Henry B. (Henry Benjamin) Wheatley

Henry Benjamin Wheatley was a British author, editor, and indexer, born in 1838 and active in the world of books, libraries, and learned societies. He is especially remembered for London Past and Present, a major topographical work that grew out of Peter Cunningham’s earlier Handbook of London and became one of the standard reference books on the city.

Wheatley wrote widely on literary and historical subjects, but Samuel Pepys was one of his great interests. He wrote Samuel Pepys and the World He Lived In and later produced a substantial edition of Pepys’s diary. He also worked for many years with the Royal Society of Arts, and sources about his career regularly describe him as an important figure in bibliography and indexing.

He was closely involved with the book world beyond his own writing, helping to found or support organizations such as the Index Society and the Library Association. His reputation lasted well beyond his lifetime: among indexers, his name is still remembered through the Wheatley Medal, awarded for outstanding indexing work.