Bewley, Henry

Bewley, Henry (1804–76), businessman and evangelist, was born 4 July 1804, fifth of ten sons of Samuel Bewley, Dublin businessman, and Elizabeth Bewley (née Fayle); they also had three daughters. An older brother, who had been named Henry, died aged two in January 1804, and the name was given to the next child. His father was prominent in quaker life and in philanthropic work. Henry Bewley went into business in Dublin, and made a very large fortune in a firm of chemical manufacturers, Bewley & Draper, constantly adopting improved processes. He was also partner in or proprietor of other concerns, notably the Dublin Steam Printing Co. and the Dublin Tract Repository; the two companies distributed hundreds of thousands of religious tracts in several languages. Bewley, though born into the Society of Friends, developed a great interest in the work of the Plymouth Brethren, and provided generous funding for any organisation that sought to promote piety, as well as for charities. He bought the Dublin Metropolitan Hall and was chiefly responsible for building the Merrion Hall and for organising large assemblies there. For twice-yearly ‘Believers' meetings’ he provided generous hospitality, as he did for many visiting evangelists such as the American preachers Moody and Sankey, who came to Dublin (September 1874) largely as a result of Bewley's invitation. His interest in religious matters may have been fostered by the sadnesses of his domestic life: his first wife, Elizabeth Rowntree of Scarborough, whom he had married on 2 January 1833, died on 19 October the same year. On 25 November 1835 he married Ann Pike of Co. Tyrone. Their first child, a daughter, died in 1844 aged five; a son died at birth in 1841; a daughter died at birth in 1844; and a son died aged 14 in 1856. His son Henry Theodore Bewley (1860–1945) survived, as did a daughter. Henry Bewley died 28 June 1876, and was buried in Mount Jerome cemetery, Dublin.