Henry Andrade Harben

Career Harben was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1871.

Public positions In 1878, Harben became a freeman of the City of London.

Harben entered local politics as a member of the Paddington Vestry and from 1900 for the successor Paddington Borough Council, and he was Mayor of Paddington in 1902–03. He was a Moderate Party member of the London County Council, first elected to represent Paddington (South) in 1898 and became a member of the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1894.

Around 1888, Harben began to compile a new edition of John Stow's Survey of London (1598) but progress was very slow and that objective was abandoned after C.L. Kingsford's new edition of Stow appeared in 1908 and Harben decided to turn his book into a dictionary of London instead. The book was still unfinished at the time of his death and was eventually completed by his friend I.I. Greaves and published posthumously in 1917 as A Dictionary of London. It deals only with the City of London.

Death and legacy Harben died on 18 August 1910 at 29 Wimpole Street, London, following complications after surgery.

Selected publications A Dictionary of London: Being notes topographical and historical relating to the streets and principal buildings in the city of London ... With six plans. H. Jenkins, London, 1918 . (Edited by I. I. Greaves)