Francis Chatillon Danson

Sir Francis Chatillon Danson Kt. was the son of John Towne Danson (1817-1898), a barrister at the Middle Temple. Francis was educated at Liverpool College and in Paris. He established the family firm F. C. Danson & Co, with offices in Liverpool and London. As a loss adjuster he calculated liabilities for marine insurance. He was knighted on account of his work for the Admiralty in the First World War. Francis was an original member of the University of Liverpool Court and Council from 1903, and Deputy Treasurer from 1903-1914. From 1902 he was a member of Committee of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, becoming Chairman in 1913, retaining this office till his death.

Francis was a keen member of the excavation committee of the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Liverpool and good friend of the archaeologist John Garstang. Francis was a keen antiquarian and acquired antiquities from auctions and dealers (e.g., Talbot Ready of London). However, it is through subscription to the archaeological excavations of the Institute of Archaeology (e.g., Abydos and Esna) that he formed a collection of national importance. He also supported the British School of Archaeology in Egypt from 1905-1909. His entry in Who’s Who records his recreations as being ‘motoring, collecting books and antiquities’. His obituary was published in The Times, 5 July 1926.

The Danson family archives and collection of antiquities was donated to National Museums Liverpool by the Executors of the Estate of Lieutenant Colonel J.R. Danson, in 1977 (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/collections/maritime-family-archives.aspx). The family’s library which contained a fine collection of early illustrated books was left to Trinity College, Oxford (with 450 volumes of erotica placed on deposit in the Bodleian) and is now kept in the college’s Danson Library (http://www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/library/danson/).