Charles Jenkinson (1727-1808) became private secretary to the 3rd Earl of Bute, favourite of George III, in 1760. In 1763, having been elected to Parliament, Jenkinson was appointed Joint Secretary of the Treasury. Chosen as Vice-Treasurer for Ireland in 1773, he became a member of the Privy Council. Later he was Master of the Royal Mint (1775-1778) and, during the American Revolution, Secretary at War (1778-1782). During the first ministry (from 1783) of the William Pitt the younger, Jenkinson proved an invaluable adviser. In 1786 he was appointed chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster and president of the Board of Trade. A member of the Cabinet from 1791, he became an invalid around 1801, ceased to attend Cabinet meetings, and by the middle of 1804 had resigned all his offices. He was created Baron Hawkesbury in 1786 and 1st Earl of Liverpool in 1796.
Thomas Clarkson was born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, in 1760. He was educated locally and in London before entering St John's College Cambridge. Whilst researching for an essay competition in 1785, he was appalled to discover the cruelty involved in the Atlantic slave trade and became an abolitionist. Along with his younger brother John, he researched and campaigned vigorously on behalf of the anti-slavery movement. After the Abolition Act was passed in 1807, he continued to campaign for its enforcement and for emancipation of those already enslaved (achieved in 1833). Brought up in the Church of England, Clarkson became close to many Quaker friends that he met through the anti-slavery movement but did not join the Society of Friends himself.
Richard Thomas Gallienne (later Le Gallienne) was born in West Derby, Lancashire in 1866. He was educated at Liverpool College. Interested in literature from an early age, he began collecting books as a young man. His first book of poetry was published in 1887. In 1888, after failing the exams necessary to qualify as an accountant, he moved to London and earned a living as a book reviewer and continued to write poetry and prose. Le Gallienne emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s and from 1930 onwards lived in France and Monte Carlo with his third wife, where he continued to work as a journalist.
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'.
Robert Bald was born in Perthshire in 1776. He learnt colliery management and engineering under his father and Thomas Telford. He subsequently spent many years managing the collieries on the Earl of Mar's estate at Alloa, Clackmannanshire, and became Scotland's most highly regarded mining engineer. Bald was deeply concerned with improving both productivity and working conditions, particularly for women employed as coal 'bearers'.
Sir James Robert George Graham was born in Cumberland in 1792. He was educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford. He succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1824. He originally entered parliament in 1818 as MP for Hull, later serving as MP for St Ives, Carlisle, Cumberland, East Cumberland, Pembroke, Dorchester and Ripon, before becoming MP for Carlisle for a second time. Originally a Whig, he became First Lord of the Admiralty under Earl Grey; in 1837 he joined the Conservatives and subsequently served as a cabinet minister under Sir Robert Peel, Lord Aberdeen and Lord Palmerston; as a Peelite he often voted with the Liberals/Whigs in the House of Commons.
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).
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Stanley Spencer was born in Cookham, Berkshire, and remained strongly attached to the village throughout his life. He was educated locally before studying at the Slade School of Fine Art, London (1908-1912). After serving in the First World War, mainly in the medical corps, he started to become well known as an artist. Besides Cookham, Stanley's Christian faith and his two marriages, to the artists Hilda Carline and Patricia Preece, were among the greatest influences on his work. His best known paintings include The Resurrection, Cookham (1924-1927) and Double Nude Portrait: the Artist and his Second Wife (1937). During the Second World War, Stanley served as an official war artist in Glasgow. He was knighted in Jul 1959, five months before his death.
Owen Williams was the son of prominent Welsh industrialist Thomas Williams (1737-1802). He served as MP for Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire, from 1796 until his death in 1832.
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.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Henry Hucks Gibbs was born in London and educated at Rugby School and at Exeter College, Oxford. After graduating in 1841 he joined the family firm; when his father died the following year, as the eldest son he inherited the family estates, which he insisted on sharing with other family members. Instead of becoming just a landed gentleman, Gibbs embarked on a successful career as a merchant banker in the City of London, though his advocacy of a bimetallic currency standard was not shared by many of his contemporaries. He became a director of the Bank of England in 1853 and served as its governor during 1875-1877. Gibbs served as Conservative MP for the City of London between 1891 and 1892, and in 1896 was granted a peerage as Baron Aldenham. He also had strong literary and sporting interests, and served on the council of the English Church Union.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
William Cobbett was born in Farnham, Surrey, in 1863. He enlisted as a soldier, and was also a tutor before turning to political writing. He published pamphlets in both Britain and America, usually under the pan name of Peter Porcupine. He owned farms on both sides of the Atlantic. He espoused a mixture of radical and conservative views and was much concerned with rural distress and the state of English farming. He was briefly MP for Oldham, Lancashire, in the 1830s.
Arthur Hugh Clough was born in Liverpool and brought up partly in South Carolina and partly in England, where he was educated at Rugby School and later at Balliol College, Oxford. He became a fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, in 1842 and taught there until 1848, the same year that his first major poem, The Bothie, was published. From 1848 until 1851 he was head of University Hall, a collegiate residence for students attending lectures at University College London, and in 1850 he was appointed professor of English language and literature at University College, andhe later becme an examiner in the Education Office. Clough was deeply influenced by the conflicting movements within Victorian religion, though he had ceased to accept Christian dogma by the late 1840s, and by radical ideas in politics. His poetry was critically acclaimed during his lifetime and continued to be so for many years after his death.
Arthur Helps was born in Balham, Surrey in 1813. He was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge. After graduating, he entered the civil service, initially as private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1843, Helps purchased a large estate in Hampshire and subsequently spent much of his time there writing both novels and non-fiction. He was concerned with social reform, which he addressed both in his writing and through fundraising. From 1860 until his death he served as Clerk of the Privy Council and edited some of the royal family's papers for publication. He was knighted in 1872.
Nassau William Senior was born in 1790. He was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford University, gaining an MA in 1815. He became a barrister at Lincoln's Inn, London, in 1819. He held the position of Professor of Political Economy at Oxford, 1825-1830 and 1847-1852, and was a member of the Poor Law Commission in 1833, for which he wrote the report (1834). Senior was a Master in Chancery from 1836 to 1855. A list of his publications may be found in the British Library catalogue.
Thomas James Wise was born in Gravesend, Kent in 1859, and was brought up in London. He joined the firm of Herman Rubeck and Co (dealers in scents and flavourings) aged 16, rising to become chief clerk and later a partner in the business. Alongside his business activities, Wise was a prolific book collector and an amateur writer and publisher. By the 1920s he had become prominent in the rare book trade and served as President of the Bibliographical Society for 1922-1924. Not until the 1930s was it discovered that Wise and his associate Harry Buxton Forman had produced and sold many forgeries and deliberately antedated reprints, and it was not until after his death that the extent of his deceptions (including thefts from the British Museum) and inaccuracy of his bibliographies were fully appreciated.
Frances Louise ('Loie') Greenhalgh married Thomas James Wise in 1900. There is no evidence that she ever assisted in his fradulent activities.
George Rostrevor Hamilton was educated at Oxford University before becoming a civil servant. His first book of poems was published in 1916 and he later compiled anthologies of Greek and Latin verse for Nonesuch Press. Hamliton was a director of the Poetry Book Society and corresponded with many other literary figures of his time. He was knighted in 1951.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
John Newton was born in Wapping, London, in 1725. He was the son of a master mariner and went to sea aged 11. As a young sailor he was heavily involved in the slave trade, something he regretted in later life. From 1748-1749 onwards Newton was deeply religious in the evangelical Christian tradition. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1764 and was curate-in-charge at Olney, Buckinghamshire, for 16 years until he was given the benefice of St Mary Woolnoth, City of London, in 1780. Newton also wrote religious poetry and was close friends with the poet William Cowper. His prose works include a memoir detailing his early life as a slave trader, as well as published collections of his letters and sermons.
Henry Enfield Roscoe was born in London in 1833, into an nonconformist family. His paternal grandfather had been the banker and writer William Roscoe, his father was the legal writer Henry Roscoe, and the poet Mary Anne Jevons was his aunt. Henry Enfield Roscoe was brought up and educated in Liverpool before studying chemistry at University College London and at Heidelberg. Returning to Britain, he was initially a private researcher in London and subsequently (from 1857) a professor at Owens College, Manchester, where he came to be recognized as one of the world's leading teachers of chemistry. Roscoe became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1863 and was knighted in 1884. He served as Liberal MP for South Manchester between 1885 and 1895, and as Vice-Chancellor of the University of London between 1896 and 1902.
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.
James Henry Leigh Hunt was born in Southgate, Middlesex to American parents and was educated at Christ's Hospital before becoming a clerk at the War Office. His first volume of poetry was published in 1801. In 1808 he co-founded The Examiner, a weekly newspaper, with his brother John Hunt and served as its editor for several years. During 1813-1815 the brothers were imprisoned for libel after publishing an article about the Prince Regent (later George IV) and Leigh Hunt was generally in poor health for the rest of his life. Additionally, his domestic life was unhappy and his income irregular. Hunt's poems and other works (including an autobiography) were widely read during his lifetime but now remembered more for their influence on other writers.
James Stephen was born in Poole, Dorset, and received a patchy education at various schools before studying law in Aberdeen and London. During 1783-1794 he worked as a lawyer in St Kitts in the West Indies, and on his permanent return to London he practised in the prize appeal court of the Privy Council. From 1811 until his death he was Master in Chancery, and he served as MP for Tralee, County Kerry, from 1808 to 1812 and for East Grinstead, Sussex, from 1812 to 1815. Stephen was deeply religious in the evangelical Christian tradition and (having witnessed its injustices first hand in the Caribbean) a staunch opponent of slavery and a vehement campaigner against it.
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.
Frederic Herbert Trench was born in Avoncore, County Cork, Ireland, and educated at Hailebury College and at Keble College, Oxford, where he studied modern history. After graduating he was a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford during 1889-1891 before spending 11 years working for the Board of Education. Trench became known as a poet in the early 1900s. Between 1909 and 1911 he was also artistic director of the Haymarket Theatre, London. From 1911 he lived mainly in Settignano, Italy, where the life and land inspired many of his later poems.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
William Lygon was born in London in 1872. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church Oxford, which he left without completing his degree. He succeeded his father as Earl Beauchamp in 1891. During 1899-1901 he was briefly governor of New South Wales. Lord Beauchamp became a privy counsellor in 1906 and served as its president between Jun and Nov 1910. He became a Knight of the Garter in 1914 and was was Liberal leader in the House of Lords from 1924. Between 1929 and 1931 he was Chancellor of the University of London. Alongside his happy marriage and family life, Beauchamp had several homosexual relationships, which damaged his reputation, and he was obliged to live in exile abroad from 1931 after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
John King was born in Lancashire in 1759. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford and studied law at Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn, before being called to the bar in 1790. He became law clerk at the Home Office in 1791 and progressed to joint secretary to the Treasury by 1806. He also became MP for Enniskillen, co. Fermanagh, Ireland in 1806 but gave up the seat the same year, due to bad health. He then became comptroller of army accounts, a post he held until his death in 1830.
Charles Ingoldsby Paulet was educated at Eton and at Clare College, Cambridge, before pursuing a military career. He served as MP for Truro from 1792 to 1796. Previously known by the courtesy title of Earl of Wiltshire, Paulet succeeded his father as Marquess of Winchester in 1800. From 1812 until 1837, when the position was abolished, he was Groom of the Stole to the monarch. In 1839, Winchester adopted the surname of Burroughs-Paulet, as specified in the will of Sarah Salusbury (née Burroughs), whose property he inherited.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
The Sun Fire Office was founded in 1710 by a co-partnership of 24 'gentlemen of mixed social and professional background' to provide fire insurance following the devastation of the Great Fire of London in 1666. It is the oldest insurance company in existence; it merged with Alliance Asssurance in 1959 and with Royal Insurance (founded 1842) in 1996 to form Royal and Sun Alliance.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was born in Reims in 1665. He started working for the French war office aged 21 and rose to greater influence during the unsettled Fronde period (1648-1653). After Cardinal Mazarin's death in 1661 he became a high-ranking government minister, concerned with economic reform and naval affairs. His son, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay (1651-1690) succeded him as Secretary of State of the Navy.
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.
Alexander Galloway rose to prominence in the radical London Corresponding Society, becoming president of the Society in 1797. He continued to campaign for democratic reform and improvements to working conditions for many years. Galloway was a member of the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers and rose to be a prominent engineer and one of London's largest employers. He also spent 17 years on the Council of Farringdon Without ward.
No information available at the time of compilation.
Charles Cockerell was born at Bishops Hull, Somerset in 1755. He was educated at Winchester College. Between 1776 and 1801 he worked for the East India Company in Bengal, spending several years as postmaster general in Calcutta. On his return to Britain, Cockerell became a successful businessman in London, with a house at Hyde Park Corner and a country estate at Sezincote, Gloucestershire. He maintained a lifelong interest in India. He served as an MP between 1802 and his death in 1837. He was made a baronet in 1809.
John Taylor was born in Norwich in 1779. The son of the yarn manufacturer and nonconformist minister John Taylor (1750-1826) and his wife Susanna née Cook (1755-1823). He trained as a land surveyor and civil engineer and became successful in the field of metal mining and a leading exponent of new mining technology. Taylor was also deeply interested in mining development overseas and in scientific education. He was a fellow of the Royal Society, a prominent member of the Geological Society of London and the Institution of Civil Engineers, and helped to found both the University of London and the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Several of his siblings were also prominent in engineering, printing and the arts.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Charles Tilston Bright was born at Wansted, Essex in 1832. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School before joining the Electric Telegraph Company and later the Magnetic Telegraph Company. His best known achievement, the laying of the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean (1858) earned him a knighthood at the age of 26. From 1860 onwards Bright worked as an independent consultant. He was also independent Liberal MP for Greenwich between 1865 and 1868.
John Coode was born in Bodmin, Cornwall in 1816. He was educated locally before being articled to a civil engineer. By the 1840s he had his own successful engineering practice in London and from the 1850s onwards regularly travelled abroad as the designer of or a consultant to large-scale port and harbour works in the British colonies. He was knighted in 1872 for his work on Portland Harbour, Dorset. Coode was also a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Royal Colonial Institute, the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Sewage Discharge, and the International Commission of the Suez Canal.