Henry Cadogan Rothery was born in
London in 1817; he received his BA and MA from St.John's College, Cambridge. On 26 November
1853 he was appointed registrar of the old Admiralty court. In 1860 he became legal
advisor to the Treasury, and in 1876 he was appointed commissioner to investigate
shipwrecks and casualties at sea. Rothery retired in 1888 and died at Ribsden, Bagshot,
Surrey, on 2 August 1888.