Brief Biography
According to Who's Who, Harcourt was born in London in 1824 to Admiral Fredrick E. Vernon Harcourt and his wife, Marcia. Harcourt's mother was sister of the first Lord Tollemache. Augustus Harcourt was educated at Harrow School before enrolling at Balliol College, Oxford, where he took a degree in Natural Science in 1858, working with Henry Smith and Benjamin Brodie. A year later Harcourt became Lee's Reader in chemistry and took a position as a senior student at Christ Church, an Oxford college. Working with the mathematician William Esson (1838–1916), Harcourt began a series of chemical investigations which lasted for over 40 years.
In 1872, Harcourt married Rachel Mary Bruce, daughter of the Home Secretary, Henry Bruce. The couple had two sons and eight daughters. Harcourt was contemporary with Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, and is mentioned in Carroll's diaries.
Harcourt remained at Oxford until he retired in 1902, whereupon he moved to St Clare, near Ryde on the Isle of Wight. He died there in 1919, and his wife followed in 1927.
Read more about this topic: Augustus George Vernon Harcourt
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