Henry Hanna, 1874 - 1946

by Brian Stevenson
last updated February, 2021

Henry Hanna was a member of the Belfast (Ireland) Naturalists' Field Club from 1894 until ca. 1910. Until 1903, he taught Botany, Geology, and Paleontology at the Royal College of Science in Dublin, after which he completed medical training and worked as an ear, nose, and throat surgeon at hospitals in the Belfast area.

Records of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club indicate that Hanna had considerable expertise with marine flora and fauna, and with terrestrial plants. His known microscope slides contain those types of specimens.

Figure 1. Microscope slide of a colonial sea squirt, Perophora listeri, prepared by Henry Hanna. It was probably made ca. 1895, when he presented "a very superior collection of slides illustrative mainly of Marine Zoology, including … Tunicata" to the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club.

Figure 2. A single Perophora listeri tunicate, mounted by Henry Hanna (see Figure 1). In life it was connected by a strand to many other members of its species.

Henry Hanna was born in Belfast during 1874, a younger son of Henry Sr. and Sarah Jane Hanna. The father was a "leather merchant" – evidently a successful one, as the 1901 census records that the family employed two domestic servants. Young Henry, then a 26 year-old medical student, lived with his parents at that time, along with three brothers.

Young Henry was provided with an education at the Belfast Royal Academy, followed by university schooling at Queen's College in Belfast, and St. John's College of Cambridge. The Royal University of Ireland awarded Hanna with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1894 and a Master of Arts, Bachelor of Science degree in 1896.

National censuses and Field Club records indicate that Hanna lived in Antrim during the 1890s, while he also worked in Dublin at the Royal College of Science. He was reported in 1902 to have been "Demonstrator in Botany, Geology, and Paleontology" at the Royal College.

Hanna joined the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club during 1894: The Annual Report and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club did not list Hanna as a member in 1893, but did list him in 1894.

In 1895, the Field Club awarded a prize "to Henry Hanna, A.B., for a very superior collection of slides illustrative mainly of Marine Zoology, including good typical examples of Protozoa, Hydrozoa, Porifera, Actinozoa, Crustacea, and Tunicata, all properly prepared and neatly mounted, forming a valuable set for educational purposes".

An 1896 paper on "Fauna of Belfast Lough" cited Henry Hanna's expertise in identifying aquatic plants and animals of the neighborhood. Among these was Perophora listeri, the sea squirt that he prepared for the microscope slide shown in Figures 1 and 2.

In 1898, Hanna wrote a description of the sea weeds of Achill for The Irish Naturalist.

The Belfast Naturalists' Field Club hosted the 1902 meeting of the British Association. To welcome their guests, the Field Club published A Guide to Belfast and the Counties of Down & Antrim. A chapter on local botany was written by Henry Hanna and two Club colleagues.

Also in 1902, the Natural History Museum of Queen's College was given "a collection of botanical specimens, presented by Henry Hanna, esq., M.A., B.Sc., Demonstrator of Botany and Paleontology, Royal College of Science. Dublin".

Hanna was awarded his Bachelor of Medicine degree in 1903. He served a residency at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, served briefly as a demonstrator of anatomy, then moved to Vienna to study otolaryngology (diseases of the eye, ear and throat). He returned to Belfast to practice that that specialty, eventually becoming department chair at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Belfast City Hospital.

Among his many honors, Hanna served as President of the Irish Ophthalmological Society and President of the Ulster Medical Society.

The British Medical Journal reported that Hanna's "interests outside medicine were varied. He was often to be seen on the golf links, but perhaps his greatest joy was fishing in a quiet stream. He had a very genuine appreciation of art and for many years was a most enthusiastic collector. His collection includes many valuable pictures and porcelain as well as a beautiful selection of old Irish glass".

The British Medical Journal continued, "Henry Hanna retired from the active staff of the Royal Victoria Hospital just before the outbreak of war in 1939. His period of retirement was, however, short-lived for as the younger men proceeded to join the fighting forces he was asked to return to his old hospital and carry on. He and his contemporaries did a noble job, for without their help our hospitals could not have carried out their tasks".

Henry Hanna died "unexpectedly … on September 28, 1946, at his residence 30, University Square, Belfast".

Figure 3. A photograph of Henry Hanna, from his 1946 obituary in "The British Medical Journal".

Resources

Annual Report and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club (1893) Henry Hanna not listed as a member

Annual Report and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club (1894) Members: "Hanna, Henry, A.B., Farringdon, Antrim Road", page 398

Annual Report and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club (1895) "Prize No. 22 we award to Henry Hanna, A.B., for a very superior collection of slides illustrative mainly of Marine Zoology, including good typical examples of Protozoa, Hydrozoa, Porifera, Actinozoa, Crustacea, and Tunicata, all properly prepared and neatly mounted, forming a valuable set for educational purposes", page 265

Annual Report and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club (1898) Members: "Henry, Hanna, A.B, Royal College of Science, Dublin", page 448

Appendix to Report of the President of Queen's College, Belfast (1902) "Donations to the Natural History Museum … A collection of Botanical specimens, presented by Henry Hanna, esq., M.A., B.Sc., Demonstrator of Botany and Paleontology, Royal College of Science", Dublin, page 87

British Medical Journal (1946) Henry Hanna, pages 769-771

Calendar of Queen's College, Belfast (1907) "Royal Victoria Hospital, Medical Officers … Assistant Surgeon Eye, Ear, and Throat Department - Henry Hanna, M.A., B.Sc., M.B.", page 96

Hanna, Henry (1898) Sea-weeds, The Irish Naturalist, Vol. 7, pages 142-143

Hanna, Henry, R. Lloyd Praeger, and C.H. Waddell (1902) Botany, in A Guide to Belfast and the Counties of Down & Antrim, Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, Belfast, pages 106-148

Hanna, Henry (1939) Ear diseases in general practice, Ulster Medical Journal, Vol. 8, pages 219-226

Hurst, C. Herbert (1896) Fauna of Belfast Lough, The Irish Naturalist, pages 271-272

Ireland census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com

The Medical Press (1903) "The Royal University of Ireland … The Examiners have recommended that the following candidates be adjudged to have passed the M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O. Degrees Examination, Spring, 1903 … Upper Pass : … Henry Hanna, M.A., B.Sc.", page 529

The Ophthalmic Record (1909) "A recent appointment to the staff of the Ulster Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital of Belfast, Ireland, is that of Henry Hanna, who has been made assistant surgeon", Vol. 18, page 217

Strain, R.W.M. (1967) The History of the Ulster Medical Society, page 36