John Sheffield was born on 8 September 1648. Sheffield served with the navy, rising to the rank of Vice Admiral for Yorkshire and Northumberland (1687-1689). He held several posts at the Royal Court and armed forces including Gentleman of the Bedchamber 1673-1682, Lord Chamberlain of the Household 1685-1688, Colonel of the Holland Regiment, 1673-1682 and 1684-1685. Sheffield also served as the Lord Lieutenant for the East Riding 1679-1682, North Riding 1702-1705 and 1711-1714 and Middlesex, 1711-1714. He was created Marquess of Normanby in May 1694 and Duke of the County of Buckingham and of Normanby in 1702. Sheffield died at Buckingham House in March 1721.
Richard Simon (1638-1712) was a Professor of Philosophy and a Hebrew scholar, who wrote commentaries on the language of the Bible. Isaac-Louis (Le Maistre) de Sacy (1613-1684) was a scripture translator and commentator, and director of the Port Royal Monastery. He was imprisoned for three years in the Bastille for his Jansenist opinions, and translated the Bible during his captivity (1666-1670). Nicolas le Tourneux (1640-1686) was Prior of Villiers sur Fere, and a respected theologian. Adrien Baillet (1649-1706) was a theologian and the librarian to Francois-Chrétien de Lamoignon.
A pontifical is a book of ceremonies performed by a bishop.
Thomas Wentworth was of an ancient and wealthy Yorkshire family, and was born at London, in 1593. He studied at Cambridge, married in 1611, was knighted, and travelled on the continent. He was returned to parliament as member for Yorkshire in 1614, and the next year was named custus rotulorum for the West Riding. He sat in several parliaments for Yorkshire, and without going to extremes, took part with the opponents of the court. In 1628 he went over to the side of the king, and was created Baron Wentworth, then Viscount, Lord President of the Council of the North, and in 1629 Privy-Councillor. In 1633 he was made Lord-Deputy of Ireland (1632-1640), where his harsh government led to the rebellion of 1641. In 1639 Wentworth was created Earl of Strafford, and received the title of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Strafford took his seat in the House of Lords in November 1640 and was immediately impeached of high treason for attempting to raise Irish troops to fight the King's English enemies, and committed to the Tower. In March, 1641 his trial began - Strafford defended himself admirably and, as the impeachment seemed likely to fail, a bill of attainder was proposed. Though he initially refused his assent to the attainder, King Charles I finally gave way and his minister, who had trusted in his promise of protection, was beheaded on Tower Hill, May 12, 1641.
The English Parliament is the main legislative body of the country. The House of Commons has the right to impose taxes and to vote money to various public departments and services.
Though first proposed in 1825, the Exeter and Exmouth Railway was finally completed in 1861.
Robert Clayton was born in Northamptonshire in 1629. He became an apprentice to his uncle who was a London scrivener where he became acquainted with fellow apprentice Alderman John Morris. They both went on to become successful businessmen and to establish the bank, Clayton & Morris Co. Clayton entered politics representing several wards depending on Whig favour. He was knighted in 1671 and went on to be elected Lord Mayor for 1679-80. Clayton built a considerable fortune and, as a mark of his wealth, in 1697 he lent the king 30000l to pay off the troops. He died in 1707.
Sir John Dawnay may have been the son of Sir Guy Dawnay, who died in 1552.
Francis George Newbolt was born in 1863 and educated at Clifton College and Balliol College, Oxford University. He entered the Inner Temple as a barrister in 1890. He was the Recorder of Doncaster, 1916-1920, and an Official Referee for the Supreme Court, 1920-1936. He also contested the Chertsey Division on behalf of the Liberal Party in 1910. During his career, Newbolt also showed an interest in science and the arts, delivering over 1000 lectures on experimental science to girls in Board Schools, and becoming a member of the Art Workers Guild (Master 1927) and the Clockmakers' Company (Master 1932). He was also Honorary Professor of Law in the Royal Academy and President of the Norwegian Society from 1920-1926. Newbolt was knighted in 1919 and died in 1940.
Maistre Wace (c 1112-1174) was an Anglo-Norman poet born in Jersey. His works included Chroniques des Ducs de Normandie, Vie de Saint Nicolas, Le Roman de Rou, and Vies de la Vierge Marie et de Saint George. The work in question, Le Roman de Brut was a verse-paraphrase written in 1155, which was based on the history of Britain written by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and introduced the Round Table into the legend of King Arthur.
The Exchequer was responsible for receiving and dispersing the public revenue. In time the upper Exchequer developed into the judicial system, while the lower Exchequer became the Treasury.
The Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) was a Protestant denomination that arose in England in the mid-17th century. The Society was founded by George Fox, a Nottingham shoemaker turned preacher, who emphasized inward apprehension of God, without creeds, clergy, or other ecclesiastical forms. The movement grew rapidly after 1650 but its members were often persecuted or imprisoned for rejecting the state church and refusing to pay tithes or swear oaths. Nevertheless, by 1660, there were 20,000 converts. Persecution continued, and many quakers emigrated to America, where they found toleration in Rhode Island and in the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania, which was chartered by Charles II under the sponsorship of William Penn in 1681. Marks that became characteristic of Quakerism were plain speech and dress, pacifism, and opposition to slavery.
The Conseil d'Etat is the highest court in France for issues and cases involving public administration. Its origin dates back to 1302, though it was extensively reorganized under Napoleon and was given further powers in 1872. It has long had the responsibility of deciding or advising on state issues and legislative measures submitted to it by the sovereign or, later, by the president, the cabinet, or the parliament. It is the court in which French citizens may bring claims against the administration.
Sir Ralph de Hengham (d 1311) was the Lord Chief Justice of Edward I from 1274-1290, when he was imprisoned and fined for corruption. He continued as a judge of the common pleas, and was the reputed author of the law tracts 'Hengham magna' and 'Hengham parva'.
At a date some time after 1139 (probably 1140), Johannes Gratian compiled the Church laws (`canons') from all available sources and called the collection Concordia Discordantium Canonum (the harmonizing of discordant canons). The collection became known as the Decretum Gratiani.
The Digestum Novum was a section of the Digests or Pandects of the Corpus Iurus Civilis organised by the Roman emperor Justinian I, which compiled the writings of the great Roman jurists such as Ulpian along with current edicts (533).
Aristotle (384-322 BC) was a Greek philosopher who was the student of Plato and tutor of Alexander the Great. His De anima (On the Soul) was a discussion of issues in the philosophy of mind.
George MacDonald was born and educated in Aberdeen, graduating MA from King's College (now part of the University of Aberdeen) in 1845. He moved to London to become a tutor and later trained as a Congregational Minister, though his only pastoral position, in Sussex, lasted less than 4 years. MacDonald had begun writing poetry during his student days. His first book was published in 1855 and he continued to write and publish both poetry and prose for more than 40 years. Between 1881 and 1901 he lived for most of the year in Bordighera, Italy, but returned to live in Britain permanently after his wife's death in 1902. Many of MacDonald's most successful works were children's fiction in the form of fairy tales and fantasy. Today, he is no longer widely read by children, but his works influenced many leading writers, including C S Lewis, J R R Tolkien, W H Auden, G K Chesterton and Mark Twain.
Sarah Smith was born in Wellington, Shropshire in 1832. She was educated locally. Aged 26 she began work as a freelance journalist and short story writer. One of her stories was sent to Charles Dickens without her knowledge by her sister Elizabeth, and was published in Household Words. Her work was published under the name Hesba Stretton (taken from the initials of her siblings' names and the nearby village of All Stretton). During the 1860s-1880s, whilst living with Elizabeth in Manchester and later in London, Stretton wrote several books for children and adults. She was concerned with political and social issues and in 1884 co-founded the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (later known as the NSPCC).
John Philippart was born in London in 1784. He was educated at a military academy. In 1809 he became private secretary to John Baker Holroyd (later Earl of Sheffield) at the Board of Agriculture, and in 1911 he transferred to work at the War Office. Subsequently, he compiled many pamphlets and several reference books relating to the British Army. Philippart was actively involved in the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, serving as a chancellor of the Order for 43 years and founding the West London hospital in Hammersmith. He was a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and of two Swedish orders, and as such was sometimes called Sir John, although he was not knighted within the British honours system.
John Minter Morgan was born in Westminster in 1782. Little is known about his early life until aged 25 he inherited a fortune in land, business and investments; thereafter he devoted his life and much of his wealth to the cause of co-operativism and Christian socialism. His London salon became a leading intellectual centre and, with his diplomatic skills, he succeeded in forging working alliances with both religious-minded and secular socialists. He also campaigned for free universal education.
Samuel Romilly was born in London in 1757, the descendant of Huguenot refugees. He worked as a solicitor's clerk before studying for the bar at Gray's Inn; he was called to the bar in 1783. His abilities were recognised by the Whig pary and he was knighted and became Solicitor-General in 1806. He subsequently he served as an MP for several years. Romilly travelled in Europe as a young man and his friends included the Comte de Mirabeau. He is best known for his attempts to reform English criminal law, which met with limited success. He committed suicide in 1818, shortly after his wife's death.
Joseph Locke was born near Sheffield in 1805. He was educated in Yorkshire and County Durham. He became an engineer and later an assistant to George Stephenson, taking part in the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Locke's first major project was the survey and construction of the Grand Junction Railway, which established his reputation as a railway engineer. He subsequently oversaw the construction of many other lines, both in Britain and continental Europe; Napoleon III created him a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur for his work in France. He also served as Liberal MP for Honiton, Devon, from 1847 until his death. Locke's obituary in The Times described him, Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the 'triumvirate of the engineering world'.
Richard Cobden was born in 1804. He spent his early adulthood as a clerk, commercial traveller and merchant in the cloth industry. He was successful in business in Manchester, read and travelled widely, and became involved in local politics. During 1838-1846 he was active and influential in the Anti-Corn Law League. He served successively as MP for Stockport (1841-1847), West Riding of Yorkshire (1847-1857) and Rochdale (1859-1865).
William Edward Hickson was born in Westminster in 1803, but was brought up largely in Northampton, where his family were active in the Baptist church. He entered the family's footwear manufacturing business as a young man but also found time to participate in the burgeoning literary and scientific life in London and take an interest in radical politics. Hickson was a founder-member of the Reform Club and owned and edited the radical Westminster Review for more than 10 years. He was most concerned with promoting education (particularly musical education), but was also prominent in discussions on child labour, the Corn Laws, professional malpractice and the condition of the unemployed.
John Lunan was the author of several books on the laws and court system of colonial Jamaica. He was probably the same John Lunan whose botanical work Hortus Jamaicensis (1814) is cited by the Oxford English Dictionary as the earliest example of the word 'grapefruit'.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Thomas Phillipps was born in Manchester in 1792. He was brought up in Worcestershire by his father. He was educated at Rugby School and at University College, Oxford, graduating in 1815. Phillipps's father died in 1818 and thereafter he lived on a private income, although his passion for collecting books and manuscripts (which he indulged freely) meant that he was continually in debt and often on bad terms with suppliers and members of his family. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1820 and a baronet in 1921. At the time of Phillipps's death in 1872 his collection comprised many thousands of volumes and it was took more than a century for all of it it to be broken up and gradually sold; the final lot was eventually sold in 1977.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
James Orchard Halliwell was born in Chelsea and educated at Trinity College and Jesus College, Cambridge. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1839, and acted as an editor for the Camden Society (1839-1844), the Percy Society (1842-1850), and the Shakespeare Society. A renowned Shakespeare scholar, he arranged and described the Shakespeare archives at Stratford-upon-Avon, wrote extensively on the town, and initiated the movement for the purchase of the site of Shakespeare's house at New Place, [1863]. In 1842 Halliwell married Henrietta Phillipps against the wishes of her father, the book collector Sir Thomas Phillipps, who remained implacably estranged from the couple for the rest of his life; however, on his death in 1872, Mr and Mrs Halliwell adopted the surname Halliwell-Phillipps.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Henry Roberts was born in Philadelphia to British parents. His family returned to London during his youth and he was apprenticed to the architect Charles Fowler. After working for Robert Smirke and studying at the Royal Academy Schools, Roberts set up his own architectural practice; his 1832 design for the London Fishmongers' Hall (completed in 1840) made his name and he employed George Gilbert Scott as his assistant. He was also a founder member of the Institute of British Architects (1835) and became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1836. He is best known, however, for his interest in and efforts to improve the housing of the working class population in London, particularly his work for the Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes during the 1840s and early 1850s. Roberts and his family left Britain for Italy in about 1853, after a scandal caused by an extra-marital relationship of his. He died in Florence in 1876.
Henri Cernuschi was born in Milan in 1821. He became involved in the Revolutions of 1848 when still student. In 1850 he left Italy for France, where he became a successful banker and writer on economics, known for his advocacy of bimetallism. He was expelled from France in 1870 during the last days of Napoleon III's rule, but returned a few months later when the Imperials regime collapsed. During the 1870s Cernuschi travelled in East Asia and collected many examples of Asian art. On his death, he bequeathed his collection to the City of Paris, where today it is open to the public as the Musée Cernuschi.
Gaston Paris was born in Avenay, Marne, France, and developed a love of French literature in early childhood. He became Professor of Medieval Literature at the College de France in 1872 and Director of the College in 1895. He was elected to the Academie francaise in 1896. Paris's work as a linguistic scholar, literary critic and medievalist (including contributions to the Histoire litteraire de la France) was both acclaimed and influential. He died at Cannes.
Robert Browning was born in Camberwell, London in 1812. He was educated locally and at home, where he enjoyed reading and writing poetry from an early age. He entered the new University of London in 1828 but left after a year to study privately, with no profession in mind. His first poem was published in 1833 and during subsequent years he became well known, though not always popular with the critics. He married fellow poet Elizabeth Moulton Barrett (1806-1861), in 1846 and they lived mainly in Italy; Browning returned to London permanently after her death in 1861. During the 1870s and 1880s he became one of Britain's most famous living poets, and was a critical as well as a commercial success at the time of his death. His best known works include Porphyria's Lover (1836) and The Ring and the Book (1868-1869).
No information was available at the time of compilation.
John Eliot was the son of John Eliot (1735-1813), a Quaker merchant and London underwriter. John the younger's older sister Mariabella Howard (1769-1852) was the wife of the chemist and meterologist Luke Howard (1772-1864) and the mother of John Eliot Howard (1807-1883), famous for his research into quinine.
Robert William Speaight was born in Kent and read English at Lincoln College, Oxford, before becoming a professional actor. He converted to Roman Catholicism in the 1930s and became well-known for his performance in T S Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral and for his portrayal of Jesus Christ in the radio drama The Man Born to be King (1942). Speaight was also a published novelist, theatre director and drama critic, particularly of the works of Shakespeare.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Ethel Edith Mannin was born and educated in London. Trained as a typist, she worked as a copywriter and editor before publishing her first novel in 1923. She subsequently wrote nearly a hundred books, both fiction and non-fiction, generally producing two each year, and her left-wing political views influenced much of her work. Mannin was married twice (to the writers John Alexander Porteus and Reginald Reynolds) but wrote under her own surname.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Gladys Ellen Easdale spent her adult life on the margins of the London literary and musical scene. She wrote about her life in an autobiography, Middle Age , 1885-1932, published in 1935, first anonymously and then under the surname of Killin.
George Gordon Noel Byron was born in London on 22 January 1788. At the age of ten, he inherited his great uncle William's barony to become the 6th Baron of Rochdale. Byron was educated at Harrow School 1801-1805 and Trinity College Cambridge, 1805-1808; where he received a Master of Arts degree. Whilst at Cambridge, Byron had several poetry books and other works printed and published. On leaving Cambridge, he settled in Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire, the ancestral home of the Byrons. He took his seat in the House of Lords on the 13 March 1809 and later that year he began a tour of the Mediterranean and the Near East (1809-1811). In 1812 Byron published Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Canto I and II and made his maiden speech at the House of Lords. In April 1816 he left England for the continent and spent nearly seven years travelling and writing in Italy. While in Italy he wrote Don Juan, which was published in several parts between 1818-1822. Byron sailed for Greece in July 1823, to help that country in its war for independence. In April 1824 Byron fell ill and died in Missolonghi, Greece.
Joseph McNabb was born in Portaferry, County Down, Ireland, and educated in Belfast and Newcastle upon Tyne. He joined the Dominican order as a novice in 1885, aged 17, taking Vincent as his name in religion. He was ordained priest in 1891 and studied theology in Belgium from 1891 until 1894, thereafter spending his life as a monk and teacher. Fr Vincent was deeply concerned with economic, social and ethical issues and the views expressed in his writings and lectures (including appearances given at Speakers' Corner, Hyde Park, London) were strong and often controversial.
Jean-Baptiste Say was born in Lyon, France, in 1767. He worked in England for several years before returning to France to work for an insurance company. His first pamphlet was published in 1789 and he subsequently wrote and edited many works on a variety of economic topics. He is best known as the proponent of Say's law, commonly expressed as 'supply creates its own demand', and his work had a strong influence on 19th century economists.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
William Henry Leatham was born into a Quaker family in Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1815. He was educated in London, before returning to Yorkshire to work for the family bank. His first volume of poetry was published in 1839. He and his wife formally joined the Church of England some time in the 1840s. Leatham was a prominent local figure and served as Liberal MP for Wakefield during 1859-1862 and 1865-1868, and for the Southern West Riding of Yorkshire during 1880-1885.
James Edwin Thorold Rogers was born in Hampshire, educated in Southampton, and at King's College London, and at Magdalen Hall, Oxford. He was ordained in the Church of England in about 1846. In the 1850s and early 1860s he established himself in Oxford as a private tutor and occasional university examiner; encouraged by his friend Richard Cobden he also undertook studies in the causes of rural poverty. Rogers held an economics professorship at King's College London, from 1859 until his death in 1890 and was twice (1862-1867, 1888-1890) Drummond Professor of Political Economy at Oxford. After giving up his Anglican orders in 1870, he was able to stand for Parliament, eventually serving as Liberal MP for Southwark (1880-1885) and Bermondsey (1885-1886).
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Peter Dollond was born in 1731. The eldest son of the optician and scientific instrument maker John Dollond (1707-1761). Peter went into partnership with his father, and later with his brother John (1746-1804). His telescopes and other instruments were popular, several were made for the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and for the Paris Observatory. After his death in 1761, family members continued to operate the business for many years. Eventually, the business was acquired by James Aitchison; the firm of Dollond and Aitchison is still well known for selling spectacles.
James Jardine was born in Applegarth, Dumfriesshire, and educated in Dumfries and Edinburgh. By 1809 he was practising as a civil engineer in Edinburgh and subsequently became well known for his work both in that city and elsewhere. He was a member of Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Geological Society, the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Society of Civil Engineers, and served as a Director of the Edinburgh Astronomical Institution.