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Henry Michell Wagner

Reverend
Henry Michell Wagner
Born (1792-11-16)16 November 1792
London
Died 7 October 1870(1870-10-07) (aged 77)
Brighton, East Sussex
Cause of death Complications of gout
Resting place Woodvale Cemetery, Brighton
50°50′06″N 0°06′54″W / 50.835°N 0.115°W / 50.835; -0.115
Education Eton College (1805–12)
Alma mater King's College, Cambridge (1812–15)
Occupation Clergyman
Years active 1824–1870
Known for Tutor to Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington and Lord Charles Wellesley
Vicar of Brighton
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Harriott
Children Arthur Wagner
Parent(s) Melchior Henry Wagner
Anne Elizabeth Michell
Notes

Henry Michell Wagner (1792–1870) was a Church of England clergyman who was Vicar of Brighton between 1824 and 1870. He was a descendant of Melchior Wagner, hatmaker to the Royal Family, and married into a wealthy Sussex family who had a longstanding ecclesiastical connection with Brighton. Wagner paid for and oversaw the building of five churches in the rapidly growing seaside resort, and "dominated religious life in the town" with his forceful personality and sometimes controversial views and actions. His son Arthur Wagner (1824–1902) continued the family's close association with Brighton.

Wagner tutored the Duke of Wellington's sons for several years, and the Duke was responsible for appointing Wagner to the position of Vicar of Brighton—a role fulfilled by his grandfather Henry Michell in the 18th century. "This appointment was to have very considerable implications for the Anglican Church in Brighton" for the next century, as Wagner (and, later, his son) built new churches, founded and endowed charitable causes, imposed their strong characters on the town and became embroiled in regular disputes and controversies. The "Purchas affair", involving one of Wagner's curates and a proprietary chapel, was "the most extraordinary event" in Brighton's Victorian-era religious history and was reported nationally.

Henry Michell Wagner was born on 16 November 1792 at 93 Pall Mall, London. His baptism took place on 15 December of that year at St James's Church, Piccadilly. He was the youngest of four children of Melchior Henry Wagner and Anne Elizabeth Michell. Melchior Henry Wagner (1749–1811) was the grandson of Melchior Wagner, born in 1685 in Coburg, who moved to London, was naturalised in 1709 and became hatmaker to King George I in 1717. Anne Elizabeth Michell (1757–1841) was the daughter of Rev. Henry Michell, who was Vicar of Brighton until his death in 1789. The Michells were a dynasty of wealthy yeomen from the West Sussex village of Shipley, and Rev. Henry Michell was a wealthy and influential figure in Brighton during the 18th century, when the town was growing in popularity and status. The Gentleman's Magazine commented that "the most distinguished personages that visited [Brighton] courted his acquaintance".


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