OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Atherton, William (1775-1850)

​ATHERTON, WILLIAM (1775–1850), Wesleyan minister, was born at Lamberhead Green, near Wigan in Lancashire, in 1775. At the age of 21 he entered the Wesleyan ministry on the Grimsby circuit, and his fresh and original style of preaching gave him a place among the most famous preachers of England in the first half of this century. He worked under the direction of the Wesleyan Conference for more than fifty years, and was chosen in 1846 the president of that assembly.
After spending some years in London, Atherton became in 1849 superintendent of the Wakefield circuit and chairman of the Leeds district, a position which he held until his death on 26 Sept. 1850, in his 74th year.
Atherton published several works, among which were the following: a sermon on the 'Insecurity of Life,' in 1818; an abridged 'Life of Lady Maxwell,' in 1838; and an 'Address on the Character, Agencies, and Religious Effectiveness of Wesleyan Methodism,' in 1839.
W. B. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Atherton, William (1806-1864)

1904 Errata appended.
​ATHERTON, Sir WILLIAM (1806–1864), lawyer, was born at Glasgow in 1806, being the son of the Rev. William Atherton, a well-known Wesleyan preacher, by Margaret, daughter of the Rev. Walter Morison, a minister of the Established Church of Scotland. He was educated in England, adopted the legal profession, and practised from 1832 to 1839 as a special pleader below the bar. In the latter year he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple. He chose the northern circuit, and was not long in securing a high reputation. He was returned to parliament as one of the members for the city of Durham in 1852, and was re-elected by the same constituency in 1857 and 1859. In politics he was an advanced liberal; opposed to the repeal of the Maynooth giant; in favour of the ballot, a large reform in the law, and the ​removal of all religious disabilities. He was appointed a queen's counsel in 1852, and became a bencher of his inn the same year, he was judge-advocate of the fleet and standing counsel to the admiralty from 1855 till December 1859, when he succeeded Sir H. S. Keatinge as solicitor-general, and received the honour of knighthood. In June 1861, on the elevation of Sir R. Bethell (Lord Westbury) to the lord chancellorship, Sir William Atherton succeeded to the vacant post of attorney-general. He resigned his office in the autumn of 1863 on account of ill-health; and died at his residence, Westmoreland Terrace, Hyde Park, London, 22 Jan. 1864. He married, in 1843, Agnes Mary, daughter of Mr, Thomas James Hall, chief magistrate at Bow Street. While practising below the bar he published 'An Elementary and Practical Treatise on the Commencement of Personal Actions, and the Proceedings therein to Declaration, in the Superior Courts at Westminster. Comprising the Changes eftected by the Uniformity of Process Act (2 W. 4. c. 39) and recent Rules of Court.' Lond. 1833. 12mo.
T. C.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.10 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Atkine, James

​ATKINE, ATKINS, or ETKINS, JAMES (1613?–1687), Scottish bishop, born at Kirkwall about 1613, was the son of Harie Atkine, sheriff of Orkney. He graduated M.A. at Edinburgh, 23 July 1636; and studied divinity at Oxford, 1637-8, under Dr. John Prideaux, then regius professor and rector of Exeter College. He became chaplain to James, marquis of Hamilton, high commissioner to the strongly anti-prelatical general assembly at Glasgow, 1638. He was presented to the living of Birsay, Orkney, 27 July 1641; admitted 26 June 1642, but deposed by the Orkney presbytery, July 1649. In 1650, however, we find Atkine, as moderator of the presbytery, presenting an address to James, marquis of Montrose, expressive of loyalty to Charles II; for this the whole presbytery was deposed by the assembly, and the council of state issued an order for Atkine's apprehension. Warned of this by the clerk of the council. Sir Archibald Primrose, his kinsman, he took refuge in Holland in 1650-3. We find him in Edinburgh in 1653-60, and on 15 May 1661 he received a grant of 100l. on account of his sufferings in the loyal cause. He went to London with Thomas Sydserf (the only survivor of the old hierarchy, and now made bishop of Orkney), and obtained the rectory of Winifrith, Dorset. On 1 Nov. 1676, he was elected bishop of Moray; the patent was issued 5 June 1677, but he was not consecrated till 28 Oct. 1679. He was translated to the see of Galloway, 6 Feb. 1680, by a patent dated 6 March. His loyalty was not servile; in 1686 he took a firm stand in parliament against rescinding the acts against popery; the Earl of Moray, royal commissioner, who opened the parliament, and the chancellor. Lord Perth, had both joined the church of Rome. The obnoxious measure was withdrawn. Atkine died of apoplexy, 15 Nov. 1687, aged seventy-four. He married Anna Rutherford, and had four daughters.
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Athelm

​ATHELM (d. 923), archbishop of Canterbury, is said by William of Malmesbury (Gesta Reg. ii. 184) to have been a monk of Glastonbury. This statement has been disputed (Anglia Sacra, i. 556), but there is no conclusive evidence against it. In 909 Athelm was made the first bishop of Wells. Since 705 there had been two West-Saxon sees, at Winchester and at Sherborne [see Aldhelm]. William of Malmesbury (Gesta Reg. ii. 129) says that Pope Formosus sent a letter to King Edward, excommunicating him and his subjects, because the West-Saxon country had been left wathout a bishop for seven years; that the king held a synod of great men, who divided the land into five instead of two dioceses, and chose five new bishops; and that, in 909, Archbishop Plegmund consecrated seven bishops in one day, one of these being Athelm to the church of Wells, one of the new dioceses. The story is full of anachronism, for Formosus died in 896, and the names of some of the bishops suggest other difficulties. The division of the dioceses, the creation of the see of Wells, and the consecration of Athelm may, however, be accepted. In 914 Athelm was made archbishop of Canterbury, and obtained the pall from John X. Athelm was the brother of Heorstan, the father of Dunstan. He is said to have been Dunstan's patron, but he died about the time of the birth of that saint. Athelm is said by Florence of Worcester to have crowned Æthelstan. This, however, is a mistake, for he died 8 Jan. 923, and was succeeded by Wulflhelm, who must have officiated at the coronation, which took place the next year.
[William of Malmesbury, Gesta Reg. ii. (Eng. Hist. See.); Gesta Pontiff, i. (Rolls Ser.); Florence of Worcester; Wharton, Anglia Sacra, i.; Adelard, Vita Dunstani; Stubbs, Reg. Sac. Anglic, p. 13, note.]
W. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Atkins, John

​ATKINS, JOHN (1685–1757), naval surgeon, received his professional education as a surgeon's apprentice, and immediately entered the navy. He records wounds which he treated in Sir George Rooke's victory off Malaga (1703). In 1707 he was in some small actions with the French in the Channel, and in 1710 he served in the Lion man-of-war at the battle of Vaia Bay. The ship was commanded by Captain Galfridus Walpole, whose right arm was severely wounded. Atkins cut it off above the elbow and sat up two whole nights with the patient afterwards, ‘supposing a tenderness and respect would engage his good opinion and consequently his interest.’ This interested attention did not gain its object, for Captain Galfridus gave no thanks for it, being, as Atkins bitterly observes, ‘the reverse of his brother (Sir Robert), loving cheapness in all jobs’ (Navy Surgeon, 137). In February 1721 Atkins sailed from Spithead for the coast of Guinea with the Swallow and the Weymouth, sent to put down piracy on the west coast of Africa. They visited Sierra Leone, Wydah, the Gaboon, Elmina, and captured at Cape Lopez 270 pirates and 10,000l. in gold dust. When the pirates were tried, Atkins was made registrary, and complains that for twenty-six hard days' work he only received as many pounds. Three or four of the crew died every day for six weeks, and the surgeon became purser for want of another survivor fit for the office. They sailed to Brazil and the West Indies, where at Port Royal a hurricane carried off the masts. In April 1723 the vessels returned to England and were paid off. Atkins was unsuccessful in getting another ship, and took to writing books. He published two, both of which have had more than one edition. The ‘Navy Surgeon’ was published first (1732). It is a general treatise on surgery, with remarks on mineral springs, empirics, amulets, and infirmaries. It shows the author to have been an observant but somewhat prejudiced practitioner. The cases are clearly related, and are the best part of the book. Many surgical books are quoted, and enough of other books to show that Atkins was widely read. Horace, Juvenal, Pope, and Milton were known to him, and he admired also Stephen Duck. This book appeared in a shorter form as ‘A Treatise on the following Chirurgical Subjects,’ &c., without date. In 1735 he published ‘A Voyage to Guinea, Brazil, and the West Indies.’ This describes the voyage of the Swallow and the Weymouth, and is full of interesting information about the slave trade and the natural history of the Gold Coast. He describes the manatee accurately, and tells much about fetish worship. He shows that there was no evidence of a general cannibalism in any negro tribe, but mentions how an English captain made one slave eat the liver of another as a punishment. He gives full accounts of the winds and currents, and leaves the impression that he was intelligent and truthful. An edition of the ‘Navy Surgeon’ in 1742 contains several additions.
N. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bellers, Fettiplace

1904 Errata appended.
​BELLERS, FETTIPLACE (1687–1750?), dramatist and philosophical writer, son of John and Frances Bellers, was born in the parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn, London, 23 Sept. 1687. His parents were members of the Society of Friends, and his father may perhaps be identified with the writer of many tracts on the employment of the poor and other topics. Fettiplace Bellers left his father's faith; the cause of this step may probably be found in the title of his anonymous play, 'Injur'd Innocence; a tragedy,' London 1732, which was acted at Drury Lane Theatre in February 1732. The plot is partly taken from Davenant's 'Unfortunate Lovers.' The play failed, though acted six or eight times. A work, 'Of the Ends of Society,'which did not appear until 1759, was drawn up in 1722. It is a mere outline, in which matters relating to government and social comfort are arranged in an elaborate classification. His most important work is 'A Delineation of Universal Law: being an Abstract or Essay towards deducing the Elements of Natural Law from the First Principles of Knowledge and the Nature of Things. In a methodical and connected series. In five books: (1) Of law in general, (2) Of private law, (3) Of criminal law, (4) Of the laws of magistracy, (5) Of the law of nations.' It was printed for Dodsley in 1750. The 'Advertisement ' shows that this was a posthumous publication, although proposals, and perhaps a specimen, had been issued at an earlier date. 'The author had been engaged in the great work of which this is an abstract for twenty years.' Lowndes, Allibone, and Smith speak of this as having been issued in 1740, but this appears to be an error for 1750. A second edition is recorded for 1754, and a third for 1759. Lowndes styles it 'an excellent outline,' whilst Marvin, referring to the long time that the author spent upon the work, says: 'It is with a feeling of regret, mingled with something like reproach, that we find the labours of twenty years so wasted, and reflect upon the great expenditure of time and diligence that has been destitute of any useful result.' The advertisement to the 'Delineation' printed in 1750 distinctly states that Bellers was then dead, and yet the official archives of the Royal Society record that he was elected a fellow 30 Nov. 1711, was admitted 17 April 1712, and withdrew from the society 12 April 1752. This chronological puzzle remains unsolved. According to a memorandum made by Mendes de Costa, 'the remains of his collections are in the hands of — Ingram, Esq., at Northleach, in Gloucestershire (N.B. MSS. 1747)' (Gent. Mag, vol. lxxxii. pt. i. p. 205).
[Genest's Account of the English Stage, Bath, 1832, iii. 330, x. 80; Baker, Reed, and Jones's Biographia Dramatica, i. 32, ii. 324; Smith's Descriptive Catalogue of Friends' Books, 1867. The particulars from the Royal Society's archives were obligingly communicated by Mr. Walter White.]
W. E. A. A.
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bellings, Richard

* related portals: Richard Bellings.
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​BELLINGS, RICHARD (d. 1677), Irish historian, eldest son of Sir Henry Bellings, who owned considerable estates in Leinster, was born near Dublin towards the commencement of the seventeenth century. While a student in Lincoln's Inn, London, he composed a sixth book to the 'Arcadia' of Sir Philip Sidney. This production was published with the 'Arcadia' in 1629, and has been appended to most of the editions of that work. Bellings married a daughter of Viscount Mountgarrett, and sat as a member of parliament in Ireland. On the formation of the Irish Confederation in 1642 Bellings was elected a member of and secretary to the supreme council of that body, of which his father-in-law, Mountgarrett, was president. In 1644 Bellings went to the continent as official representative of the Irish Confederation. After his return to Ireland in 1645 he continued, as an adherent of the royal cause, actively engaged in public affairs till 1649, when he retired to France. In 1654 he published at Paris, in Latin, a vindication of his political conduct. Bellings was highly esteemed by Charles II and the Duke of Ormonde. After the king's restoration Bellings obtained possession of a portion of his estates which had been appropriated by the parliamentarians. Bellings died in 1677, and was buried near Dublin. During his latter years he wrote a history of Irish affairs in which he had taken part. This work seems to have been lost sight of for nearly a century. A fragment of it was very incorrectly printed at Dublin in 1772. The original manuscript, supposed to have perished, has, however, been brought to light. The first portion of it, edited by John T. Gilbert, F.S.A., was printed in 1882, in two volumes quarto, for private circulation, under the following title: 'History of the Irish Confederation and the War in Ireland, 1641-3: containing a narrative of affairs of Ireland from 1641 to the conclusion of the treaty for cessation of hostilities between the Crown of England and the Irish in 1643. By Richard Bellings, Secretary of the Supreme Council of the Irish Confederation. With original documents, correspondence of the Confederation and of the English government in Ireland, contemporary personal statements, memoirs, &c. Published, for the first time, from original MSS.' This publication is frequently referred to by ​Mr. S. R. Gardiner in his 'History of England, 1603–42.'
Bellings's son, Sir Richard, was secretary to Catherine, queen of Charles II, and married Frances, heiress of Sir John Arundell. Their only child married Henry, Lord Arundell of Wardour in Wiltshire.
[Additional MSS. 15356, 4763, British Museum, London; State Papers, Ireland, Charles I, Public Record Office, London; Carte and Clarendon MSS. 1641–77, Bodleian Library, Oxford; Ormonde Archives, Kilkenny Castle, Ireland; MSS. of the Earl of Leicester, Holkham, Norfolk, and of Lord Arundell, Wardour Castle Wiltshire.]
J. T. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bellers, William

​BELLERS, WILLIAM (fl, 1761–1774), landscape-painter, who worked in London in the second half of the eighteenth century, was a frequent contributor of pictures in which effects of sunset, moonlight, and storm play a prominent part, as well as of tinted and crayon drawings, to the exhibitions of the Free' Society of Artists between the years 1761 and 1773. Eight views of the Cumberland and Westmoreland lakes were engraved after him by J. S. Müller, Chatelain, Grignion, Canot, and J. Mason, and published by Boydell in 1774; and a set of ten English landscapes by him was etched by P. P. Benazech, J. Mason, G. Bickham, and J. Peake. There is also a view of Netley Abbey engraved after him by J. Toms and J. Mason. The dates of his birth and death are not known.
[Redgrave's Dictionary of Artists, 1878.]
R. E. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bellew, Richard

​BELLEW, RICHARD (fl. 1585), legal reporter, published in 1585 an abridgment of the reports of Statham Fitzherbert and Brooke, described by Dugdale as ‘the Year-book of Richard II,’ being even in his time the only extant authority for that period, but now known as ‘Bellewe's Cases tempore Richard II.’ The book, which is very rare, is in duodecimo. It is entitled: ‘Les Ans du Roy Richard Le Second Collect Ensemble hors de les Abridgments de Statham Fitzherbert et Brooke per Ric. Bellewe de Linc. Inn.’ The reports are in Norman French.
[Dugdale's Orig. Jur. 58.]
J. M. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bellenden, William (d.1671)

1904 Errata appended.
​BELLENDEN, WILLIAM, Lord Bellenden (d. 1671), treasurer-depute of Scotland, was born before 1606. He was the son of Sir James Bellenden of Broughton, and Margaret Ker. He does not come into notice until the Restoration. On 10 June 1661 he was created Lord Bellenden, was made treasurer-depute, and was placed on the privy council of Scotland. In 1662 Lauderdale, on the advice of his brother, managed to secure Bellenden's interest in his struggle with Middleton's faction, and he is from that time one of his most frequent correspondents. In especial he kept Lauderdale well informed regarding the designs of James Sharp, to whom he was bitterly hostile. When the treasurership was taken from Rothes in 1668 and was put into commission, Bellenden was one of the commissioners. He was then in failing health, and was noted for his violent and overbearing manners at the treasury board meetings, especially when, as was the case, his own accounts as treasurer-depute were called in question, or when any matter of precedence was in dispute. He died during 1671. His title and fortune he left ​in 1668 to the second son of the Earl of Roxburghe.
[Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Lauderdale MSS. British Museum.]
O. A.
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bellinger, Francis

​BELLINGER, FRANCIS (d. 1721), physician, educated at Brasnose College, Oxford was admitted licentiate of the College of Physicians 29 March 1708; practised at Stamford, and afterwards in London. He was an original member of the Spalding Society. He died Sept. 1721. He was author of (1) 'A Discourse concerning the Nutrition of the Fœtus,' Lond. 1717; (2) 'A Treatise on the Small-pox,' Lond. 1721.
[Munk's Roll, ii. 20; Nichols's Anecdotes, vi. 29,71.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bellingham, Richard

​BELLINGHAM, RICHARD (1592?–1672), governor of Massachusetts, was educated for the law, and from 1625 to 8 Nov. 1633 was recorder of Boston, Lincolnshire (Thompson, History and Antiquities of Boston p. 428). Nothing is recorded of his parentage, but he may possibly have been related to Francis Bellingham, who was member of parliament for Boston in 1603. In 1634 he emigrated, along with his wife, to Massachusetts, and in the following year he was elected deputy governor of the colony. By a majority of six votes over John Winthrop he was, in 1641, elected governor. He was several times re-elected, and from 1666 held office uninterruptedly till his death. In 1664 he was chosen assistant major-general. After the visit of the royal commissioners to the colony in the same year he and several others were summoned to England to be examined as to their management of affairs; but, standing on their charter rights, they refused compliance. Happily the present 'a shipload of masts' secured them the goodwill of the king, and no further steps were taken against them by the government in England.
Bellingham died 7 Dec. 1672, having attained the distinction of being the last survivor of the patentees in the charter. Notwithstanding certain eccentricities of character, his knowledge of law and the practical business of government, his strong will, and the incorruptible integrity of his public life, won him the high respect even of his opponents. In 1641 he contracted a second marriage by a method probably without a parallel. He proposed to a young lady who was engaged, with his approval, to a friend of his own, and, obtaining her consent, performed the marriage ceremony himself without any proclamation of banns. The great inquest presented him for breach of the order of court; but when he refused to vacate the bench and answer as an offender, the other magistrates were too nonplussed by the exceptional circumstances to venture on decisive steps, and he thus escaped without any censure. Bellingham was ardently attached to the principles of the 'first church,' and left the bulk of his estates —part of them after the decease of his wife, and part after the decease of his son — for the support and encouragement of 'godly ministers and preachers;' but the will was set aside by the general court as trenching on the rights of his family. Several of his letters and his signatures, and also his seals, will be found in the 'Winthrop Papers' (published by the Massachusetts Historical Society), 4th series, pp. 596-600. A sister of Bellingham, Anne Hibbins, widow of William Hibbins, was burned as a witch in June 1656.
[Savage's Geneal. Dict. of the First Settlers of New England, i. 161; Winthrop's History of New England, ii. 37-76; Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts; Allen's American Biog. Dict. 82; Thompson's History and Antiquities of Boston, 428-9.]
T. F. H.
# Daddy-Long-Legs (Webster)/Letter 34

​Mr. Daddy-Long-Legs Smith.
Sir: Having completed the study of argumentation and the science of dividing a thesis into heads, I have decided to adopt the following form for letter-writing. It contains all necessary facts, but no unnecessary verbiage.
    I. We had written examinations this week in:
       A. Chemistry.
       B. History.
    II. A new dormitory is being built.
       A. Its material is:
          (a) red brick.
          (b) grey stone.
       B. Its capacity will be:
          (a) one dean, five instructors.
          (b) two hundred girls. ​
          (c) one housekeeper, three cooks, twenty waitresses, twenty chambermaids.
    III. We had junket for dessert tonight.
    IV. I am writing a special topic upon the Sources of Shakespeare's Plays.
    V. Lou McMahon slipped and fell this afternoon at basket ball, and she:
       A. Dislocated her shoulder.
       B. Bruised her knee.
    VI. I have a new hat trimmed with:
       A. Blue velvet ribbon.
       B. Two blue quills.
       C. Three red pompoms.
    VII. It is half past nine.
    VIII. Good night.
Judy.
# Daddy-Long-Legs (Webster)/Letter 37

June 9th.
Mr. John Smith.
Sir: Yours of the 7th inst. at hand. In compliance with the instructions received through your secretary, I leave on Friday next to spend the summer at Lock Willow Farm.
I hope always to remain,
(Miss) Jerusha Abbott.