Henry Gurdon Marquand (April 11, 1819 – February 26, 1902) was an American financier, philanthropist and art collector known for his extensive collection.

Marquand was born in New York City on April 11, 1819, not long after the death of his eldest brother Henry Marquand in Havana, Cuba in October 1818. He was the second youngest of the eleven children of Mehitable "Mabel" (née Perry) Marquand (1778–1855) and silversmith Isaac Marquand (1766–1838), whose family immigrated from Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. Among his other siblings were Frederick Marquand, Cornelius Paulding Marquand, Josiah Penfield Marquand, Sarah Elizabeth (née Marquand) Trask, and Julia Perry Marquand.^[1]

At the age of fifteen, Henry began working for his family's prestigious jewelry business, Marquand & Co.^[2] At the time, the business was headed by his older brother Frederick, a liberal benefactor of Yale College, Union Theological Seminary, and founder of Pequot Library.^[3]

Following the death of their father in 1838, Frederick sold the business, which was then renamed Ball, Tompkins & Black, and took up real estate investment and other financial ventures, and Henry was his brother's agent.^[4] After selling the company, Frederick later became instrumental in the establishment of Southport's Pequot Library, a special collections institution. Henry established himself as a banker on Wall Street, became Director of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, and eventually made a fortune speculating on foreign currency exchange and railroads. In 1867, Henry and his brother-in-law, Thomas Allen, bought a chief interest in the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway which ran from St. Louis to southeast Missouri and to Arkansas and Texas. The two were ultimately pushed out of their investment by Jay Gould, whose monopoly on the southwestern railroad system forced them to sell. With a profit of one million dollars, Marquand effectively retired from the business world in 1880 and focused his energies on the acquisition of art and the management of the fledgling Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[2]

On May 20, 1851, Marquand was married to Elizabeth Love Allen.^[9] She was a daughter of Jonathan Allen and Eunice Williams (née Larner) Allen of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.^[2] Together, they were the parents of six children, including:^[9]

• Linda Marquand (1852–1931),^[10] who married the Rev. Dr. Roderick Terry, son of banker John T. Terry.^[11]
• Allan Marquand (1853–1924),^[12] who graduated from Princeton in 1874 and became professor of archaeology and art in 1883; he married Eleanor Cross, daughter of Richard James Cross,^[13] in 1896.^[14]
• Frederic Alexander Marquand (1855–1885),^[9] a who married Alice Ogston, daughter of George William Ogston.^[15] After his death, she married Graeme Harrison.^[16]
• Henry Marquand (1857–1921),^[17] a banker who married Katherine Cowdin, a daughter of New York State Assemblyman Elliot Cowdin.^[18]
• Mabel Marquand (1860–1896),^[19] who married Justice Henry Galbraith Ward,^[20] in 1891.^[21]
• Elizabeth Love Marquand (1862–1951),^[22] who married Harold Godwin, a son of journalist Parke Godwin; she founded the Roslyn District Nursing Association.^[22]

He was a member of the Century Association, the Metropolitan Club, the Grolier Club and Princeton Club.^[1]

His wife Elizabeth died of pneumonia at their home in Manhattan on February 3, 1895.^[23] Marquand died on February 26, 1902, in New York City at the age of 82.^[24][25] His varied, and valuable art collection and rare books were sold in 1903. He was a significant financial benefactor of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Princeton University, and other institutions. His son, Allan Marquand (b. 1853), graduated from Princeton in 1874, and in 1883 became professor of archaeology and art.^[26]