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

BAKER, Sir William Erskine (son of Joseph Baker, capt. R.N.) b. Leith 1808; 2 lieut. Bengal engineers 15 Dec. 1826, col. commandant 10 March 1857; military sec. at India office 1858; member of council of India 1861–1875; general 1 Oct. 1877; placed on retired list 29 Nov. 1878; K.C.B. 1 Feb. 1870. (m. 1837 Frances Gertrude 3 dau. of major general A. Duncan). d. the Castle, Banwell 16 Dec. 1881.

BAKER, Rev. William Richard. b. Waltham abbey, Essex 3 Sep. 1798; agent of Home missionary society at Ramsey, Isle of Man 1822–28; minister of independent chapel at Shepton Mallet, Somerset 1828–38; sec. of New British and Foreign Temperance Society 1838–41; minister of Portland chapel St. John’s Wood, London 1841–51; a founder of United Kingdom temperance and general provident Institution 1840, resident director 1852; author of The curse of Britain 1838; The idolatry of Britain 1840; Our state church 1850; Anti-mysticism 1855. d. Down house near Sutton, Surrey 28 Sep. 1861. Life of the late Rev. W. R. Baker, edited by his sister Mrs. E. L. Edmunds 1865.

BALD, Robert. b. Culross, Perthshire 1776; engaged in the Mar collieries; a mining engineer at Edin. about 1820; much employed in Scotland, England and Wales; reported on coalfields of Sweden for the Swedish government; F.R.S. Edin. 1817; author of A general view of the coal trade of Scotland 1812; of the article Mine in the Edinburgh Encyclopædia and of many papers. d. Alloa 28 Dec. 1861.

BALD, William, b. Burnt Island, Fifeshire; a civil engineer 1803; made a territorial survey of co. Mayo about 1810, his map on a scale of 4 inches to a mile was one of the finest maps ever constructed; a draftsman at the Admiralty; resident engineer to trustees of the river Clyde 1839–45; examined the river Seine 1845. d. 1857. Quarterly journal of Geological Society xiv, 42–43 (1858).

BALDERS, Charles William Morely (eld. son of Charles Morely Balders of West Barsham, Norfolk). b. Sunderland 4 Feb. 1804; cornet 3 dragoons 10 Nov. 1825, and major 1845–48; major 5 dragoon guards 1848–54; lieut. col. 12 lancers 8 Jany. 1858 to 31 Aug. 1860; col. 17 lancers 4 Feb. 1867 to death; L.G. 28 Oct. 1869; C.B. 24 May 1847. d. 11 Adelaide crescent, Brighton 21 Sep. 1875.

BALDERSON, Abraham Thomas. b. 1804; ed. at Guy’s hospital; L.S.A. 1826; assistant to Sir Astley Cooper 1825–41; examiner of lunatics, parish of St. James, Westminster. d. 37 Woburn sq. London 3 Feb. 1872

BALDOCK, Edward Holmes. b. 1812; M.P. for Shrewsbury 30 July 1847 to 21 March 1857. d. 8 Grosvenor place, London 15 Aug. 1875 from effect of walking through a plate glass window in Alexander Collie’s house, 12 Kensington palace gardens.

BALDOCK, Robert (youngest son of Thomas Baldock of Burwash Sussex, surgeon). b. Burwash July 1789; bookseller at 85 High Holborn, London 1814 to death. d. 85 High Holborn 5 Nov. 1861.

BALDOCK, Thomas. Midshipman R.N. 25 Oct. 1806; superintended packet service at Dover 19 Aug. 1846 to Sep. 1852; captain on h.p. 9 Jany. 1854; retired R.A. 10 Sep. 1869; K.T.S. 1 May 1837. d. Hastings 11 March 1871 aged 81.

BALDWIN, Augustus. Entered navy May 1794: captain 1 Jany. 1817; retired admiral 10 Nov. 1862. d. Toronto 5 Jany. 1866.

BALDWIN, Charles (3 son of Henry Baldwin of London, printer, who founded the St. James’s Chronicle 1761). b. 1774; sole proprietor of St. James’s Chronicle and Morning Herald; founded the Standard evening paper 21 May 1827, published in it the news of the surrender of Varna 11 Oct. 1828 a fortnight before arrival of the Government couriers; contested Lambeth Aug. 1837 and July 1841; master of the Stationers’ company 1842 and 1843; retired from business 1844; probably oldest volunteer in the kingdom. d. 27 Sussex gardens, Hyde park, London 18 Feb. 1869 in 95 year. Reg. and mag. of biog. i, 313–15 (1869).

BALDWIN, Charles Barry (eld. son of Charles Baldwin, lieut. col. of Kings county militia). b. 1789; barrister I.T. 26 Nov 1824; secretary to comrs. for claims on France, sole comr. to 1830; M.P. for Totnes 1830–32 and 1839–52. d. Paris 13 April 1859.

BALDWIN, Connell James (son of James Baldwin of Clohina, co. Cork). b. Clohina; ensign 87 foot 23 July 1807; captain 50 foot 10 Feb. 1820 to 22 Feb. 1827 when placed on h.p.; served in the Peninsula for which he received a medal and 10 clasps; raised a regiment at Cork for Emperor of Brazil but brought the men back again on being ordered to the interior of Brazil as settlers; went to Canada about 1828; raised a regiment of Militia for defence of the frontier in troubles of 1837–38. d. Toronto 14 Dec. 1861. H. J. Morgan’s Sketches of eminent Canadians (1862) 733–35.

BALDWIN, Edward. b. Waterford; a pugilist 6 feet 5 inches in height; beaten by Andrew Marsden 21 Oct. 1863; beat George Iles 19 Feb. 1866; beat A. Marsden 25 Sep. 1866; matched to fight Joseph Wormald for Championship 29 April 1867 but forfeited his stakes; matched to fight James Mace for Championship 15 Oct. 1867 but Mace was arrested; fought J. Wormald at Lynnfield Massachusetts 1868 for Championship and 2,500 dollars when police interfered, he was awarded the stakes as Wormald declined to renew the fight; shot dead in the United States Sep. 1875. Modern Boxing by Pendragon (1879) 83–89; Illust. Sporting News v, 97 (1866), portrait.

BALDWIN, George Walter. Major 31 foot 1863–64; major 20 foot 1864 to death; murdered by Japanese at Kamahura, about 17 miles from Yokohama 21 Nov. 1864. R. Lindau’s Erzählungen und Novellen i, 15–54. (1871); F. O. Adams’s History of Japan i, 485–98 (1874), ii, 1–5 (1875).

BALDWIN, Henry. Called to bar in Ireland 1826; Q.C. 17 Aug. 1841; law adviser of the Castle during state trials 1848–49; comr. of insolvent court 1850 to death. d. Dublin 24 May 1854.

BALDWIN, Martin. b. Coalbrookdale Shropshire 22 Nov. 1788; an engine factor at Bradley near Bilston 1809; carried on the Lower Bovereux colliery; invented many improvements in the construction of engines and machinery. d. Newbridge crescent, Wolverhampton 16 Feb. 1872.

BALDWIN, Robert (only son of Benjamin Baldwin of Faringdon, Berkshire surgeon). Printer and bookseller in Bridge st. Blackfriars 1806–10, and in Paternoster row 1810; united his business with that of another firm under name of Baldwin, Cradock and Joy; started the London Magazine Jany. 1820, in opposition to Blackwood’s Mag. transferred it to Messrs. Taylor and Hessey 1821; became insolvent; a stock keeper of Company of Stationers 1834 to death. d. Cumberland place, Westbourne grove north, 29 Jany. 1858 aged 78.

BALDWIN, Robert (son of Wm. Warren Baldwin of Toronto, lawyer who d. 8 Jany. 1844). b. Toronto 1804; partner with his father 1825–48; member of Assembly of Upper Canada 1829; executive councillor 18 Feb. 1836 for short time; solicitor general 1840; attorney general for Upper Canada Sep. 1842 and Feb. 1848 to July 1851; C.B. 23 June 1854. d. Spadina near Toronto 9 Dec. 1858. H. J. Morgan’s Sketches of eminent Canadians (1862) 397–405.

BALDY, John Patey. M.R.C.S. 1814; private teacher of anatomy and surgery. d. 23 Pembroke st. Devonport 6 Sep. 1861 aged 67.

BALE, Charles Sackville. Made a splendid collection of pictures at 71 Cambridge terrace, Edgeware road, London. d. 71 Cambridge terrace 28 Nov. 1880 aged 89. Waagen’s Treasures of art ii, 329–32 (1854); Waagen’s Galleries of art (1857) 116–21.

BALFE, Michael William (only son of Balfe of Dublin, violinist 1783–1823). b. 10 Pitt st. Dublin 15 May 1808; played the violin at a concert in Royal Exchange, Dublin, May 1816; first violinist in Drury Lane orchestra 1823; chief baritone at Italian opera, Paris 1827–29; sang in Italy 1829–35; lessee of English opera house Lyceum 9 March 1841 to 13 May 1841; conductor at Her Majesty’s theatre 3 March 1846 to 1852 when house closed; went to St. Petersburg 1852; purchased Rowney Abbey, Ware, Herts and turned gentleman farmer 1864; chevalier of Legion of honour 22 March 1870; composed Rivals 1829, Siege of Rochelle 1835, Bohemian Girl 1843 (produced at Drury Lane 27 Nov. 1843, performed in almost every European country), Rose of Castille 1857, Puritan’s daughter 1861, Il Talismano produced at Her Majesty’s theatre 1874; arranged Moore’s Irish Melodies as duets and quartets. (m. Lina Rozer a Hungarian prima donna). d. Rowney Abbey 20 Oct. 1870. Balfe, his life and work by W. A. Barrett 1882, portrait; A memoir of M. W. Balfe by C. L. Kenny 1875; Illust. Review v, 671–77, portrait; Recollections of J. R. Planché i, 241 (1872), portrait by Thackeray.

Note.—A statue of him was placed in the vestibule of Drury Lane theatre 24 Sep. 1874, his memorial window in St. Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin, was uncovered 14 April 1879, and his memorial tablet in Westminster Abbey was unveiled 20 Oct. 1882.

BALFE, Victoire (2 dau. of the preceding). b. Rue de la Victoire, Paris 1 Sep. 1837; made her first appearance in London at Lyceum Theatre 28 May 1857 as Amina in opera of La Sonnambula; sang with great success in England, Italy and at St. Petersburg 1857–59. (m. (1) 31 March 1860 Sir John Fiennes Twisleton Crampton 2 Baronet, marriage was annulled on her petition 20 Nov. 1863, she m. (2) 1864 Duc de Frias and d. Madrid 22 Jany. 1871.) bur. Burgos cathedral. Illust. news of the world iii, 328 (1859), portrait; I.L.N. xxxi, 116 (1857), portrait, lviii, 115 (1871).

BALFOUR, Blayney Townley. b. 28 May 1769; sheriff of Louth 1792; M.P. for Belturbet in Irish parliament 1797–98. d. Townley hall near Drogheda 22 Dec. 1856.

BALFOUR, Blayney Townley (eld. son of the preceding). b. 1799; lieutenant governor of the Bahamas 1833 to 1834; sheriff of co. Louth 1841. d. Townley hall 5 Sep. 1882.

BALFOUR, Clara Lucas (dau. of Mr. Liddell). b. in the New Forest 21 Dec. 1808; signed the pledge at a chapel in St. George’s road, Pimlico 16 Oct. 1837 being the 9th person to do so in Chelsea district; edited Temperance Beacon and Teetotal Magazine; a public lecturer 1841–70; author of Women of Scripture 1850; Happy evenings 1851, 3 ed. 1877; Sketches of English literature 1852; Moral heroism 1854, new ed. 1877; Family Honour 1880; wrote in many periodicals. (m. 1828 James Balfour). d. London road, Croydon 3 July 1878. Home makers by the late Mrs. C. L. Balfour with a biographical sketch of the author by the Rev. C. Bullock 1878, portrait.

BALFOUR, Francis Maitland (3 son of James Maitland Balfour of Whittingham, East Lothian 1820–56). b. Queen st. Edinburgh 11 Nov. 1851; ed. at Harrow 1865–70 and Trin. coll. Cam.; natural science scholar 1871; B.A. 1873, M.A. 1877; studied at Professor Dohrn’s Zoological station, Naples; fellow of his college Oct. 1874 and lecturer on natural science 1875; F.R.S. 1878, member of council 1881 to death, royal medallist 1881; pres. of Cambridge Philosophical society Nov. 1881; professor of Animal Morphology in Univ. of Cam. 31 May 1882 to death; LLD. Glasgow 1880; edited with E. R. Lankester The quarterly journal of Microscopical science; author of Monograph on the development of Elasmobranch fishes 1878; Treatise on Comparative Embryology2 vols. 1880–81; left Courmayeur 18 July 1882 to ascend Aiguille Blanche a peak of Mont Blanc his body was found 23 July on Fresnay glacier at foot of the Penteret. bur. at Whittingham 5 Aug. 1882. Fortnightly Review xxxii, 568–80 (1882); I.L.N. lxxxi, 197 (1882), portrait; Report of British Assoc. 1882 meeting pp. 555–58.

BALFOUR, James. b. Russell st. Covent Garden 16 Oct. 1796; served in the navy 5 years; a temperance advocate in London many years; employed in the Ways and Means office of House of Commons 1853. (m. 1828 Clara Lucas Liddell). d. London road, Croydon 22 Dec. 1884.

BALFOUR, James Melville (youngest son of Rev. Lewis Balfour, minister of Colinton near Edin. who d. 24 April 1860 aged 82.) b. Manse of Colinton 2 June 1831; ed. at high school and Univ. of Edin; marine engineer to province of Otago, New Zealand 1863–65 and to government of N.Z. 1865 to death; invented the Refraction Protractor for lighthouses; designed many lighthouses in N.Z., also the dry dock at Port Chalmers; M.I.C.E. 15 May 1866; drowned off Timaru N.Z. 18 Dec. 1869. Min. of proc. of Instit. of C.E. xxxi, 200–202 (1871.)

BALFOUR, John Hutton. b. 15 Buccleuch place, Edin. 15 Sep. 1808; ed. at high school and Univ. of Edin., M.D. 1832, M.A., LLD.; apprenticed to Sir George Ballingall; a pres. of Royal Medical Society 1831–33; LLD. Glasgow and St. Andrew’s; M.R.C.S. Edin. 1833, F.R.C.S. 1835; practised at Edin. 1834–41; Botanical Society of Edin. was founded at his house 15 Dundas st. 8 Feb. 1836; a lecturer on botany in Surgeon sq. 1840; professor of botany in Univ. of Glasgow 1841, and in Univ. of Edin. 22 Oct. 1845 to Feb. 1879; regius keeper of Royal botanic garden, and Queen’s botanist for Scotland 1845–79; F.R.S. Edinburgh 1835, F.L.S. 1844, F.R.S. 5 June 1856; dean of the Medical faculty; an editor of Annals of natural history 1842–57 and of Edinburgh New philosophical journal 1855–66; author of Class book of botany 1854, 5 ed. 1875; Introduction to study of Palæontological botany 1872. d. Inverleith house, Edin. 11 Feb. 1884. The Biograph i, 430–38 (1882).

BALFOUR, Lowry Vesey Townley. b. 1819; secretary of the order of St. Patrick 1853 to death. d. Dublin 12 Feb. 1878.

BALFOUR, Robert Frederick. b. Balbirnie Fifeshire 30 April 1846; ensign Grenadier guards 9 Aug. 1865; major 1 April 1882 to death; served in Egypt 1882; wounded at battle of Tel-el-Kebir 9 Sep. 1882. d. 24 Belgrave sq. London 23 Oct. 1882. I.L.N. lxxxi, 497 (1882), portrait; Graphic xxvi, 605 (1882), portrait.

BALGUY, John (eld. son of John Balguy of Darwent hall, Derbyshire, recorder of Derby who d. 14 Sep. 1833). b. 14 Sep. 1782; barrister M.T. 14 June 1805, bencher 1833; recorder of Derby 1830 to death; Q.C. 1833; chairman of Derbyshire quarter sessions 1837; bankruptcy comr. at Birmingham 21 Oct. 1842 to death. d. Duffield hall near Derby 16 Dec. 1858.

BALL, Charles Ashby. b. Albury, Surrey 1809; entered the paper business 1826; purchased with his father the Guerres works near Dieppe 1829; founded the Doullens works 1836; purchased the Valvernes works near Dieppe; manufactured paper from esparto and bleached straw; founded the Fort Andemer works 1844; sold his business to La Compagnie des Establishments de la Risle 1869; perfected many important improvements in manufacture of paper. d. Sainte Addresse near Havre 27 March 1885.

BALL, Frances (6 and youngest child of John Ball of Dublin, merchant who d. 1808). b. Eccles st. Dublin 9 Jany. 1794; joined the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Mickle Bar convent York 11 June 1814; introduced this Institution into Ireland 1821; assumed name of Sister Mary Theresa 8 Sep. 1814; founded in various parts of the world 37 convents tenanted by about 800 nuns. d. Rathfarnham Abbey near Dublin 19 May 1861. Life by H. J. Coleridge 1881, portrait; Life by Wm. Hutch, D.D. 1879.

BALL, Nicholas (son of John Ball of Dublin, silk mercer). b. Dublin 1791; ed. at Stonyhurst and Trin. coll. Dub., B.A. 1812; called to Irish bar 1814; K.C. 1830; bencher of King’s Inns 1836; M.P. for Clonmel 1836–39; third Serjeant at law 10 Nov. 1836 to 11 July 1838; attorney general 11 July 1838 to 23 Feb. 1839; P.C. Ireland 1838; justice of Irish Court of Common Pleas 23 Feb. 1839 to death. d. 85 Stephens Green, Dublin 15 Jany. 1865.

BALL, Richard. Lived at Bridgewater, Bristol and Taunton successively; a Friend; joined the Plymouth Brethren; author of Holy Scripture the test of truth 1835; Christianity in China 1850; Horæ Sabbaticæ or the Sabbatic cycle the divine chronometer 1853. d. Aberdeen terrace, Clifton 10 May 1862 aged 68. Smith’s Friends’ Books i, 161–63 (1867).

BALL, Robert (son of Bob Stawel Ball). b. Cove of Cork 1 April 1802; clerk in under secretary’s office in Dublin 1827–52; F.R.S. Dublin 1834; M.R.I.A. 23 Feb. 1835, treasurer 1845 to death; member of Geol. soc. of Ireland 1835, pres. 1852; sec. to Zoological society of Dub. 1837 to death; director of museum of Trinity college Dub. 1844, presented his valuable private collection to the college; hon. LLD. Dub. 1850; sec. to Queen’s Univ. in Ireland 1851; founded University zoological and botanical association 1853. (m. 21 Sep. 1837 Amelia Gresley dau. of Thomas Hellicar of Bristol, merchant, she was granted a civil list pension of £100 4 Oct. 1858). d. Dublin 30 March 1857. Natural history review v, 1–34 (1858), portrait.

BALL, Samuel. Member of East India Company’s establishment at Canton 1804–26; author of Observations on expediency of opening a second port in China 1817; An account of the cultivation and manufacture of tea in China 1848. d. Sion house, Wolverley 5 March 1874 in 94 year.

BALL, Thomas Gerrard (son of Abraham Ball of Chester). b. Chester 24 Jany. 1791; served in navy 1801–1807; ensign 34 foot 17 Sep. 1807; lieut. col. 8 foot 2 Oct. 1835 to 25 Oct. 1842 when placed on h.p.; col. 46 foot 24 April 1860 and of 8 foot 17 June 1861 to death; general 10 Jany. 1870. d. 7 Stanley place, Chester 18 Dec. 1881.

BALL, William (son of Richard Ball of Bridgwater who d. 1834). b. Bridgwater 1 Jany. 1801; solicitor at Bristol 1828–35; a minister of Society of Friends 1846 to death. (m. 1834 Anne Dale, she d. 1861). Author of Nugæ Sacræ or psalms and hymns and spiritual songs [anon.] 1825; The Transcript and other poems 1855; Hymns or lyrics 1864; Verses composed since 1870, 1875. d. at an hotel in Aberdeen 30 July 1878. Annual Monitor for 1879 pp. 8–54.

BALL, William. b. 1785; composed hundreds of comic and sentimental songs, his song Jack’s lament for the loss of his tail was one of the most popular songs of the day ever written; his Drawing room concerts in 1829 were very successful; adapted to English words librettos of Masses of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, Mozart’s Requiem, Spohr’s God thou art great, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Mendelssohn’s St. Paul and Lobgesang; edited with N. Mori The musical gem, 2 vols. 1831–32; edited The London Spring annual lyrical and pictorial 1834. d. London 14 May 1869.

BALL, Sir William Keith, 2 Baronet (only child of Sir Alexander John Ball, 1 Baronet). b. Greenwich 27 Oct. 1791; succeeded 25 Oct. 1809. d. Spernall hall, Warwickshire 9 March 1874.

BALL-HUGHES, Edward Hughes (said to be son of a slop seller in Ratcliffe highway, London). b. 1799. Ed. at Eton and Trin. coll. Cam.; cornet 7 hussars 28 Aug. 1817 to 11 Feb. 1819 when placed on h.p.; took additional name of Hughes by royal license 7 Aug. 1819 on coming into a fortune of £40,000 per annum from his uncle Admiral Sir Edward Hughes; one of the leading dandies of his day, known as the Golden Ball; lost £45,000 in one night at Wattier’s club, Piccadilly 1819, lost three quarters of his fortune at play, the greatest gambler of his day; bought Oatlands near Weybridge 1827, which he sold to Lord Francis Egerton; lived at St. Germain near Paris for some years before his death. (m. 22 March 1823 Mercandotti the opera dancer, natural dau. or protégée of 4 Earl of Fife, she was then aged 16). d. St. Germain 13 March 1863. R. H. Gronow’s Celebrities (1865) 112–17.

BALLANTINE, James. b. The West Port, Edinburgh 11 June 1808; a house painter at Edin. 1830; one of the first to revive the art of glass painting; executed the 12 stained glass windows in the House of Lords, Westminster, representing kings and queens both regnant and consort of the U.K.; sec. of committee of Burns centenary 1859; grand bard of Scottish Grand lodge of Freemasons about 1862 to death; contributed about 50 songs to Whistle-Binkie or the piper of the party 1832; author of The Gaberlunzie’s wallet 1843; A treatise on painted glass 1845; Poems 1856; Chronicle of the hundredth birthday of Robert Burns 1859, which contains reports of 872 Burns’ centenary meetings held all over the world 25 Jany. 1859; The Provost’s daughter, a musical farce in 2 acts performed at T.R. Edin. 1855; The Gaberlunzie, a drama in 3 acts 1858. d. Warrender lodge, Edinburgh 18 Dec. 1877. Whistle-Binkie ii, xiv-xxvii (1878); History of the lodge of Edinburgh by D. M. Lyons (1873) 50, 363, portrait.

BALLANTINE, William. Barrister I.T. 5 Feb. 1813; magistrate at Thames police court 1821–48. d. 89 Cadogan place, Chelsea 14 Dec. 1852 in 74 year. I.L.N. ix, 317 (1846), portrait.

BALLANTYNE, James Robert. b. Kelso 13 Dec. 1813; ed. at Edinburgh new academy and college; teacher of Hindi and Sanskrit at Naval and military academy Edin. 1839; principal of College of Benares 1845–61; librarian of India office library Cannon row, Westminster 1861 to death; author of Lectures on the sub-divisions of knowledge, Sanskrit and English 1848; The Mahabhashya or great commentary on the aphorisms of Panini 1856; Christianity contrasted with Hindu philosophy 1859 and 14 other works. d. 16 Feb. 1864. Journal of Royal Asiatic Society i, v-vii (1865).

BALLANTYNE, Robert Michael. b. Edinburgh 24 April 1825; in the Hudson Bay Company’s service 1841–47; author of Hudson’s Bay or every day life in the wilds of North America 1848, 3 ed. 1859; Coral island, a tale of the Pacific ocean 1857; Deep down, a tale of the Cornish mines 1868, and many other tales. d. 1871.

BALLANTYNE, Thomas. b. Paisley 1806, a weaver there; edited Bolton Free Press; edited Manchester Guardian; printer, publisher and one of the 4 original proprietors of Manchester Examiner; editor of Liverpool Journal and Liverpool Mercury; edited the Leader in London; started the Statesman, edited it till its close; edited St. James’s Chronicle; author of Passages selected from writings of T. Carlyle 1855; Essays in mosaic 1870. d. Tufnell park, Holloway 30 Aug. 1871.