Henry Young Darracott Scott is my second cousin five times removed, and his colourful life is captured in many biographies and obituaries.

Henry was born in Plymouth, Devon, in 1822. His father Edward Scott was a quarry owner, and his mother Elizabeth Darracott came from a prominent Plymouth family. She has a double connection to my 4x great-grandmother Susanna Darracott, with both women being related through the Darracott and Man families.

Military man and inventor

Entering the military at sixteen, Henry attended the Royal Military College at Woolwich, which later amalgamated with Sandhurst. He joined the Royal Engineers at Chatham, and served at Gibraltar where he was adjutant and involved in reconstructing the fortress there. The “engineering and supervisory skills he then practiced, although directed to a military objective, were similar in kind to those of the great canal, bridge and tunnel builders whose work became known as civil engineering”.

Henry’s experience in Gibraltar proved to be an excellent foundation and inspiration for his future achievements.

Returning to Woolwich in 1848, Henry became Assistant Instructor in Field Works, before being promoted to Senior Instructor three years later. While there he also studied chemistry at Kings College London.

Starting a laboratory at the military academy, Henry experimented on lime and cement, even trying to reproduce volcanic reactions, and discovered selenitic cement. Also known as Scott’s Patent Cement or simply Scott’s Cement, it set quickly, making it particularly good for plaster and decorative applications.

The selenitic cement discovery had its beginnings in Gibraltar where Henry had first seen freshly exposed shale and noted its potential. It was described as having “a major impact on his subsequent career, converting him from a competent military engineer into an innovator in building technology and an entrepreneur”.

Over time, Henry was granted a total of 59 patents. They related to lime (including in the treatment of sewerage), cement, and his invention of new kilns.

Henry married Ellen Selina Bowes, the youngest daughter of a Major-General, at Woolwich in 1851. They went on to have fifteen children.

In 1855 Henry, who was now a Captain, was appointed Chatham’s Instructor in Surveying. He lectured and made a significant contribution to both military practices and papers. He developed a new approach to field sketching, an important skill before photography was available to the military, and it was implemented as part of training for offices at Chatham.

Civil service, the V&A and the Royal Albert Hall

A promotion to Brevet-Major, then Regimental Lieutenant-Colonel, led to Henry to being seconded to civilian service positions. He helped run the Royal Horticultural Society’s garden, was secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society, and served as secretary for the Council on Education of the South Kensington Museum for almost ten years. He was appointed Director of Works at the Museum in December 1864. South Kensington Museum was the original name of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Henry completed construction of some of the Museum buildings in the South Kensington precinct, including the lecture theatre and science school, using plans and models left by his predecessor, Captain Francis Fowke. He also further developed Sir Henry Cole‘s initial designs and coordinated construction of the Hall of Arts and Sciences, which became known as the Royal Albert Hall. Prince Albert saw and liked his drawings and models, and Queen Victoria approved them in late 1866.

Henry’s design for the domed roof of the Royal Albert Hall was unique and distinctive, and ultimately declared a triumph. The iron metal frame weighed 338 tonnes and had to support 279 tonnes of glass.

Despite the assembly of such expertise, wide span roof design was still an inexact procedure. The story is told that Scott removed the final scaffolding support himself in an empty building, in case there was any substance in the gloomy predictions of some commentators that the structure would fall in …”

~ Henry Young Darracott Scott 1822-1883 Military Engineer and Chemist, Spirit of Engineering, pp 99-104.

The Wine Society

Henry was also one of the founders of The Wine Society, “the world’s oldest member-owned community of wine lovers”, which was was established as a result of the International Exhibition of 1874. The Royal Albert Hall was used for some of the Exhibition’s food and wine displays.

Unfortunately, a large amount of Portuguese wine remained after the exhibition closed, having lain entirely out of view of the visitors. The Portuguese were understandably upset, contacting their government to appeal to the British Foreign Office on their behalf …. Although nothing could be done officially, to avoid a diplomatic incident, the Foreign Office asked Major General Henry Scott … if he could organise some large lunch parties to display the wines left over in the cellars.

~ The origins of The Wine Society, The Wine Society, https://www.thewinesociety.com/discover/explore/150th-anniversary/the-origins-of-the-wine-society/, accessed 9 January 2026.

Delighted by the wines, Henry and two other men formed a co-operative to purchase wines. Word got around and the co-operative soon became The Wine Society.

Sadly, Treasury economy measures abolished Henry’s position at the beginning of 1882, when he was sixty. It caused him much distress and anxiety, and his health deteriorated. He never truly recovered, and on 16 April 1883, Henry died at home in Sydenham, Kent.

A selection of Henry’s achievements and awards

• Senior Instructor, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
• Discovery of selenitic cement, also known as Scott’s Patent Cement or Scott’s Cement
• Granted 59 patents related to lime, cement and his invention of new kilns
• Development of landscape field sketching for army officer training
• Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society
• Secretary for the Council on Education, Kensington Museum
• Director of Works, Department of Science and Art
• Co-ordinating Manager for the design and construction of the Royal Albert Hall
• Founder, The Wine Society
• Medals for service rendered to: Great Exhibition of London in 1862, Prussian Exhibition of 1865, Paris Universal Exhibition of 1867, annual London International Exhibition of fine arts, industries, and inventions, Dutch Exhibition of 1877, and Paris International Exhibition of 1878
• Silver Medal from the Society of Arts for a paper entitled ‘Suggestions for dealing with the Sewerage of London’
• Honorary Major-General
• Civil Companion of the Order of Bath (CB)
• Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers
• Fellow of the Royal Society

Selected references

Obituary, Major-General Henry Young Darracott Scott, C.B, R.E, Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, volume 75, issue 1884, pp 319-322.

Henry Young Darracott Scott 1822-1883 Military Engineer and Chemist, Spirit of Engineering, pp 99-104.

Proposal for the exterior of the Royal Albert Hall, plaster, Major-General Henry Young Darracott Scott, England, 1868, ttps://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O309415/proposal-for-the-exterior-of-object-scott-henry-young/.

The Roof, Royal Albert Hall, https://www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-hall/building-and-history/our-history/the-roof, accessed 9 January 2026.

Building the Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/building-the-museum, accessed 9 January 2026.

Scott, Henry Young Darracott (1822-1883), Royal Albert Hall, https://catalogue.royalalberthall.com/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=DS%2FUK%2F6286, accessed 9 January 2026.

Our heritage and history, The Wine Society, https://www.thewinesociety.com/about/heritage/, accessed 9 January 2026.

The origins of The Wine Society, The Wine Society, https://www.thewinesociety.com/discover/explore/150th-anniversary/the-origins-of-the-wine-society/, accessed 9 January 2026.

Henry Young Darracott Scott, Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History, https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Henry_Young_Darracott_Scott, accessed 9 January 2026.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10588/henry_young_darracott-scott: accessed January 9, 2026), memorial page for Henry Young Darracott Scott (2 Jan 1822–16 Apr 1893), Find a Grave Memorial ID 10588, citing Highgate Cemetery West, Highgate, London Borough of Camden, Greater London, England; Maintained by dawnsh (contributor 48288474).