Constituency : Lambeth North 1895-1900 ( Liberal Unionists )
Henry took Lambeth North from the Liberal Unionists at the second attempt. The incumbent, Francis Coldwells had stood down.
Henry was not related to the Stanleys of Bosworth infamy. He was originally John Rowlands from Denbigh and was illegitimate. He had a hard time in the workhouse and emigrated to the US at 18 in 1859. He changed his name apparently in honour of a rich benefactor although some biographers doubt he ever met the man/ He served in both the Confederate and Union armies during the Civil War. After the war he became a journalist for the New York Herald from whom he received the famous commission to find the missing explorer David Livingstone. He accomplished this within two years ,producing his immortal line in Ujiji, Tanzania. After accompanying Livingstone's explorations for a time he returned to the US. The paper sent him on another African expedition in 1874 to establish the precise geography of central Africa. Despite a high human cost, he achieved his aims and became a household name as an explorer. He coined the term "Dark Continent" for Africa. He received further commissions from Leopold II in the Congo and he led the expedition to relieve Emin Pasha the governor of south Sudan in 1886. The expedition got a bad press and was accused of spreading sleeping sickness to new parts of Africa. One member of his expedition bought an eleven year old girl then sold her to cannibals to document how they prepared her. Henry later returned to the UK and got married.
Henry's maiden speech opposed Radical calls for the evacuation of Egypt. He also opposed intervention in favour of the Armenians.
Henry was knighted in 1899.
He died in 1904 aged 63.
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