OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Roose, Edward Charles Robson

​ROOSE, EDWARD CHARLES ROBSON (1848–1905), physician, born at 32 Hill Street, Knightsbridge, London, on 23 Nov. 1848, was grandson of Sir David Charles Roose, and was third son of Francis Finley Roose, solicitor, by his wife Eliza Burn. He entered at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, but left the university without a degree. He then went to Guy's Hospital, London, and afterwards spent some time in Paris. He obtained the licence of the Society of Apothecaries in 1870, and in the same year he was admitted L.R.C.P. and L.R.C.S. Edinburgh. In 1872 he became M.R.C.S. England; M.R.C.P. Edinburgh in 1875, and F.R.C.P. Edinburgh in 1877. He graduated M.D. at Brussels in 1877.
Roose first practised at 44 Regency Square, Brighton. In 1885 he migrated to 49 Hill Street, Berkeley Square, London. Here he built up a large and fashionable practice, which his medical attainments hardly justified. He owed his professional success to his social popularity. Later in life he became director of a company interested in Kent coal which involved him in litigation. He emerged from it honourably, but the anxiety led him to limit his professional work, and he retired to East Grinstead, Sussex, where he died on 12 Feb. 1905.
He married in 1870 Edith, daughter of Henry Huggins, D.L.; she died in 1901. Roose published the following compilations, which, in spite of a wide circulation, had no genuine scientific value: 1. 'Remarks upon some Disease of the Nervous System,' Brighton, 1875. 2. 'Gout and its Relations to Diseases of the Liver and Kidneys,' 1885; 7th edit. 1894; translated into French from the third edition, Paris, 1887; and into German from the fourth edition, Vienna and Leipzig, 1887. 3. 'The Wear and Tear of London Life,' 1886. 4. 'Infection and Disinfection,' 1888. 5 'Nerve Prostration and other Functional Disorders of Daily Life,' 1888; 2nd edit. 1891. 6. 'Leprosy and its Prevention as illustrated by Norwegian Experience,' 1890. 7. 'Waste and Repair in Modern Life,' 1897.
[The Times, 13 Feb. 1905; Medical News, New York, 1905, vol. 86, p. 418.]
D’A. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Ross, Joseph Thorburn

​ROSS, JOSEPH THORBURN (1849–1903), artist, born at Berwick-on-Tweed on 15 May 1849, was youngest child of two sons and two daughters of Robert Thorburn Ross, R.S.A. (1816–1876), by his wife Margaret Scott. The parents removed to Edinburgh for good when Joseph was a baby. Having been educated at the Military Academy, Hill Street, Edinburgh, he was engaged for a time in mercantile pursuits in Leith and Gloucester, but eventually, after a successful career as a student in the Edinburgh School of Art and the life school of the Royal Scottish Academy (1877–80), he devoted himself to painting as a profession. He first exhibited in 1872, but an unconventional strain in his work retarded its official recognition, and it was not till 1896 that he was elected an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy. Portraiture, incident (but not anecdote), fantasy, landscape, and the sea were all treated by him, and if at times decorative intention and realism were imperfectly harmonised, and the execution and draughtsmanship, though bold, lacked mastery, the colour was nearly always beautiful and the result novel and interesting. But it was in sketches made spontaneously for themselves or as studies for more ambitious pictures that he was at his best. He worked in both oil and water-colour and possessed instinctive feeling for the proper use of each medium. Ross was familiar with the best art on the Continent, travelling much in Italy, and he was a frequent exhibitor at some of the leading exhibitions abroad, his 'Serata Veneziana' winning a diploma of honour at Dresden in 1892. He was unmarried and resided at Edinburgh with his sisters. He died from the effects of a fall in his Edinburgh studio on 28 Sept. 1903.
Shortly afterwards, at a memorial exhibition of his work held in Edinburgh, his admirers purchased 'The Bass Rock,' one of his most important pictures, and presented it to the National Gallery of Scotland. One of his two sisters, Christina Paterson Ross, R.S.W. (1843–1906), was well known as a water-colour painter. His other sister. Miss Jessie Ross, Edinburgh, has three portraits of her brother, two when a child by his father, and one in oUs painted by Mr. William Small in 1903.
[Scotsman, 29 Sept. 1903; Exhib. catalogues; R.S.A. Report, 1903; introd. to cat. Memorial Exhibition, 1904, by W. D. Mackay, R.S.A.; Scottish Painting, by J. L. Caw; private information.]
J. L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Scrope, John le

​SCROPE, JOHN le, fifth Baron Scrope of Bolton (1435–1498), was son of Henry, fourth baron, by Elizabeth, daughter of his kinsman, John, fourth lord Scrope of Masham, and was born on 22 July 1435 [see under Scrope, Henry le, (1376–1415)]. Inheriting the Yorkist politics of his father, who died on 14 Jan. 1459, he fought with Warwick at Northampton and was ‘sore hurt’ at Towton (Paston Letters, ii. 5). Edward IV gave him the Garter which had belonged to his father, the Duke of York. He took part in the gradual reduction of the Lancastrian strongholds in the north, and may have been at the battle of Hexham in 1464 (Wavrin, p. 441).
Scrope was aggrieved, however, that Edward did not restore to him the lordship of the Isle of Man, of which his family had been divested by Henry IV, and in 1470 he began to raise Richmondshire for the recalcitrant Nevilles. But on Warwick being driven out of the country he made his peace, and, though he adhered to Warwick during the short Lancastrian restoration, Edward overlooked his inconstancy and employed him in negotiations with Scotland in 1473. In 1475 he accompanied the king to France. As he still persisted in quartering the arms of Man, he was ordered to relinquish them during the expedition, without prejudice to his right, if any (Fœdera, xii. 2). In the next year he went on a mission to Rome with Earl Rivers (Paston Letters, iii. 162). He held a command in the Duke of Gloucester's invasion of Scotland (1482), and took part in the subsequent negotiations with the Duke of Albany. Gloucester, when king, sought to confirm Scrope's support by a grant of lands in the south-west, with the constableship of Exeter Castle. He was also governor of the Fleet. Nevertheless he kept his position under a fifth king. In 1492 he was retained to go abroad with Henry VII, and as late as August 1497 assisted in raising the siege of Norham Castle. Scrope died on 17 Aug. 1498.
His first wife, whom he married before 1463, was Joan, daughter of William, fourth lord Fitzhugh (d. 1452) of Ravensworth Castle, Richmondshire. She bore him a son, Henry, sixth baron of the Bolton line, and father of the seventh baron, ‘stern and stout,’ who fought at Flodden, and whose portrait is still at Bolton Hall.
Scrope married, secondly Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Oliver St. John (by Margaret, widow of John Beaufort, duke of Somerset) and widow of William, lord Zouche of Haryngworth (d. 1463). She was still living in 1488 (Rot. Parl. vi. 424). By her he had a daughter Mary, who married Sir William Conyers of Hornby. His third wife was Anne, daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Harling of East Harling in Norfolk, and widow of Sir William Chamberlayne, K.G., and Sir Robert Wingfield. She survived Scrope only a few weeks.
A daughter Agnes married, first, Christopher Boynton; and, secondly, Sir Richard Radcliffe [q. v.], the adviser of Richard III.
J. T-t.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wallace, William (1768-1843)

​WALLACE, WILLIAM (1768–1843), mathematician, son of a leather manufacturer in Dysart, Fifeshire, was born there on 23 Sept. 1768. On his father's removal to Edinburgh, William was apprenticed to a bookbinder, and afterwards became a warehouseman in a printing office. Here, by his own industry, he mastered Latin, French, and mathematics. After being for some time a bookseller's shopman, acting as a private teacher, and attending classes at the university, in 1794 he was appointed assistant mathematical teacher in Perth Academy. During this period he contributed to the ‘Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’ and the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica.’ In 1803 his patron, John Playfair [q. v.], advised him to apply for the office of mathematical master in the Royal Military College at Great Marlow. This post he obtained as the result of competitive examination. He also lectured on astronomy to the students.
In 1819 he succeeded (Sir) John Leslie [q. v.] as professor of mathematics in Edinburgh University, and occupied the chair till 1838, when he retired owing to ill-health, and was accorded a civil-list pension of 300l. a year. He received the degree of LL.D. from the university on 17 Nov. 1838. He died at Edinburgh on 28 April 1843. His portrait, by Andrew Geddes, is in the National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh.
Wallace was mainly instrumental in the erection of the observatory on the Calton Hill, and of a monument to Napier, the inventor of logarithms.
Wallace was the inventor of the eidograph for copying plans and other drawings, and of the chorograph, for describing on paper ​any triangle having one side and all its angles given.
Besides many articles contributed to the ‘Transactions’ of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Royal Astronomical Society, and the Cambridge Philosophical Society, to Leybourne's ‘Mathematical Repository,’ ‘Gentleman's Mathematical Companion,’ ‘Edinburgh Encyclopædia,’ and ‘Encyclopædia Britannica,’ Wallace wrote:
* ‘A New Book of Interest, containing Aliquot Tables, truly proportioned to any given rate,’ London, 1794, 8vo.
* ‘Geometrical Theorems and Analytical Formulæ,’ Edinburgh, 1839, 8vo.
[Chambers's Eminent Scotsmen; Anderson's Scottish Nation; Transactions of Royal Astronomical Society, 9 Feb. 1844; Notes and Queries, 4th ser. v. 279, 6th ser. x. 155.]
G. S-h.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wallace, Robert (1773-1855)

​WALLACE, ROBERT (1773–1855), postal reformer, born in 1773, was the second son of John Wallace (1712–1805) of Cessnock and Kelly in Ayrshire, by his third wife, Janet, third daughter of Robert Colquhoun of the island of St. Christopher. His father was a West India merchant in Glasgow, who ​amassed a large fortune and became proprietor of several important estates. The eldest son was Sir James Maxwell Wallace [see Wallace, Grace, Lady Wallace]. By the father's will Robert Wallace received the estate of Kelly and part of the West Indian property, and was known by the designation of Wallace of Kelly. He was a devoted whig, and, as he was a vigorous orator, his services were often in demand during the reform agitation before 1832. After the passing of the Reform Bill he was the first member of parliament for Greenock under the act, and held that seat continuously till 1846. In parliament his chief efforts were directed towards law reform, especially in the direction of having cheaper and simpler methods for the transfer of heritable property; and, though he did not carry through any measure specially for this purpose, he gave an impetus to reforms of this kind, and suggested plans which have since been adopted. His name is most intimately associated with the reform of the postal service, and with the introduction of the penny post. After repeated applications to parliament he succeeded in having a royal commission appointed in 1836 to report on the state of the posting department. The numerous reports made by the commission fully supported the charges brought against this department, and prepared the way for many reforms. Wallace was chairman of the committee charged with the examination of Rowland Hill's penny postage scheme; and it was by his casting vote that it was decided to recommend this scheme to parliament. He took an active interest in the realisation of cheap postage. In 1846 he became embarrassed financially through the depreciation in value of some of his West Indian estates, and deemed it prudent to resign his seat in parliament. The estate of Kelly was sold, and Wallace lived in retirement at Seafield Cottage, Greenock. After his resignation a liberal public subscription was made for him, which enabled him to spend his later years in comfort. He died at Seafield on 1 April 1855. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir William Forbes of Craigievar, but left no issue. His sister, Anne Wallace, died unmarried in 1873 in her hundred and second year.
A. H. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wigg, Lilly

​WIGG, LILLY (1749–1828), botanist, was born at Smallburgh, Norfolk, on 25 Dec. 1749, being the son of a poor shoemaker in that village. He received a good village education, and was brought up to his father's trade, but removed to Yarmouth before he was twenty, where until 1801 he kept a small school in Fighting-cock Row. He acquired some knowledge of Latin, Greek, and French, was a skilled arithmetician, and wrote a beautifully neat ‘copperplate’ hand; while his love of botany and skill as a collector procured him the acquaintance of Dr. John Aikin, Thomas Jenkinson Woodward, Sir James Edward Smith, and Dawson Turner. He was chiefly devoted to the study of algæ, in which he seems to have initiated Dawson Turner. In 1801 Turner engaged him as a subordinate clerk in Messrs. Gurneys & Turner's bank at Yarmouth, a position which he occupied for the rest of his life. For nearly twenty years Wigg was collecting material for a history of esculent plants, some of which exists in manuscript in the botanical department of the British Museum, while a manuscript ‘Flora Cibaria,’ consisting of extracts from books of travel, with a pencil sketch of the compiler taken by Mrs. Dawson Turner in 1804, is at Kew. Wigg also studied the birds and fishes of the Norfolk coast. He was elected an associate of the Linnean Society as early as ​1790. Smith acknowledges contributions from him to 'English Botany,' styling him 'a most ingenious and accurate observer … eminently skilful in detecting, as well as in preserving, specimens of marine algæ;' and Dawson Turner named after him Fucus (now Naccaria) Wigghii. Wigg died at Great Yarmouth on 28 March 1828.
[Memoir by H. G. Glasspoole in the Transactions of the Norfolk Naturalists' Society, ii. 269-74; Gent. Mag. 1830, vol. i.]
G. S. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Widdrington, Samuel Edward

​WIDDRINGTON, SAMUEL EDWARD (d. 1856), writer on Spain, was the eldest son of Joseph Cook (1759–1844) of Newton Hall in Northumberland, vicar of Chatton and Shilbottle in the same county, by his wife Sarah, daughter of E. Brown and great-niece and coheiress of Nathaniel Widdrington of Hauxley in Northumberland; Sarah and her son afterwards assumed the name of Widdrington. Samuel entered the English navy on 31 Dec. 1802. During the first years of his service he was employed against the French batteries and flotillas in the neighbourhood of Boulogne. He was afterwards sent to the West Indies, where in June 1805 he obtained special mention for his conduct at the capture of the Concepcion, a large felucca. He saw much boat service on the coast of Cayenne and Surinam, and on 10 July 1809 he was appointed lieutenant to the Fame, 74 guns. While serving as first lieutenant with Captain Edward Reynolds Sibly in the Swallow sloop, in the neighbourhood of Port d'Anzo in Tuscany, he led a successful boat attack on the Guerrière, a French brig, on 16 Sept. 1813. He served with the same captain in the Niemen on the establishment of peace, and with Captain Charles Dashwood on the Windsor Castle, a 74-gun ship. The Windsor Castle being at Lisbon during a popular commotion, Dom John of Portugal took refuge on board her, and Cook was in consequence presented with the order of the Tower and Sword, and on 3 June 1824, at the earnest request of the prince, was promoted to the rank of commander.
He retired soon after from the navy, and in 1829 went to Spain. After residing there for more than three years he published in 1834 ‘Sketches in Spain during the years 1829–32’ (London, 2 vols. 8vo). The work, which was dedicated to Lord Algernon Percy, baron Prudhoe, was the most complete account of Spain which had then been published in the English language. In 1840 he assumed the surname of Widdrington, and in 1843 he paid a second visit to Spain, and on his return published his experiences under the title ‘Spain and the Spaniards in 1843’ (London, 1844, 2 vols. 8vo), dedicated to the Duke of Northumberland.
Widdrington was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on 22 Dec. 1842, and was also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He died at Newton Hall on 11 Jan. 1856. He married, on 18 Sept. 1832, at Trinity Church, Marylebone, Dorothy, second daughter of Alexander Davison of Swarland Park, Northumberland, but left no children. He was succeeded in his estates by his nephew, Shalcross Fitzherbert Jacson, who assumed the surname of Widdrington.
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wigan, John

​WIGAN, JOHN (1696–1739), physician and author, son of William Wigan, rector of Kensington, Middlesex, was born on 31 Jan. 1695–6. In 1710 he was admitted to Westminster school, and thence proceeded to Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on 15 June 1714. He graduated B.A. on 6 Feb. 1718–19, M.A. on 22 March 1720–1, and M.B. and M.D. (6 July) in 1727. Some verses of his occur among the academical lamentations on the death of Queen Anne in 1714, and of Dr. Radcliffe in 1715; besides these he wrote the lines on the death of Dean Aldrich which are published in Vincent Bourne's edition of the dean's poems, and four at least of the exercises in the ‘Carmina Quadragesimalia’ (i. 8, 57–8, 62–3, and 104–5) are ascribed to him. On 5 Oct. 1726 he was admitted principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, and about the same time was appointed secretary to the Earl of Arran, the chancellor of the university.
He was admitted a candidate at the College of Physicians on 12 April 1731, and a fellow on 3 April 1732, when he resigned his office at New Inn Hall and settled in London. He resided in Craig Court. He was elected physician to Westminster Hospital in 1733, and retained his office there until 1737. In 1738 he accompanied his friend Mr. (afterwards Sir Edward) Trelawny [q. v.] to Jamaica, in the double capacity of physician and secretary. He there married Mary, daughter of John Douce, a planter in the island, and widow of Philip Wheeler of Jamaica, and by her had one daughter, Mary Trewlawny Wigan. He died in Jamaica on 5 Dec. 1739, aged 43. His memorial, a black marble inscribed slab, still exists in the cathedral church of St. Catherine, Spanish Town. His portrait, a three-quarter length by Hogarth, is in the possession of the Rev. W. W. Harvey, rector of Ewelme, Oxfordshire.
Dr. Wigan was well known in his day as a writer. As early as 1718 he published a translation of a treatise upon the cure of fevers, from the original of Longinus (‘De Curandis Febribus continuis Liber,’ edited by J. W., 1718, 8vo). His name will always be held in respect by admirers of Aretæus, for his splendid folio edition of that author, which was issued from the Clarendon Press in 1723. Maittaire compiled the index to it, and a great part of the expense was defrayed by Dr. Freind, to whom it is dedicated. When Boerhaave published his edition of the same author in 1735, he availed himself of Wigan's labours, and made a handsome acknowledgment of the circumstance. Wigan compiled the index to P. Petit's ‘In tres priores Aretæi Cappadocis libros Commentarii,’ 1726, 4to; and had a share in editing Dr. Freind's works (Opera Omnia Medica, edited by J. W., 1733, fol.). Besides writing the ‘Life of Freind’ in choice Latin, he translated the ‘History of Physick’ into Latin and prefixed to the folio edition of 1732 a long alcaic ode, dated 15 July 1727, which he had composed on Freind's appointment as physician to the queen.
W. W. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Murray, James (1831-1863)

​MURRAY, JAMES (1831–1863), architect, born in Armagh on 9 Dec. 1831, was articled to W. Scott, architect, of Liverpool, in 1845, and afterwards practised there in partnership with T. D. Barry. He was for a time in Coventry, and subsequently settled in London, where and on the continent he executed several works in connection with E. Welby Pugin [q. v.] At the dissolution of this partnership he returned to Coventry, and resided there until his death, which took place on 24 Oct. 1863. Among his most important works are the Justice Rooms, Coventry, and the Corn Exchange of that town, 1856, of Banbury, 1857, and St. Albans, 1853, besides churches at Warwick, Boulton, Sunderland, Newcastle, St. James's, Stratford-on-Avon, Emscote, Birmingham, and Stortford; and a Gothic warehouse for Messrs. Bennoch in Silver Street, London (1857-8). He published 'Modern Architecture, Ecclesiastic, Civil, and Domestic;' 'Gothic and Classic Buildings erected since 1850,' pt. i. 4to, Coventry, 1862.
[The Builder, 1863, xxi. 780, 807; The Dictionary of Architecture, v. 146.]
A. N.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Murray, John (1711-1787)

​MURRAY, Lord JOHN (1711–1787), of Banner Cross, Yorkshire, general, born 14 April 1711, was eldest son by his second wife of John Murray, second marquis and first duke of Atholl [q. v.], and was half-brother of the Jacobite leaders, William Murray, marquis of Tullibardine [q. v.], and Lord George Murray (1705–1760) [q. v.] He was appointed ensign in a regiment of foot 7 Oct. 1727, on the recommendation of General Wade (Hist. MSS. Comm. 11th Rep. pt. iv. p. 199), and lieutenant and captain 3rd footguards (Scots guards) in 1733, in which regiment he became captain-lieutenant in 1737, and captain and lieutenant-colonel in 1738. On 25 April 1745 he was appointed to the colonelcy of the 42nd highlanders or Black Watch, which he held for forty-two years. He served with his regiment in Flanders in 1747, at the relief of Hulst and the defence of Fort Sandberg, and commanded the troops in the retreat to Welshorden. He was a volunteer at the defence of Bergen-op-Zoom the same year (1747). He was in an especial manner the friend of every deserving officer and man in his regiment, and did more to foster the national character of the corps than any other officer. Papers of the day speak of him as marching down in full regimentals at the head of the many highlanders disabled at Ticonderoga in 1758, to plead their claims before the Chelsea board, with the result that every man received a pension. He offered every man who liked to accept it a cottage and garden on his estate rent free. Murray became a major-general in 1755, a lieutenant-general in 1758, and general in 1770. He was elected M.P. for Perth in 1741, 1747, and 1754. He married, at Sheffield, on 13 Sept. 1758, Miss Dalton of Bannercross, a Yorkshire lady of property. He died in Paris on 26 May 1787, in his seventy-seventh year, being then the oldest general in the army.
​ He left a daughter, Mary, married to Captain, afterwards Lieutenant-general, William Foxlowe, who took the name of Murray in 1782.
[Foster's Peerage, under 'Atholl;' Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, i. 151; Cannon's Hist. Rec. 42nd Royal Highlanders; Stewart's Scottish Highlanders, vol. i.; Keltie's Hist. Scottish Highlanders, ii. 358.]
H. M. C.