighted in 1928. Katie died in 1884 and Harold remarried, to the eldest daughter of the civil engineer Rowland Mason Ordish.

Career

Hartley's early career was in the wine trade and in trade journalism on Fleet Street on The Milk Journal (est. 1871). he staged Venice in London at Olympia. The show was designed and directed by the theatrical impresario Imre Kiralfy who specialised in spectacular events and lent his name to the production to increase its appeal to the public. Hartley went on to organise the Indian, Victorian Era, Greater Britain, and Military exhibitions. He donated some prints and medals to the British Museum in 1925 and 1936 respectively. He also donated to other institutions, including the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and Tate, London. In 1955, his collection of illustrated books of the 1860s was sold by his son to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

In 1903, he was one of the founders of The Burlington Magazine.

Selected publications Lewis Carroll and his artists and engravers. 1932. Eighty-eight: Not out: A record of happy memories. Muller, 1939.