Charles Edward Long
(1796-1861)
9 July 1861

Volume 4, page 193, sitting number 4841.

[A pencilled inscription verso in a period hand identifies the sitter as 'C. Long.' This is possibly the genealogist and antiquary Charles Edward Long, who visited Silvy's studio on 9 July 1861. A sitting is recorded in the daybooks but no image has been pasted in. The gentleman seen here certainly resembles the portrait of a much younger Charles Edward Long painted by Alfred Edward Chalon.]

Born at Benham Park in Berkshire, he was the son of Charles Beckford Long of Langley Hall, Berkshire. Educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge (BA, 1819; MA 1822), he won the Chancellor's Gold Medal in July 1818 for English verse on the subject of imperial and papal Rome. 

Possessed of an ample fortune, Long was able to devote himself to historical and genealogical studies. Descended from the Long family of Wiltshire, he took a considerable interest in the history of that county and was an earnest promoter of the Wiltshire Archaeological Society, contributing frequently to its magazine. He also maintained a personal and scholarly interest in Harrow. He was for many years a frequent correspondent of the Gentleman's Magazine and the leading antiquarian periodicals of his day. 

As the grandson of Edward Long, the historian of Jamaica, he also took an interest in the history of that island and donated to the British Museum many valuable documents relating to Jamaica. 

Charles Edward Long 'of Chapel-street Grosvernor-square' died at Dover on 25 September 1861, on a return journey from Hamburg. He left an estate valued at £10,000.