British diplomat, linguist and botanist who was a member of the British Consular Service. China's markets were effectively opened to the western world in the 1840s following the First Opium War (1840-1842). In the treaty of Nanjing, Hong Kong island was ceded to Great Britain and five other treaty-ports were opened to foreign residence and trade. One of the first British residents to be stationed there was H.F. Hance. He was posted to Hong Kong (1844) and spent most of the remaining 22 years of his life living in this region, developing an interest in Chinese plants that would continue for the rest of his life. Hance returned briefly to England because of ill-health in 1851 and his British collections from the vicinity of Scarborough were probably made during a separate visit in 1857. He returned to China where his diplomatic career spanned Vice-consul (1861-1878) at Whampoa (Huangpu, Guangdong) and Consul (1878-1881 and 1883) at Canton (Guangdong). His last posting was as Acting Consul (1886) at Amoy (Xiamen, Fujian) where he died in post on 22 June of that same year. Hance assisted many Europeans visiting the area, including scientists. The scientific exploration during the HMS Herald expedition (1846-1851) included a stay at the island and B.C. Seeman wrote the first flora of Hong Kong as part of the scientific report (1857). His indebtedness to Hance is revealed by his description of a new genus named after him. Material from the expedition came back to Britain and George Bentham studied these and further collections, writing a much larger flora of Hong Kong. Hance no doubt contributed material and observations to this publication, but later felt compelled to write a substantial supplement including cryptogamic plants. Hance corresponded with researchers based in Europe, who were studying material from the region, including Charles Darwin (1863-1868) on subjects as varied as botany and the origin and early domestication of the goldfish.

Both British and French scientists published scientific names as a lasting legacy commemorating his achievements. Genera named after Hance have caused some nomenclatural confusion. Seeman's flora included a description of the genus Hancea Seem. in the Euphorbiaceae, but this was subsequently reduced to synonymy as Mallotus sect. Hancea (Seem.) Pax & K. Hoffm. W.B. Hemsley collected in China in 1874 and, following the death of Hance, published in 1890 a genus in the Lamiaceae with the same name (Hancea Hemsl. = Hanceola Kudô). The name was used a third time by J.B.L. Pierre in 1891 for a genus in the Dipterocarpaceae (Hancea Pierre = Hopea Roxburgh). Some 23,000 specimens of Hance's private collections were donated to The Natural History Museum's collections after his death in 1887. They are generally identified by the slip label 'HERB. H. F. HANCE. Recd. 1887' and include material of several other collectors.