Augustus Mongredien
British chess player (1807–1888)
Augustus Mongredien (1807–1888) was a corn merchant, also known as a political economist and writer. He was a leading amateur British chess master.
Life
He was born in London in 1807, of French parents. His father was a French officer who fled to England after Bonaparte's coup d'état in 1798.
He was educated in the Roman Catholic college at Penn, Buckinghamshire, and continued his studies long after leaving the institution.
He entered commercial life at an early age, and was the owner of the first screw steamers to the Levant.
In 1859, he became a member of the firm of H. J. Johnston & Co., and when it was broken up in 1864 he began as a cornbroker on his own account.
In 1862, he purchased Heatherside, Surrey.
Gradually he withdrew from business and devoted most of his attention to literary pursuits.
He had joined the National Political Union in 1831, as well as a spinoff organization, The Radical Club, in 1833 and in 1872 he was elected a member of the Cobden Club, under the auspices of which society several of his treatises were published.
“Augustus Mongredien” enters the record as british chess player (1807–1888). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Augustus, Mongredien and British can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Augustus Mongredien” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Augustus, Mongredien and British provides the most credible route into that argument.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2110471. VIAF identifies the subject as 10627676. The Library of Congress control number is n85049092. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1807, 1888, 1798 and 1859.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Augustus Mongredien”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Augustus Mongredien primary sources, Augustus Mongredien archive and Augustus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Augustus Mongredien”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Augustus Mongredien” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.