Syrian Patriarch of Antioch, 1874

A carte de visite portrait of Ignatius, the Syrian Patriarch of Antioch, photographed during his visit to England in 1874.

According to a brief announcement in The Graphic (12 September 1874): 'Mgr. Ignatius, the Patriarch of Antioch, is now in England. The object of his visit is to obtain the formal recognition of the British Government to the exercise of his spiritual jurisdiction over the "Christians of St Thomas," who reside on the coast of Malabar.'

The Patriarch was accompanied on his mission by Gregorius, the Syrian Bishop of Jerusalem. When in London the two men and their two attendants 'lodged with Mrs Finn, widow of our late Consul at Jerusalem, The Elms, Brook Green, Hammersmith, as the guests of a few English friends, including, it is believed, the Archbishop of Canterbury' (Sheffield Independent, 9 September 1874).

When the visitors decamped to Brighton, they were the guests of surgeon and local politician Sir John Cordy Burrows (Morning Post, 5 October 1874). During their sojourn on the coast, they visited the Brighton Aquarium and the Chain Pier.

Photographed by Samuel A. Walker of London.

An inked inscription verso in a period hand reads: 'Ignatius, Syrian Patriarch of Antioch.'