OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Parfitt, Edward

​PARFITT, EDWARD (1820–1893), naturalist, born at East Tuddenham, Norfolk, on 17 Oct. 1820, was son of Edward Parfitt (1800–1875) by his wife, Violet Howlet (1800–1836). The father was head gardener to Lord Hastings. Parfitt was educated at East Tuddenham and Honingham, and studied gardening under his father; he then became successively gardener to Anthony Gwyn of Sennow Lodge, Norfolk, and John Hay Hill, Gressinghall House, near East Dereham, and subsequently went on a voyage for scientific purposes. He was wrecked near the Cape of Good Hope, and an enforced stay in the colony intensified his taste for botany and entomology. Returning to England, he became in 1848 gardener to John Milford, Coaver House, Exeter. In 1859 he was appointed curator to the Archæological and Natural History Society of Somerset, a post which on 26 Jan. 1861 he exchanged for that of librarian to the Devon and Exeter Institute and Library at Exeter. He died on 15 Jan. 1893, having married on 23 Dec. 1850, at Exeter, Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Cooper of Exeter, and widow of James Sanders.
Parfitt left a manuscript work on the fungi of Devonshire, in twelve volumes, illustrated by 1530 plates, drawn and painted by himself. He also contributed numerous papers to the ‘Transactions’ of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ ‘Entomological Magazine,’ ‘Naturalist,’ and ‘Transactions’ of the Royal Microscopical Society.
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gerard, Richard

1904 Errata appended.
​GERARD, RICHARD (1613–1686), cavalier, second son of Sir Thomas Gerard of Bryn, Lancashire, by Frances, daughter of Sir Richard Molineux of Sefton, in the same county, was born in 1613, went to Maryland, soon after the charter had been granted to Lord Baltimore in 1634, but returned to England the following year, raised a troop of foot for the king of Spain, and served in the Netherlands between 1638 and 1642, when he quitted the Spanish service and entered that of Henrietta Maria, then at the Hague. He raised and commanded the bodyguard which escorted her from the Hague to Bridlington Bay, Yorkshire, where he obtained from the Earl of Newcastle a lieutenant-colonel's commission (16 March 1642–3). Thence he went to Oxford, and on the way thither was wounded in an attack on Burton-on-Trent. He took part in the second battle of Newbury (27 Oct. 1644), after which he retired to Oxford, and there remained until the surrender of the place. He attended the king at Hurst Castle, and carried letters between him and the queen in France. On the Restoration he was appointed (1 Jan. 1660–1) cupbearer in ordinary and waiter to the queen-mother. He died on 5 Sept. 1686 at Ince, Lancashire, the manor of which he had bought from his cousin, Thomas Gerard, and was buried in the parish church of Wigan. Gerard married, first, Frances, daughter of Sir Ralph Hansby of Tickhill Castle, Yorkshire, by whom he had issue one son only, who died in infancy; secondly, Judith, daughter of Sir Nicholas Steward of Pattishall, Northamptonshire, by whom he had issue six sons and three daughters.
J. M. R.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.134 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Payne, Robert

​PAYNE, ROBERT (fl. 1589), writer on agriculture, was born apparently in Nottinghamshire. He subsequently described himself of Poynes-End, co. Cork. He was presumably the author of ‘Rob. Payn his Hillman's Table, which sheweth how to make Ponds to continue water in high and drie grounde, of what nature soeuer. Also the Vale-man's Table, shewing how to draine moores, and all other wette grounds, and to lay them drie for euer. Also how to measure any roufe ground, wood or water, that you cannot come into,’ &c., 1583 (Ames, Typogr. Antiq. iii. 1662). In consequence of the exceptional inducements offered by government to Englishmen to settle in Munster after the suppression of the rebellion of Gerald Fitzgerald, fifteenth earl of Desmond [q. v.], Payne and twenty-five of his neighbours proposed to remove thither. But Englishmen were chary of risking their lives and fortunes in Ireland, and it was accordingly thought advisable to send Payne over to report on the situation. The result was: ‘A Briefe Description of Ireland: Made in this Yeere 1589, by Robert Payne. ​Vnto xxv. of his partners, for whom he is vndertaker there. Truely published verbatim, according to his letters, by Nich. Gorsan, one of the said partners, for that he would his countrymen should be partakers of the many good Notes therein conteined. With diuers Notes taken out of others, the Authoures letters written to the said partners, sithenes the first Impression, well worth the reading. At London, printed by Thomas Dawson, 1590.’ The first edition, though mentioned by Ames (Typogr. Antiq. ii. 1127), is not known to be extant. The pamphlet was reprinted and edited for the Irish Archæological Society in 1841 by Dr. Aquilla Smith; but whatever its utility may have been to Payne's partners, it cannot be regarded as of any great value for historical purposes. Payne, on the whole, wrote favourably of the situation: there were good undertakers as well as bad; the natives were not so black as they were painted; justice was firmly administered; the prospect of a Spanish invasion was remote; the country was rich and fertile, and prices were low. But from the absence of Payne's name from the survey of 1622, it may probably be conjectured that he did not settle permanently in Munster.
R. D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Payne, John (d.1647?)

​PAYNE, JOHN (d. 1647?), engraver, was one of the earliest exponents of the art of line-engraving in England. He appears to have learnt it from Simon and William Pass [q. v.], and his manner very much resembles theirs. Two of his portraits—those of Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex, and Henry Vere, earl of Oxford—are printed in frames engraved by William Pass. Payne had considerable skill in engraving, and many of his portraits and title-pages have great merit. His chief work is the large engraving, done on two plates, of the great ship ‘The Sovereign of the Seas,’ built by Peter Pett [q. v.] at Deptford in 1637. Evelyn in his ‘Sculptura’ extols this engraving, as well as Payne's portraits of Dr. Alabaster, Sir Benjamin Rudyerd, and others. Payne, though recommended to the king's favour, was idle, and died in indigent circumstances. This must have been about 1647, as Thomas Rawlins [q. v.] in his ‘Calanthe,’ published in 1648, has an epitaph on Payne, as ‘lately deceased.’ Among other portraits engraved by Payne were those of Bishop Joseph Hall, Bishop Lancelot Andrews, Sir Edward Coke, Hobson the Carrier, Sir James Ley, Christian of Brunswick, &c., and among the title-pages those to ‘The Works of John Boys, D.D.,’ 1629, and to Gerarde's ‘Herball,’ 1633.
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Van de Velde, Willem (1610-1693)

​VAN DE VELDE, WILLEM (1610–1693), painter, born at Leyden in 1610, was in boyhood a sailor, but before he was twenty he had already won a certain reputation as a painter of marine subjects. These he executed sometimes in bistre, heightened with white, sometimes in oil, in black and white. His skill won him the patronage of the Dutch states, who put at his disposal a small vessel, in which he could follow the fleets, and even come to very close quarters, during the numerous actions with the English. In 1675 he received an invitation to the English court, in which he performed the same offices as for the states of the Netherlands. He seems to have never left this country again. He was buried in St. James's Church, Piccadilly, where his tombstone bears the following inscription: ‘Mr. William van de Velde, senior, late painter of sea-fights to their Majesties King Charles II and King James II, died in 1693.’ Many of his ‘draughts’ seem to have been carried out in oil by his son, Willem van de Velde the younger [q. v.], but a certain number of effective but rather coarsely painted ‘marines’ are probably by himself. Of such are the twelve sea-battles at Hampton Court Palace and a large picture of ‘Fleets at Sea’ in the National Gallery of Ireland.
W. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Van de Velde, Willem (1633-1707)

​VAN DE VELDE, WILLEM, the younger (1633–1707), painter, born at Amsterdam in 1633, was the pupil of his father, Willem Van de Velde (1610–1693) [q. v.], but seems to have learnt the technique of oil painting from Simon de Vlieger. His occupation during a large part of his life was probably the painting of oil pictures from his father's drawings. He most likely accompanied Willem senior to England in 1675, but there is no record of his presence there earlier than 1677. About 1686 he paid a short visit to Amsterdam. Both father and son were granted a pension of 100l. per annum by Charles II, the former ‘for taking and making draughts of sea fights,’ the latter ‘for putting the said draughts into colours.’ Van de Velde the younger made an enormous number of drawings. It is said that between 1778 and 1780 more than eight thousand were sold by auction. His pictures also are very numerous. Three hundred and twenty-nine are described in Smith's ‘Catalogue Raisonné,’ the great majority being in English private collections. Most of the great galleries are rich in his works, the Louvre being an exception. The National Gallery possesses fourteen examples, most of them very good. Many of his larger pictures represent actions between the English and Dutch fleets, and were painted presumably during his partnership with his father. On these ​he sometimes wrote the names of the ships engaged, and even of their commanders, also noting the presence of ‘V. Velde's Gallijodt’ or ‘mijn galligodt,’ when the vessel supplied by the Dutch government had enabled father and son to witness the actual meeting of the fleets. The charm of Van de Velde lies in his excellent sense of composition, in his fine drawing, in his lightness of hand and transparency of colour, and, in his best pictures, in his wonderful sense of atmosphere and aerial perspective. His lightness of hand and transparency often desert him in his pictures of storms, which are apt to be opaque and inky, and are therefore less prized than his calms. Lord Northbrook possesses a full-length portrait, in small, of Willem van de Velde in his studio, by Michiel van Musscher. Van de Velde died at Greenwich on 6 April 1707.
W. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Van der Doort, Abraham

​VAN DER DOORT [DORT], ABRAHAM (d. 1640), medallist and keeper of Charles I's collections, was a native of Holland, and was at first employed as a modeller in the service of the emperor Rudolph II. It is uncertain when he came to England, but it must have been previous to 1612, when he appears to have been in the service of Henry Frederick, prince of Wales [q. v.] The prince having wished to possess ‘an Imbost in coloured wax so big as the life, a woman's head laid in with silver and gold, made by Vanderdoort for the Emperor Rodolphus,’ had promised Van der Doort the post of keeper of the prince's cabinet and medals in the newly erected palace of Whitehall. Henry died before the promise could be carried out; but his brother Charles appears to have retained Van der Doort's services. On Charles's accession to the crown in 1625 he appointed Van der Doort designer for his coinage with a salary, and three years later added the post for life of keeper of his majesty's cabinet-room with an additional salary. The king took a great personal interest in his collections, and there are notes of his visits to Van der Doort and conversations about the medals, coins, and other rarities. In 1638 and the following year Van der Doort compiled a catalogue of the royal collections of pictures, limnings, statues, bronzes, medals, and other curiosities. The original manuscript appears to be that among the Ashmolean manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, comprising a first draft with corrections and additions by Van der Doort himself (Ashmol. MS. 1514) and a fair copy (Ashmol. MS. 1513). This catalogue was transcribed and prepared for press, not very correctly, by George Vertue [q. v.], the engraver, and was finished and published by W. Bathoe in 1757. A fair copy, made by Van der Doort for the king's own use, formerly in Horace Walpole's library, was acquired in 1874 for the royal library at Windsor Castle. Van der Doort's catalogue forms the most precious record of Charles I's splendid collection, which was dispersed by the Commonwealth a few years later. So keen was Van der Doort's interest, and so strong his sense of responsibility for the valuable collections under his charge, that in 1640, when the king asked for a miniature of the ‘Lost Sheep’ by Gibson, and it could not be found, Van der Doort committed suicide by hanging himself. After his death the miniature was found and restored by his executors. In November 1628 Secretary Conway tried to negotiate a marriage between Van der Doort and Louisa, relict of James Cole, presumably an eligible widow. It is not recorded whether the result was successful. The poet George Rodolph Weckherlin [q. v.] wrote an epigram on Van der Doort's death. A portrait of Van der Doort, painted by W. Dobson, was formerly in the Houghton collection.
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Van der Vaart, Jan

​VAN DER VAART, JAN (1647–1721), painter and mezzotint-engraver, was born at Haarlem in Holland in 1647, and was a pupil of Thomas Wyck. He came to London in 1674, and first attracted notice as a painter of landscapes (in which he specially excelled), small portraits, and especially still life. Subsequently he was employed by Willem Wissing [q. v.], the portrait-painter, then in fashion at court, to paint the draperies and landscapes in his portraits. Their names appear conjointly as painters on several engravings from portraits by them. Van der Vaart was one of the first artists to practise the art of mezzotint engraving, and is said to have instructed the great engraver, John Smith (1652?–1742) [q. v.], in that art. He was employed by Richard Tompson [q. v.], whose name appears as the publisher of many mezzotint engravings bearing Van der Vaart's name or without it, and also by Edward Cooper, a portrait of whom by Van der Vaart was engraved in mezzotint by P. Pelham. After Wissing's death Van der Vaart continued to paint portraits. Among his sitters were Queen Mary and the Princess Anne. From short sight, however, he abandoned portrait-painting, and in 1713, after selling off all his pictures, he settled in a house in Covent Garden, where he practised chiefly for the remainder of his life as a restorer of pictures, an art in which he attained great skill. He died a bachelor in his house at Covent Garden in 1721, and was buried in St. Paul's Church. He drew his own portrait twice, at the ages of thirty and sixty. A nephew, John Arnold, lived with him for thirty or forty years, and assisted him in his practice.
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Van der Eyden, Jeremiah

​VAN DER EYDEN, JEREMIAH (d. 1695), portrait-painter, a native of Brussels, came to England and was employed by Sir Peter Lely to paint the draperies in some of his portraits. On his marriage he settled in Northamptonshire, where he obtained much employment as a portrait-painter, especially from the Earls of Rutland and Gainsborough. He was also patronised by Lord Sherard of Stapleford, Leicestershire, at whose house he died in September 1695. The parish register for that year contains the entry ‘Mr. Jeremiah Vandroyden was buried Sept. ye 17.’ Walpole gives the name as ‘John.’
C. D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Van Voerst, Robert

​VAN VOERST, ROBERT (1596–1636), engraver, was born in 1596 at Arnheim in Holland, and studied at Utrecht under Crispin de Passe the elder. Some small plates of animals by him, which appeared in Passe's ‘La Lumière de la Peinture,’ 1643, were probably executed at this period. He came to England in 1628, and during the next few years engraved portraits of the queen of Bohemia, the Prince of Wales, Prince Rupert, and several English noblemen, from pictures by Honthorst, Dobson, Geldorp, Miereveldt, Mytens, and Janssen. Later he was employed by Vandyck, for whose ‘Centum Icones’ he executed the portraits of Christian, duke of Brunswick, Ernest, count Mansfeldt, Philip, earl of Pembroke, Sir Kenelm Digby, Simon Vouet, Inigo Jones, and himself. Van Voerst's masterpiece is the plate of Charles I and Henrietta Maria holding a laurel wreath, from the picture by Vandyck. He held the appointment of engraver to Charles I; and Vanderdort, in his catalogue of the royal collection, mentions a drawing of the Holy Family by him which he had presented to the king. Van Voerst died of the plague in London in 1636. His prints number only about thirty, but they are of very fine quality, rivalling in brilliancy those of his compatriot, Vorsterman. His portrait of himself has been copied by ​T. Chambars and B. P. Gibbon for the 1763 and 1849 editions of Walpole's 'Anecdotes.'
[Kramm's Hollandsche en Vlaamsche Kunstschilders; Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting; Strutt's Dict. of Engravers; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists.]
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Van der Myn, Herman

​VAN DER MYN or VAN DER MIJN, HERMAN (1684–1741), portrait-painter, born at Amsterdam in 1684, was the son of a Dutch minister. In 1718 he was at Paris, where he attracted the notice of the painter Coypel, who recommended him to the Duke of Orleans. He had not succeeded in finding employment in Paris, when he was patronised by an Englishman, named Burroughs, who brought him over to London. There Van der Myn was employed by the Duke of Chandos, Lord Cadogan, Sir Gregory Page, and others. He obtained a great reputation for small portraits, in which the details were most laboriously and neatly executed, and found many sitters, including Queen Caroline. Van der Myn lived in a large house in Soho Square; but an imprudent marriage, leading to a large family, together with extravagance, involved him in debt, to avoid which he returned in 1736 to Amsterdam. He did not return to London until 1741, shortly after which date he died. By his wife, Susanna Bloemendael, he left six sons and one daughter. His sister, Agatha van der Myn (b. 1705?), who came over from Holland with him, was a painter of flowers and still life. Five of Van der Myn's sons—Gerhardt, Andreas, Frans (1719–1783), Joris (1723–1763), and Robert—and his daughter Cornelia also practised painting. Frans (or Frank) Van der Myn obtained some repute ​as a painter of portraits and humorous subjects in London and also in Norwich, where he resided for several years. In 1763 he became a member of the Free Society of Artists in London. His practice was ruined by his vulgar habits. He died at Moorfields on 20 Aug. 1783. There are some mezzotint engravings by various members of the family.
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vance, Alfred Glenville

​VANCE, ALFRED GLENVILLE (1838?–1888), actor, pantomimist, and comic singer, was born in London about 1838, and ​was placed in the office of a solicitor in Lincoln's Inn Fields. His name was Alfred Peck Stevens. After some efforts in the country as an actor, he accepted an engagement of fifty shillings a week at the Preston theatre, under Edmund Falconer [q. v.], to play secondary parts, including harlequin. He then went on the Northampton circuit and elsewhere, and engaged under Copeland at Liverpool, where he opened a dancing academy. He is said also to have kept a dancing and fencing school in Carlisle. Vance then took on tour an entertainment after the manner of Samuel Houghton Cowell [q. v.], visiting most country towns. A monologue entertainment, entitled ‘Touches of the Times,’ in which he presented many different characters, obtained much popularity. On the suggestion of J. J. Poole, at one time manager of the South London Music-hall, Vance adopted the ‘variety’ stage, appearing at the Metropolitan and South London music-halls. He was a poor singer but a clever dancer, and his sketches of character took a firm hold upon the public. All London rang with the words and tune of his ‘Chickaleery Cove,’ and other Cockney songs were only less popular. In 1864 he was at the London Pavilion Music-hall, and he was at various periods associated with the Strand Music-hall, on the spot now occupied by the Gaiety Theatre, and with the Canterbury Music-hall. For many years he travelled round the country with what was called Vance's Concert Company. He also played the clown at the St. James's Theatre, and under Chatterton's management appeared at other houses. Among the songs which obtained much public favour and secured him royal recognition were ‘Jolly Dogs’ and ‘Walking in the Zoo.’ He was known latterly as the ‘Great Vance.’ On Wednesday, 26 Dec. 1888, at the Sun Music-hall, Knightsbridge, when he had given two songs and had sung in the wig and robes of a judge three verses of a third, called ‘Are you Guilty?’ Vance, who suffered from heart disease, fell down at the wing, and was found to be dead, the cause being rupture of the aorta. Vance was buried at Nunhead cemetery.
[Era newspaper, 29 Dec. 1888; Times, 28 Dec. 1888; Stuart and Park's Variety Stage (1895), pp. 104–5; Scott and Howard's Life of E. L. Blanchard, 1891; Era Almanack, various years.]
J. K.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Parsons, Richard

​PARSONS, RICHARD (1643–1711), divine and antiquary, was son of William Parsons (1599–1671), royalist divine, who was, as of founder's kin, scholar of Winchester and fellow of New College, Oxford, from 1604 (B.C.L. 1629, and D.C.L. 1660); rector of Birchanger in Essex from 1641; prebendary of Chichester, rector of Lambourne, Essex,and vicar of Dunmow, Essex, from 1660.
The son, born at Birchanger in 1643, was admitted to a scholarship at Winchester College, as of kin to the founder, in 1654, succeeded to a fellowship at New College, Oxford, in 1659, and matriculated on 25 Oct. in the same year. He vacated his fellowship in 1665. He graduated B.C.L. on 8 April 1665, and D.C.L. on 25 June 1687. He became vicar of Driffield in Gloucestershire in 1674, and chancellor of the diocese of Gloucester in 1677. In 1695 a bill was filed against him in the court of exchequer, charging him with having unduly levied, and afterwards retained, sums of money from the dissenters during 1678, 1681, 1683, and 1685. He died on 12 June 1711, and was buried in Gloucester Cathedral. His wife Mary, two sons, Robert and Thomas, and three daughters — Anne, Mary, and Honour—were also buried in the cathedral.
At the instigation of Henry Wharton, Parsons made considerable collections towards a history of the cathedral and diocese of Gloucester. His manuscripts, after his death, passed into the possession of Jonathan Colley, chaplain and chanter of Christ Church, Oxford, thence into the library of Peter Le Neve [q.v.], and in 1729, on the death of Le Neve, into that of Thomas Martin [q.v.], of Palgrave in Suffolk. They were sold in 1730 to Rawlinson, and, with the rest of his manuscripts, came into the possession of the Bodleian Library in 1755 (Rawl. B. 323). They were made some use of by Sir Robert Atkyns (1647-1711) in his 'Ancient and Present State of Gloucestershire,' London, 1712. A manuscript by Parsons concerning impropriations in Gloucestershire, dated ​8 July 1704, is in the British Museum (Lansdowne, 989, ff. 38-9).
B. P.