James Henry Skene (3 May 1812 – 3 October 1886) was a writer, traveller and British Consul at Aleppo from March 1855 to 1880.
He was born at Inverie, Scotland, the third son of James Skene of Rubislaw, near Aberdeen. His brothers included the writer William Forbes Skene and his sisters the writer Felicia Mary Frances Skene.
He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and then joined the army.[1] After serving some years in the 73rd Regiment of Foot, he sold his commission, and settled in Greece, where he married in 1832 and began to write.[2]
In 1853 he published Anadol: the Last Home of the Faithful and The Frontier Lands of the Christian and the Turk, Comprising Travel in the Regions of the Lower Danube in 1850 and 1851.[3]
For his services with the staff of the Army during the Crimean War he was appointed British vice-consul in Constantinople and in 1855 was appointed British Consul-General at Aleppo, a position he held until 1880.
When he returned to Edinburgh from Syria in 1880 he brought back with him a colony of Syrian hamsters.[4] This colony died out by 1910.[4]
James Henry Skene's wife Rhalou was the sister of Alexandros Rizos Rangavis (also known as Alexandre Rhangabé), the Greek author and statesman.[5] Their daughter Zoë married William Thomson, who became Archbishop of York.[6]
Skene died in Geneva on 3 October 1886.[2]
^The Edinburgh Academical Club (1914). The Edinburgh Academy Register 1824-1914. Edinburgh: The Edinburgh Academical Club. p. 4.
^ abSkene, William Forbes (1887). Memorials of the family of Skene of Skene, from the family papers, with other illustrative documents. Aberdeen, Printed for the New Spalding Club.
^"ILLYRIANS: 1848 James Henry Skeene~The Albanians". ILLYRIANS. 11 November 2010.
^ abHenwood, Chris (October 2011). "THE DISCOVERY OF THE SYRIAN (GOLDEN) HAMSTER (Part 2)". National Hamster Council Journal. 57 (10): 1–4.
^Sir Bernard Burke (1863). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. Harrison. p. 1381.
^"Fellows details". Royal Society. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
JamesSkene of Rubislaw FSA Scot FRSE FGS (1775–1864) was a Scottish lawyer and amateur artist, best known as a friend of Sir Walter Scott. The second...
ISBN 1-60506-167-0 Skene, Felix JamesHenry; Skene, William Forbes (1872), John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation, Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas Skene, William...
he succeeded the previous Ottoman governor Sulejman-paša Skopljak. JamesHenrySkene (1853). The frontier lands of the Christian and the Turk. R. Bentley...
Sanjak of Benghazi (Cyrenaica) These district names were reported by JamesHenrySkene in 1851 and five districts of the same name existed after the reforms...
Retrieved 25 February 2013. The three eras of Ottoman history, a political essay on the late reforms of ..., p. 75, at Google Books By JamesHenrySkene...
Historian, or the Complete English Traveller. Fordun, John of; Skene, Felix JamesHenry; Skene, W. F. (William Forbes) (19 May 1872). "John of Fordun's Chronicle...
political essay on the late reforms of ..., p. 74, at Google Books By JamesHenrySkene Akpınar, Özkan (2021). "Making property of a marsh: environment, property...
Retrieved 2013-06-01. The three eras of Ottoman history, a political essay on the late reforms of ..., p. 75, at Google Books By JamesHenrySkene v t e...
publisher (link) Skene. Chronicles. p. ix-x. Skene. Chronicles. p. x. Skene. Chronicles. p. x-xii. Skene, Felix JamesHenry; Skene, William Forbes (1872)...
Peter Skene Ogden (alternately Skeene, Skein, or Skeen; baptised 12 February 1790 – 27 September 1854) was a British-Canadian fur trader and an early...
John Dewar Publishers Ltd., pp. 27 - 75, ISBN 9781399926928 Skene, Felix JamesHenry; Skene, William Forbes (1872). John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish...
three eras of Ottoman history, a political essay on the late reforms of ..., p. 75, at Google Books By JamesHenrySkene World Statesmen — Greece v t e...
Alan Munro, immunologist and master of Christ's College, Cambridge JamesHenrySkene, author, traveller and diplomat, (EA 1824-26) Archibald Campbell Swinton...
political essay on the late reforms of ..., p. 74, at Google Books By JamesHenrySkene Dictionnaire géographique de l'Empire ottoman by Konstantin Georgievich...
sparse. Volume 46 from 1848 contained papers by George Ruxton and JamesHenrySkene contributed via the Ethnological Society. The Journal of the Ethnological...
Philip Wharton Skene (5 February 1725 in London, England – 10 June 1810 near Stoke Goldington, Buckinghamshire) was a Scottish officer in the British...
Scotland University of Nebraska Press (1993); esp. Chapter 4. Skene, Felix JamesHenry; Skene, William Forbes (1872), John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish...
proliferated from these three colonies. In 1880 as British Consul to Syria JamesHenrySkene was retiring back to Edinburgh, he returned from Syria with Syrian...
over the family of Andrew Skene and that of JamesSkene of Rubislaw. JamesSkene was the youngest surviving child of George Skene of Rubislaw (1736-1776)...
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