Henry Giles

Henry Giles (1 November 1809 – 10 July 1882) was a Unitarian minister and writer.

Biography Born in County Wexford to a Roman Catholic family, Giles changed his religious belief several times, becoming a Protestant and a Dissenter, He studied for a time at the Royal Academical Institution of Belfast.

It was during his three years preaching in Liverpool that Giles gained a reputation as a preacher of marked oratorical power. and his numerous volumes of literary interpretation and criticism were well-received, particularly his Human Life in Shakespeare.

Giles was plagued by a variety of health issues. He had a hunchbacked, dwarfish stature which he claimed resulted from a nurse having let him fall as an infant, injuring his spine. Throughout his life, he struggled with alcoholism; although he initially found strong drink distasteful, he became acclimated to liquor when it was prescribed to him to counter an illness. His public life came to an abrupt halt around 1865, when he suffered a sudden paralytic attack while lecturing in Boston. He lived for 17 years thereafter, and died in Quincy, Massachusetts. He was an avid reader and was proficient in both French and German.