Henry J. Billing
Henry J. Billing (1842-1885; sometimes designated as Harry or Billings) an English surgeon and an early member of the Theosophical Society.
Personal life
Henry James Billing was born on April 24, 1842 in New York.[1] Billing was a surgeon trained at the Guy's Hospital, London. He took a course at the Central University in Louisville, Kentucky during 1874-75, and that may be where he met his future wife, then Mrs. Mary Hollis.[2] They married around 1877.
Apart from some time spent in France, he seems to spent most of his adult life in London. He was a Freemason in the United Grand Lodge of England from 1863-1887. On Oct 19, 1878 he was initiated into the Lewis Lodge of Wood Green.[3]
He died October 28, 1885 in London.[4] His wife then moved back to New York to live with her daughter Helene Goldsmith.
Theosophical Society involvement
Dr. Billing was the husband of Mrs. Mary Hollis Billing, the famous American medium. Both were involved in organizing the London Lodge in 1879.
When H. P. Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott stopped in England en route to India in 1879, they stayed at the Billing home. Dr. Billing was elected vice president of the London Lodge on January 5, 1879.
Notes
- ↑ U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 for Henry James Billing.
- ↑ 1875 U.S., School Catalogs, 1765-1935.
- ↑ England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921.
- ↑ Henry James Billing in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995.