Modern English Biography (volume 1 of 4) A-H

Modern English Biography (volume 1 of 4) A-H
Frederic Boase

Frederic Boase

Modern English Biography (volume 1 of 4) A-H

Preface

Biography like other subjects seems to have its fashion; at one time it is much attended to, at another time neglected. The Historical Register from 1717 to 1739, The European Magazine from 1782 to 1826, and The Gentleman’s Magazine from 1731 to 1868 furnished most useful and excellent notices of deceased worthies; then there appeared for one year only, The Register and Magazine of Biography, the first volume by Mr. Thompson Cooper, F.S.A., the second by Mr. Edward Walford, M.A. After this period there was a lull and biography was for some time at a discount; gradually however The Times, which hitherto had paid little attention to the subject, commenced inserting numerous obituary notices, and this fashion gradually increased, until at the present day there are few numbers of that paper which do not contain interesting memoirs. Other periodicals followed suit, and now the majority of the daily and weekly journals not only give lives but many of them well engraved portraits.

In the meantime there also came out various books on biography, such as Men of the Time, Men of Mark, Eminent Women Series, English Men of Action, English Men of Letters, English Worthies, Great Artists, Great Writers, Memorable Men of the Nineteenth Century, Men worth Remembering, The Biograph and others, while various improved biographical dictionaries, more especially the Dictionary of National Biography, still in progress, were produced.

General Biography has now become so large a subject, that no one work can comprehend it, and it will, it is imagined, in future, be necessary to attack it in small sections, if anything like justice is to be done to the matter.

Impressed with these ideas, the author of this work, who had during a period of twenty years made a collection of notes relating to English persons deceased since 1850, thought it not improbable that by printing his materials, he might be able to make a useful contribution to biographical literature. The first volume of “Modern English Biography” is the result; in it will be found memoirs referring to the period mentioned, of all privy councillors, knights, judges, recorders, queen’s counsel, serjeants, stipendiary magistrates, benchers of the inns of court, bishops, deans, archdeacons, chancellors, admirals, generals and members of parliament; other persons too, frequently omitted in biographical works, such as architects, engineers, inventors, ship builders, electricians, railway managers, publishers, actors, dramatists, musicians, music hall artistes, painters, sculptors, engravers, physicians, surgeons, sporting celebrities, eccentric characters and notorious criminals have also been inserted, in fact any one who has been well known and about whom a question might arise in general conversation. In addition, many foreigners who have spent portions of their lives in England and some few natives of the British colonies have been included.

The plan in these memoirs, of which there are nearly 8,000 in this volume, has been first to give the main facts in each life, then, in the case of authors, short though exact titles of their chief works, concluding with references to books where longer accounts are to be found. The subject of portraits has been made a speciality, and thousands of notices of likenesses in books, periodicals and newspapers have been inserted. The Transactions of the most important scientific and literary societies as well as the best known magazines and newspapers have been examined and the biographical notices extracted.

The memoirs, though short, will be found to contain many exact facts not given in larger works. Great trouble has been taken about births and deaths, the dates of births frequently cannot be obtained and the places and dates of deaths of even very well known individuals are sometimes not easily settled. Information has been sought from all printed sources, from private individuals, and from church registers; reference has been also continually made to the books of the registrar general at Somerset House.

Froude in one of his Essays says “We want the biographies of common people;” this adage has been acted on in Modern English Biography, and many hundred notices of the less known authors, artists, newspaper proprietors and journalists, merchants, country gentlemen and others, which can be found in no other book, are here recorded.

Some reference must be made to the Knights Bachelor, an increasing and important body of men of much repute, about whom the annual knightages do not furnish exact information. For the elucidation of their history, the columns of the London Gazette have been carefully searched and the dates and places of their knighthood extracted, information which it is believed, cannot be found concentrated in any other single volume.

The memoirs are arranged lexicographically according to the surnames, the peers however have all been inserted under their titles, for the reason that their family names are not generally known to ordinary readers.

To my father Mr. John Josias Arthur Boase and to my eldest brother the Rev. Charles William Boase, I am much indebted for their great kindness in conjointly defraying the cost of printing this work, which I claim, to be an important contribution to the English biography of the nineteenth century.

My thanks are due to Mr. William Prideaux Courtney and to my brother Mr. George Clement Boase, joint authors of the Bibliotheca Cornubiensis, as well as to my before mentioned brother the Rev. C. W. Boase, for kindly reading proofs and supplying additional facts, while to Mr. Richard Bissell Prosser late of the Patent Office and to Mr. Ralph Thomas author of The Handbook of Fictitious Names, I am under an obligation for information about inventors and other persons.

The Second Volume is in active preparation and will appear as soon as is possible, consistently with careful research.

In a biographical work arranged alphabetically an Index is not a necessity, but it was thought that one might add value to the book. A general index was not practicable, as it would have been as extensive as the work itself, but an elaborate and carefully considered compilation of the more remarkable, curious and interesting matter in the volume, has been made for me by my brother Mr. G. C. Boase. Clergy lists, Law lists and Army and Navy lists being common, the names of persons belonging to those professions have not been included. The first important heading in the index is that of Actors followed by Actors’ Stage Names, a list probably unique, while Dancers, Singers and others have not been neglected. To Initialisms, Fancy Names, Changes of Names and Pseudonyms much attention has been given and the entries are very extensive. Fellows of the Royal Society, astronomers, explorers, physicians, surgeons, civil engineers, painters and sculptors are duly recorded, while sport is represented by masters of hounds, betting men, racing men, cricketers, pedestrians and pugilists.

The names of the Knights Bachelor occupy considerable space, and the article London will be found very interesting. Some amount of additional information has been inserted in the Index, to which the reader is recommended to refer when using “Modern English Biography.”

    FREDERIC BOASE.

36, James Street,

Buckingham Gate,

London, S.W.,

7 April, 1892.

Abbreviations

A

ABBEY, John. b. Whilton, Northants 22 Dec. 1785; employed by James David and then by Hugh Russell organ-builders London; worked for Sebastian Erard in Paris 1826; an organ-builder in Paris; built choir organs for cathedrals of Rheims, Nantes, Versailles, and Evreux, large organs for cathedrals of Rochelle, Rennes, Viviers, Tulle, Bayeux and Amiens, many organs for South America, and an organ for the opera-house in Rue Lepelletier, Paris, destroyed by fire with the house, 28 Nov. 1873; introduced into French organs English mechanism, and the bellows invented by Alexander Cumming. d. Versailles 19 Feb. 1859.

ABBISS, James. b. Wallsworth near Hitchin in Herts 3 June 1812; tea-dealer in Gracechurch st. London 1835; chairman of City of London Union 1857 to death; alderman for ward of Bridge 1859–67; sheriff of London 1860–61. d. The Shrubbery, Chase Side, Enfield 7 July 1882. bur. Edmonton ch. yard 11 July.

ABBISS, Rev. John (son of John Abbiss of Wandsworth, Surrey). b. 12 July 1789; matric. Trin. Coll. Ox. 10 Oct. 1810, B.A. 1814, M.A. 1817; R. of St. Bartholomew the Great, city of London 1819 to death. d. 41 Myddelton sq. Clerkenwell 8 July 1883. bur. Stoke d’Abernon near Leatherhead 13 July.

ABBOTT, Augustus (eld. son of Henry Alexius Abbott, of Calcutta, merchant). b. London 7 Jan. 1804; ed. at Warfield in Berks, Winchester, and Addiscombe; 2 lieut. Bengal artillery 16 April 1819; commanded the artillery in defence of Jellalabad, Nov. 1841 to April 1842; Col. 14 Nov. 1858 to death; served in Afghan war 1838–42; principal commissary of ordnance 12 Dec. 1847 to 9 Feb. 1855; inspector-general of ordnance and magazines Bengal 9 Feb. 1855–18 Jan. 1858; commander at Meerut 27 Jan. 1858; M.G. 13 April 1860; Douranee order conferred on him Nov. 1840, but he never wore it; C.B. 11 Oct. 1842; one of the finest artillery officers of his time. d. 4 Paragon buildings, Cheltenham 25 Feb. 1867. The Afghan War, 1838–1842, from the Journal of the late Augustus Abbott. By C. R. Low. 1879.

ABBOTT, Rev. Edward Singleton. Preb. of St. Michael’s in Ch. Ch. cathedral, Dublin 13 Aug. 1844; preb. of St. John’s 11 Mch. 1845; preb. of St. Michan’s 12 Feb. 1854–55; R. of St. Mary’s, Dublin 1855 to death; sub.-dean of chapel royal Dublin 1858 to death; committed suicide by shooting himself at 7 North Frederick st. Dublin 12 June 1865 aged 63.

ABBOTT, Edwin. b. London 12 May 1808; principal of Philological school 248 Marylebone road, London 1827–72; and secretary 1872 to death; one of the first to advocate a more thorough English training in schools; author of A second Latin book 1858; Greek tragic iambics 1864; Complete concordance to works of Alexander Pope 1875. d. 18 Palace sq. Upper Norwood 27 May 1882. bur. Kensal Green 31 May.

ABBOTT, John (son of Robert Abbott of Halifax, carpet manufacturer, who founded the carpet trade in Halifax with Mr. Crossley, and d. 1825). b. Halifax 20 July 1796; a woolstapler there; took a leading part in all matters of social improvement and left charitable bequests of £61,500. d. Halifax 13 May 1870.

ABBOTT, Rev. Joseph. b. Cumberland 1789; ed. at Bampton sch. and Marischal coll. Aberdeen; Missionary of the S.P.G. at St. Andrew’s, Grenville, Lower Canada 1818–47, when he retired; wrote The Emigrant to North America from memoranda of a settler in Canada, first published in the Quebec Mercury 1842, republished in many leading Canadian papers and in several English papers, including Emigration Gazette, and in pamphlet form by the Emigration agent. 2nd ed. 1843, it was also pub. in a more extended form by John Murray in the Home and Colonial library, under the title of Philip Musgrave or the adventures of a Missionary in Canada; contributed many tales to Canadian periodicals. d. Montreal, Jany. 1863. Morgan’s Bibliotheca Canadensis (1867) pp. 3–4.

ABBOTT, Thomas Eastoe. b. East Dereham, Norfolk 1779; author of Peace; a lyric poem 1814; The triumph of Christianity 1819; The soldier’s friend 1828. d. Darlington 18 Feb. 1854.

ABDY, Maria. b. London; wrote in the New Monthly, The Metropolitan and the Annuals; privately printed Poems 8 series, 8 vols. 1830–62; An appeal on behalf of governesses, her longest poem gained first prize offered for literary productions on that subject, (m. Rev. John Channing Abdy, R. of St. John’s Southwark who d. 27 Jany. 1845 aged 52.) d. 7 Upper Marine terrace, Margate 19 July 1867 aged 70. bur. St. Peter’s church yard Isle of Thanet.

ABDY, Sir Thomas Neville, 1 Baronet (only son of Anthony Thomas Abdy, captain R.N. who d. 9 June 1838, by Grace dau. of admiral Sir Thomas Rich). b. 21 Dec. 1810; ed. at St. John’s coll. Cam., B.A. 1833; M.P. for Lyme Regis, (lib.) 30 July 1847–1 July 1852; cr. baronet 8 Jan. 1850; sheriff of Essex 1875. (m. 19 Oct. 1841 Harriet 2nd dau. of Rowland Alston, M.P. of Pishiobury, Herts, she d. 8 July 1877.) d. 6 Grosvenor place, London 20 July 1877.

ABDY, Sir William, 7 Baronet. b. 1779; succeeded 21 July 1803. d. 20b. Hill st. London 15 Apl. 1868.

A’BECKETT, Arthur Martin (youngest son of Wm. A’Beckett of Golden square, London, long known as the Reform solicitor, who d. 23 Feb. 1855 aged 77, by his 1 wife Sarah who d. 25 Aug. 1817). b. Golden square, London 1812; ed. at London univ. 1834 and at Paris; M.R.C.S. 9 March 1838, F.R.C.S. 13 Dec. 1855, M.D.; Staff surgeon to British legion in Spain; on staff of Sir De Lacy Evans 1835–37; arrived in Sydney 1838; practised there 1838–58; member of legislative council of N.S.W. to 1858; knight of San Ferdinand; F.R.G.S. 1860. (m. 15 May 1838 Emma Louisa 1 dau. of Marsham Elwin of Thirning, Norfolk, she was b. 26 Aug. 1814). d. Sydney 23 May 1871. Medical Times and Gazette, ii, 263 (1871); Heads of the people, ii, 83 (1848) pt.

A’BECKETT, Gilbert Abbot (2 son of Wm. A’Beckett of Golden sq.) b. The Grange, Haverstock hill, London 9 Jany. 1811. ed. at Westminster school; sole proprietor of following periodicals, The terrific penny magazine, The Ghost, The Lover, The gallery of terrors, The Figaro monthly newspaper, and The Figaro caricature gallery; proprietor with Thomas Littleton Holt of following periodicals, The evangelical penny magazine, Dibdin’s penny trumpet, The thief, Poor Richard’s journal, and The people’s penny pictures; student at Gray’s Inn 25 Apl. 1828; dramatic critic of the Weekly Despatch; edited Figaro in London comic weekly paper, 160 numbers 1 Dec. 1831 to 27 Dec. 1834; joint manager with Edward Mayhew of the Fitzroy theatre, Fitzroy st. Tottenham court road, London 1834 where he produced his first burlesque Glaucus and Scylla; edited The Wag 1837, and The Squib 1842, comic weekly papers; one of the original staff of Punch or the London Charivari, which appeared 17 July 1841, wrote in it from number 4 to his death; wrote leading articles in The Times one year, and in Morning Herald; wrote humorous articles in Pictorial Times; barrister G.I. 27 Jany 1841; poor Law comr. to inquire into iniquities practised in Andover union, March 1846; magistrate at Greenwich and Woolwich police court, Feb. 1849, and at Southwark, Dec. 1849 to death; went to Boulogne 17 July 1856; author of Scenes from the rejected comedies, a series of parodies upon living dramatists 1844; The quizziology of the British drama 1846; The comic Blackstone 1846; The comic history of England, 2 vols. 1847–8; The comic history of Rome 1852; wrote more than 50 plays; dramatised with Mark Lemon, Dickens’s novel “The Chimes,” produced at Adelphi theatre 19 Dec. 1844. (m. about 1836 Mary Anne eld. dau. of Joseph Glossop, she was granted a civil list pension of £100, 23 Oct. 1856. She m. (2) George Jones, barrister, and d. 11 Dec. 1863 aged 46). d. of typhus fever at Rue Neuve Chaussée, Boulogne 30 Aug. 1856, body removed to Highgate cemetery. The Critic, xv. 436 (1856); Mr. Punch, his origin and career 1870; Alfred Bunn’s A word with Punch 1847, pp. 5–7 pt.; I.L.N. xxx, 570 (1857), view of his tomb in Highgate cemetery.

Note.—There is a portrait of him by Leech in his two page cartoon, called “Mr. Punch’s fancy ball” in Punch 9 Jany. 1847, where he is represented as playing the violin in the orchestra between the double bass and the clarionet. His first contribution to Punch, entitled “The above bridge navy,” appeared in No. 4, 7 Aug. 1841 with John Leech’s earliest cartoon, “Foreign Affairs.”

A’BECKETT, Sir William (eld. son of Wm. A’Beckett of Golden square). b. London 28 July 1806; ed. at Westminster; barrister L.I. 30 June 1829; went to Sydney 1837; solicitor general of New South Wales 1841; a judge of court of N.S.W. 24 Nov. 1845; resident judge at Port Philip 3 Feb. 1846; chief justice and judge of admiralty court of Victoria 25 Aug. 1851; knighted by patent 19 Nov. 1852; returned to England 1858; author of great part of The Georgian Era 4 vols. 1832–34; of Universal biography3 vols. 1840; and of The Earl’s choice and other poems 1863. (m. (1) 1832 Emily dau. of E. Hayley, she d. 1 June 1841. m. (2) 1849 Matilda dau. of E. Hayley, she d. 8 Aug. 1879 aged 64). d. Abbotsville, Upper Norwood, Surrey 27 June 1869.

Note.—He edited at Sydney from 1837–38 a periodical called the Literary News, of which no copies are supposed to be now in existence.

ABELL, Lucia Elizabeth (2 dau. of Wm. Balcombe, navy agent, purveyor to Napoleon Bonaparte at St. Helena, and afterwards the colonial treasurer of N.S.W. who d. 19 March 1829). Author of Recollections of the Emperor Napoleon during the first three years of his captivity on the island of St. Helena 1848, including the time of his residence at her father’s house, “the Briars.” (m. Edward Abell). d. 18 Chester terrace, Eaton sq. London 29 June 1871. Recollections of the Emperor Napoleon 3rd ed. 1873, pt. Of Mrs. Abell.

ABERCROMBY, George Ralph Abercromby, 3 Baron. b. Edinburgh 30 May 1800; M.P. for Clackmannan, (whig) 13 July 1824–2 June 1826, 10 Aug. 1830–23 April 1831, and 6 July 1841–18 Feb. 1842; M.P. for Stirlingshire 30 April 1838–23 June 1841; major 3 dragoon guards 22 June 1826–21 Nov. 1828; succeeded 14 Feb. 1843; lord lieutenant of Clackmannan 1843 to death; was blind. d. Airthney castle, Stirling 25 June 1852.

ABERCROMBY, The Honble. Alexander, b. 4 March 1784; ensign 52 foot 16 Aug. 1799; lieut. col. 28 foot 8 Dec. 1808–25 July 1814; commanded a brigade at battle of Albuera 16 May 1811; captain Coldstream guards 25 July 1814–25 Oct. 1821, when placed on half pay on reduction of regiment; C.B. 4 June 1815; K.M.T.; K.T.S.; K.S.G.; M.P. for co. Clackmannan 11 April 1817–10 June 1818. d. at his country seat in Scotland 27 Aug. 1853. Napier’s Peninsular War, book xii, chapters 6 and 7.

ABERCROMBY, Sir George Samuel, 6 baronet. b. Edinburgh 22 May 1824; succeeded 6 July 1855. d. Forglen house, Turriff Banffshire 15 Nov. 1872.

ABERCROMBY, Sir Robert, 5 baronet. b. Forglen house, Banffshire 4 Feb. 1784; M.P. for Banffshire 2 Nov. 1812–10 June 1818; succeeded 18 July 1831. d. Forglen house 6 July 1855.

ABERDEEN, George Hamilton Gordon, 4 Earl of (1 son of George Gordon, styled Lord Haddo 1764–91, by Charlotte, youngest dau. of Wm. Baird of Newbyth, co. Haddington, she d. 8 Oct. 1795). b. Edinburgh 28 Jany. 1784; ed. at Harrow, and St. John’s coll. Cam., M.A. 1804; succeeded his grandfather 13 Aug. 1801; visited Greece, Turkey and Russia; founded Athenian society 1804, of which no one might be a member who had not visited Athens; rep. peer Scotland 15 Dec. 1806–1 June 1814; K.T. 16 March 1808; ambassador to Vienna 29 July 1813–April 1814, when he prevailed with the Emperor to join the allied sovereigns against Napoleon by treaty of Toplitz 9 Sep. 1813; present at battles of Dresden and Leipsic; signed treaty of peace at Paris 1 June 1814; created a peer of the U.K. as Viscount Gordon of Aberdeen, co. Aberdeen 1 June 1814; P.C. 23 July 1814; took name of Hamilton before that of Gordon by royal license 13 Nov. 1818; chancellor of univ. of Aberdeen 1827; chancellor of duchy of Lancaster 26 Jan. 1828–2 June 1828; sec. of state for foreign affairs 2 June 1828–2 Nov. 1830 and 2 Sep. 1841–5 July 1846; sec. of state for the colonies 5 June 1834–18 April 1835; ranger of Greenwich park 1 Feb. 1845; lord lieut. of Aberdeenshire 23 April 1846; first lord of the treasury 28 Dec. 1852–1 Feb. 1855; an elder brother of Trinity house Nov. 1853–54; a comr. for executing office of treasurer of exchequer of Great Britain, and lord high treasurer of Ireland 6 Mch. 1854; president of Society of Antiquaries 1812–46; F.R.S. 28 April 1808, F.R.G.S. 1830, K.G. 7 Feb. 1855; visited by the Queen at Haddo house, 15 Oct. 1857; author of Inquiry into principles of beauty in Grecian architecture, 1822. (m. (1) 28 July 1805 Catherine Elizabeth, 3 dau. of John James Hamilton, 1 Marquess of Abercorn, she was b. 10 Jan. 1784, and d. 29 Feb. 1812. m. (2) 8 July 1815 Harriet, 2 dau. of honble. John Douglas and widow of James Hamilton, eld. son of 1 Marquess of Abercorn, she was b. 8 June 1792, and d. 26 Aug. 1833). d. 7 Argyll st. Regent st. London 14 Dec. 1860. bur. in family vault at Stanmore 21 Dec. Correspondence of Earl of Aberdeen 1850–53, privately printed 1880; Edinburgh Review, clviii, 547–77 (1883); Thirty years of foreign policy 1854; Proc. of Royal Society of Edin. iv, 477–83 (1862); The British cabinet in 1853, pp. 7–43, pt.; Jerdan’s National portrait gallery, vol. 3, pt.; I.L.N. i, 461 (1842), xx, 1, (1853) xxxvii, 635 (1860) pts.; A.R. (1860) 376–83.

Note.—Lord Byron in his “English bards and Scotch reviewers,” refers to him as “The travelled Thane, Athenian Aberdeen.” He was allowed the very rare distinction of being permitted to retain the order of the Thistle, together with that of the Garter. Exclusive of royalty, 12 Knights of the Thistle (since the re-establishment of the order in 1687), have been elected to the Garter, of these 12 only 4 have retained both orders.

ABERDEEN, George John James Hamilton-Gordon, 5 Earl of. b. Bentley priory, Stanmore 28 Sep. 1816; ed. privately, and at Trin. coll. Cam., M.A. 1837; attaché at Constantinople 1837; M.P. Aberdeenshire (lib.) 22 Aug. 1854–14 Dec. 1860, when he succeeded; went to Egypt, Sep. 1854, and June 1860; went to Madrid, May 1863 to petition Queen of Spain for a remission of sentence on Manuel Matamoros, (who was sentenced to 9 years penal servitude for preaching Protestantism, he was eventually exiled from Spain, he was b. Malaga, Oct. 1834 and d. Lausanne, 31 July 1866.) d. Haddo house, Aberdeenshire 22 March 1864. bur. Methlie churchyard 29 March. Memoir of Lord Haddo by Rev. E. B. Elliott, 6 ed. 1873; The true nobility by Alexander Duff 1868; I.L.N. xxiv, 265 (1854) pt.