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

​TURSWELL, THOMAS (1548–1585), canon of St. Paul's, born in 1548 at Bishop's Norton, Lincolnshire, was educated at Eton College (Harwood, p. 181). Thence he was elected in 1566 to a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, being admitted on 23 Aug. On 24 Aug. 1569 he was elected fellow, and he graduated B.A. in 1570 and M.A. in 1574. In 1572–3 he was licensed to practise surgery by the university, and in 1578 to practise physic. He was incorporated at Oxford on 14 July 1579, and is said by Foster to have been licensed to practise medicine in 1578 and to have graduated M.D. in 1584. On 26 Jan. 1575–6 he vainly solicited from Burghley the post of keeper of the library at King's College, Cambridge. He is said to have been steward to John Whitgift [q. v.] while bishop of Worcester, and on 7 Nov. 1580 he was collated to the prebend of Portpoole in St. Paul's Cathedral. He died early in 1584–5, his successor being appointed on 1 March (Hennessy, Novum Repertorium Londin. p. 45, s.v. ‘Thurswell’).
Cooper (Athenæ Cantabr. ii. 101) attributes to Turswell the authorship of: 1. ‘The Schoolemaster or Teacher of Table Philosophy …,’ London, 1576, 4to; 2nd ed. 1583, 4to. 2. ‘A View of certain wonderfull Effects of late Dayes come to Passe … written by T. T. this 28 Nov. 1578,’ London, 1578, 4to. 3. ‘A Myrrour for Martinists … published by T. T.,’ London, 1590, 4to. The first of these works is usually assigned to Thomas Twyne [q. v.]; its dedication to Alexander Nowell [q. v.], dean of St. Paul's while Turswell was canon, is some presumption in Turswell's favour, but the ‘merry jests and delectable devises’ of which the fourth book consists are scarcely such as would be dedicated by a canon to his dean (cf. manuscript notes in British Museum copy of the 1583 edit.; Halkett and Laing, col. 2271). The second work is possibly by Turswell, though Thomas Tymme [q. v.], another of the numerous contemporary T. T.'s, is an equally probable candidate. The third is manifestly not by Turswell, because he died before the Martin Mar-Prelate controversy broke out.
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Turnour, George

1904 Errata appended.
​TURNOUR, GEORGE (1799–1843), orientalist, was the eldest son of George Turnour, third son of Edward Turnour Garth Turnour, first earl of Winterton [see under Turnor, Sir Edward]. His mother was Emilie, niece to the Cardinal Duc de Beaussett. He was born in 1799 in Ceylon, where his father was employed in the public service, but was educated in England. In 1818 he entered the Ceylon civil service, and devoted himself to the study not only of the vernaculars of the island, but also to the unexplored literature of Pali, the leading religious language of Ceylon and other Buddhist lands. In 1826, when residing at Ratnapura, near Adam's Peak, he obtained from his instructor in Pali a copy of the ‘Mahāvamsa,’ the most important authority on the ancient history of Ceylon. His first publication on this subject was in the ‘Ceylon Almanack’ in 1833. He had previously given a copy of his researches to Major Forbes, who republished them in his ‘Eleven Years in Ceylon’ (London, 1840), with confirmations of their accuracy. The great discovery of Turnour's life was the identification of King Piyadassi, the promulgator of the celebrated rock-edicts scattered over India, with Asóka, the grandson of Chandragupta, the Sandrakottus of Greek history. This turning-point of Indian historical research was communicated to James Prinsep and published by him, with a supplementary paper by Turnour himself, in the ‘Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society’ for 1837. In literature Turnour's magnum opus was his edition of the ‘Mahāvamsa’ (vol. i.), published in 1836, with an English translation and a masterly historical introduction. This was the first Pali text of any extent that had at that time been printed. His literary work was carried on without detriment to public duty, and in the latter part of his career he was a member of the supreme council of Ceylon. His health becoming impaired in 1841, he returned to Europe, and died at Naples on 10 April 1843.
[Tennant's Ceylon, 3rd ed. i. 312 (from orig. documents); obituary in Journal of Royal As. Soc. vol. viii. (old ser.), Report for 1844; Journal of As. Soc. Bengal, vols. v–vii. and Centenary Volume.]
C. B.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.268 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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| 374 | ii | 7 | Turnour, George : for Candragupta read Chandragupta |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Turton, William

​TURTON, WILLIAM (1762–1835), conchologist, born at Olveston on 21 May 1762, was the fifth child of William Turton (1731–1802), solicitor of Olveston, Gloucestershire, and his wife Rachel, only daughter of the Rev. Andrew Cuthbert of Monmouth, and on her mother's side a descendant of Edward, eleventh baron Zouche. He matriculated ​from Oriel College, Oxford, on 28 March 1781, graduating B.A. on 3 Feb. 1785, proceeding M.A. on 22 Feb. 1791, and M.B. on 16 July 1791. He commenced practice in Swansea, his leisure time being devoted to the study of natural history and the publication of various works. About 1797 he married a Miss Salmon, by whom he had a son and three daughters.
From the prefaces to his books it appears that he was still at Swansea in 1807, that from 1813 to 1816 he was in Dublin, in 1819 at Teignmouth, in 1822 at Torquay, and in 1831 at Bideford, where he died on 28 Dec. 1835. He had been elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1809.
Turton was author of: 1. ‘A Medical Glossary,’ London, 1797, 4to; 2nd edit. 1802. 2. ‘British Fauna,’ vol. i. (all published), Swansea, 1807, 12mo; London, 1810, 8vo. 3. ‘Some Observations on Consumption,’ London, 1810, 8vo; Dublin, 1813. 4. ‘A Conchological Dictionary of the British Islands,’ in which he was ‘assisted by his daughter,’ London, 1819, 12mo. 5. ‘Conchylia Insularum Britannicarum’ (bivalves only), Exeter, 1822, 4to; reissued as ‘Bivalve Shells of the British Islands,’ London, 1830, 4to. 6. ‘Manual of the Land and Freshwater Shells of the British Islands,’ London, 1831, 12mo; another edition, largely rewritten by John Edward Gray [q. v.], 8vo, London, 1840 and 1857. 7. ‘A Treatise on Hot and Cold Baths’ [no date]. He also wrote, in conjunction with J. F. Kingston, the natural history portion of N. T. Carrington's ‘Teignmouth, Dawlish, and Torquay Guide’ (Teignmouth [1828?] 8vo). Three papers on scientific subjects were written by him for the ‘Zoological Journal’ and the ‘Magazine of Natural History’ between 1826 and 1834. He is also said to have prepared a ‘Pocket Flora.’
Turton edited a ‘General System of Nature, translated from Gmelin's last edition of the Systema Naturæ [of Linnæus],’ &c. London, 7 vols. 4to [Swansea, printed], 1802–1806, vols. i–v. reprinted in 1806; a new edition of Goldsmith's ‘History of the Earth,’ 1805 and 1816, 6 vols.; and ‘Luctus Nelsoniani. Poems [by different authors] on the Death of Lord Nelson, in Latin and English, written for the Turtonian Medals,’ London, 1807, 4to.
He gave his collection of shells, before his ‘Manual’ appeared, to William Clark of Bath. They subsequently passed into the hands of John Gwyn Jeffreys [q. v.], and are now with the latter's collection in the United States National Museum at Washington. Turtonia, a genus of bivalve shells, was named in his honour in 1849 by Forbes and Hanley, who remark, however, that Turton was not always to be relied on in his published statements.
B. B. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Low, James

​LOW, JAMES (d. 1852), lieutenant-colonel Madras army, Siamese scholar, received a cadetship in 1811, and on 11 June 1812 was appointed ensign 25th Madras native infantry. He became lieutenant in 1817, and captain 46th Madras native infantry in 1826. He retired as lieutenant-colonel 16th Madras native infantry in 1845. He was for many years in civil charge of the province of Wellesley in the Straits Settlements. Low died 2 May 1852. He was the author of ‘A Dissertation on the Soil and Agriculture of Penang’ (London, 1828), of a grammar of the Siamese (Thia) language, Calcutta, 1828, ​of treatises on Siamese literature, Buddha, the Phrabat, and the laws of Siam. Copies of his Siamese drawings form Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 27370.
[East India Registers and Army Lists; Balfour's Cycl. of India.]
H. M. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Low, William

​LOW, WILLIAM (1814–1886), civil engineer, born at Rothesay, Bute, 11 Dec. 1814. After serving a regular pupilage under Peter Macquiston, civil engineer and surveyor, Glasgow, he was engaged under Brunel in the construction of the Great Western Railway. Upon the completion of that work he returned to Glasgow, and entered into partnership with his former master, which continued until the death of the latter about 1847. Low then started in business on his own account at Wrexham, where he had a large practice as a colliery engineer. For many years he had charge of the Vron colliery, near Cefn, Denbighshire, and he was also a colliery proprietor in South Wales. He was greatly interested in the Channel tunnel, and in 1867 he had an interview with the Emperor Napoleon, shortly after which a company was formed, of which Lord Richard Grosvenor was chairman. Sir John Hawkshaw and Mr. James Brunlees were afterwards associated with Low in the engineering department, but the outbreak of the Franco-German war put an end to the scheme for a time. It was resumed in 1882 by Sir Edward Watkin. Low was elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in December 1867, and in 1873 he contributed the results of his investigations on the subject of the Channel tunnel in the course of a discussion on Prestwich's paper on the geological aspects of the question (Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. xxxvii. 147). In the same year he published a tract ‘On the Ventilation of the Channel Tunnel after completion.’ He gave much attention to the question of railway communication with India, and in conjunction with George Thomas he published in 1871 a tract, ‘The proposed England and India Railway,’ and in 1876 ‘Considerations respecting the Regeneration of Turkey,’ which contained a proposal for a railway from Constantinople to Kurachee. He was also the author of ‘A Letter to Lord John Russell explanatory of a Financial Scheme for ex​tending Railways in Ireland,’ 1850. Some years previous to his death an attack of paralysis compelled him to relinquish all active work. He died on 10 July 1886 in West Cromwell Road, London, and was buried in Brompton cemetery, where there is a monument to him. He was J.P. for the county of Denbigh.
[Authorities quoted; obit. notice in Times, 16 July 1886, and private information.]
R. B. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lovett, Richard

​LOVETT, RICHARD (1692–1780), author of works on electricity, was born at Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, in 1692. On 25 Nov. 1722 he was admitted to a lay clerkship in Worcester Cathedral, and retained this position until his death on 8 June 1780. He studied electrical phenomena, and in September 1758 advertised himself as able to effect cures, especially of sore throat, by the use of electricity. Augustus De Morgan, however, describes him as ‘an ether-philosopher, a mere theorist.’ His published works are:
* ‘The Subtile Medium proved … the Qualities of Æther or Elementary Fire of the Ancient Philosophers to be found in Electrical Fire,’ London, 1756; 2nd pt. 1759.
* ‘The Reviewers Reviewed, or the Bush Fighters exploded, a reply to Animadversions of the “Monthly Review” on a late Pamphlet entitled “Sir Isaac Newton's Æther realized.” An Appendix on Electricity rendered useful in Medicinal intentions,’ London, 1760.
* ‘Philosophical Essays,’ in 3 pts., Worcester, 1766.
* ‘The Electrical Philosopher, containing a new System of Physics, founded upon the principle of an Universal Plenum of Elementary Fire,’ Worcester, 1774.
[Athenæum, 1863, ii. 800; Chambers's Worcestershire Biog. pp. 363, 598; Watt's Bibl. Brit.; Chapter Records in Worcester Cathedral.]
T. B. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Low, David (1786-1859)

​LOW, DAVID (1786–1859), professor of agriculture, eldest son of Alexander Low, land-agent, of Laws, Berwickshire, was born in 1786, and educated at Perth Academy and the university of Edinburgh. He assisted his father on his farms, and soon showed special aptitude as a land-agent and valuer. In 1817 he published ‘Observations on the Present State of Landed Property, and on the Prospects of the Landholder and the Farmer,’ in which was discussed the agricultural embarrassment caused by the sudden fall of prices on the cessation of the war. In 1825 he settled in Edinburgh, and in the following year the ‘Quarterly Journal of Agriculture’ was established at his suggestion; he edited it from 1828 to 1832. On the death of Professor Andrew Coventry in 1831 he was appointed professor of agriculture in the university of Edinburgh. His first step was to urge on the government the necessity of forming an agricultural museum. The chancellor of the exchequer, Mr. Spring Rice, consented in 1833 to allow 300l. a year for that purpose. Low contributed collections of his own, and employed William Shiels, R.S.A., to travel, taking portraits of the best specimens of different breeds of animals. Altogether 3,000l. were expended on the museum—1,500l. came from the government, 300l. from the Reid fund, and the rest from the professor's private resources. The museum led to increased attendance in the class of agriculture, which numbered from seventy to ninety students. To chemistry Low was also much devoted, and had a private laboratory. In 1842 he brought out a splendid work in two volumes, 4to, on ‘The Breeds of the Domestic Animals of the British Islands,’ with coloured plates. This was translated for the French government immediately on its appearance. Low resigned his chair in 1854, and died at Mayfield, Edinburgh, 7 Jan. 1859.
Besides the works already mentioned, Low was the author of:
* ‘Elements of Practical Agriculture,’ 1834; 4th edit. 1843; translated into French and German.
* ‘The Breeds of the Domestic Animals of the British Islands,’ London, 1842.
* ‘On Landed Property and the Economy of Estates,’ 1844.
* ‘An Inquiry into the Nature of the simple Bodies of Chemistry,’ 1844; 3rd edit. 1856.
* ‘Appeal to the Common Sense of the Country regarding the condition of the Industrious Classes,’ 1850.
[Anderson's Scottish Nation, 1863, iii. 717–718; Grant's University of Edinburgh, 1884, ii. 456–7; Irving's Book of Scotsmen, 1881, p. 290.]
G. C. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lovibond, Edward

1904 Errata appended.
​LOVIBOND, EDWARD (1724–1775), poet, son of Edward Lovibond, a director of the East India Company, who died in July 1737 (Lond. Mag. vi. 397; cf. Chester, London Marriage Licenses, p. 862), was born at Hampton, Middlesex, in 1724. He was educated at Kingston-upon-Thames under Richard Wooddeson [q. v.] and at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he matriculated as gentleman-commoner on 15 May 1739 (Foster, Alumni Oxon. 1715–1888). Inheriting a competence from his father, he was enabled to ‘pass his days in the quiet enjoyment of the pleasures of rural life’ (cf. Ode to Youth). His fame as a poet rests on his contributions to the ‘World,’ a weekly newspaper, started in 1753 by Edward Moore [q. v.], and numbering Horace Walpole and Lord Chesterfield among its original contributors. On 25 July 1754 (No. 82) appeared his best-known piece, ‘The Tears of Old May Day,’ which long maintained a place in English anthologies, and was described at the time as ‘flowing with a plaintive melody which has only been surpassed by the inimitable Churchyard Elegy.’ The comparison indicates the poet from whom, with Mason, and possibly Dyer, Lovibond chiefly drew his inspiration, though in the case of ‘Julia's Printed Letter,’ his most ambitious and best effort, Pope's ‘Eloisa’ is evidently the model. His slighter pieces have the facile, if insipid, prettiness of Ambrose Phillips. Lovibond, who is said to have lived unhappily with his ​wife, Catherine, third daughter of Gustavus Hamilton of Redwood, King's County, Ireland, whom he married on 26 Dec. 1744 (Lodge, Peerage, 1789, v. 180), died at Hampton on 27 Sept. 1775 (Gent. Mag. 1775, p. 503). Horace Walpole bought some pictures and a fine Cowley ‘at Mr. Lovibond's sale’ in 1776 (Corresp., ed. Cunningham, vi. 349).
His only separate volume of verse, ‘Poems on Several Occasions,’ was published under the superintendence of his brother, Anthony Lovibond Collins, in 1785. It was reprinted in Anderson's ‘British Poets,’ 1794, together with a panegyric described by Croker (Boswell, Life of Johnson, p. 27) as ‘hyperbolical and ludicrous in the extreme.’ The life was subsequently abridged for Chalmers's ‘Biographical Dictionary.’ The poems reappeared in Chalmers's ‘British Poets’ (1820, xvi. 283), in Walsh's ‘British Poets’ (New York, 1822, vol. xxxvii.), and a selection in Campbell's ‘Specimens,’ p. 542.
[Anderson's Poets; Churton's Biog. Preface to T. Winchester's Dissertation, 1803; Bloxam's Magd. Coll. Regist. i. 138–9; Brydges's Censura Lit. vii. 333.]
T. S.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.186 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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| 180 | ii | 35 | Lovibond, Edward: for [q.v.] read [see under Wooddeson, Richard, 1745-1823] |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Salaberry, Charles Michel de

​SALABERRY, CHARLES de (1778–1829), Canadian soldier, born on 19 Nov. 1778 at the manor-house of Beauport, near Quebec, was the son of Louis Ignace de Salaberry by his wife, Mlle. Hortel. Charles Michel's grandfather, Michel de Salaberry, who settled in Canada in 1735, was descended from the noble family of Irumberry de Salaberry in the Pays des Basques. At fourteen years of age Charles Michel joined the 60th regiment, and soon obtained the rank of lieutenant. He served for eleven years in the West Indies under General Robert Prescott [q. v.], and was present in 1794 at the conquest of Martinique. In 1809 he was stationed in Ireland, and in the following year took part in the unfortunate Walcheren expedition. In 1811 he returned to Canada with the rank of major as aide-de-camp of Major-general Rottenberg. In the following year, on the declaration of war against England by the United States, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and entrusted with the organisation of the Canadian voltigeurs. In 1812, at the head of these troops, he encountered General Dearborn's vanguard, numbering fourteen hundred men, at La Colle, and drove them back. In the following year the Americans renewed the invasion with larger forces. Two armies, each numbering seven or eight thousand men, invaded Canada, intending to converge on Montreal. One, under Hampton, took the route by Lake Champlain; the other, under Dearborn and Wilkinson, advanced by Kingston. In October Salaberry, at the head of four hundred voltigeurs, encountered Hampton's outposts at Odeltown. He repulsed them, and succeeded in striking terror into the whole ​force. After several days' indecision, Hampton marched westward to unite his forces with Wilkinson's. To prevent the junction, Salaberry posted himself at Chateauguay on Hampton's route in an exceedingly strong position, defended by swamps and woods. Although he had little more than three hundred men at his disposal, he succeeded on 25 Oct. in repulsing the American attack and in forcing Hampton to retreat from Canada altogether. This action gained for Salaberry the name of the ‘Canadian Leonidas.’ On learning of it, Wilkinson deemed it prudent to abandon offensive operations, and Lower Canada was secured from further invasion. In recognition of his services, Salaberry was made a companion of the Bath. After the conclusion of the war he turned his attention to politics, and in 1818 was called to the legislative chamber. He died on 26 Feb. 1829 at his residence at Chambly, near Montreal. By his wife, Mlle. Hertel de Rouville, whom he married early in 1812, he had four sons and three daughters. His sons were: Alphonse Melchior, deputy adjutant-general of militia for Lower Canada; Louis Michel, Maurice, and Charles René. His portrait was painted by Dickinson and engraved by Durand.
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sale-Barker, Lucy Elizabeth Drummond Davies

​SALE-BARKER, LUCY ELIZABETH DRUMMOND DAVIES (1841–1892), writer for the young, born in 1841, was the third and youngest daughter of Francis Henry Davies (1791–1863), registrar of the court of chancery, and of his wife, Lady Lucy Clementina (d. 1879), only sister of George Drummond, fourteenth earl of Perth and sixth duke of Melfort. She was twice married: first, on 25 Aug. 1858, to Lieutenant-colonel James John Villiers, who died in command of the 74th highlanders at Belasse, India, on 10 May 1862, aged 38 (Gent. Mag. 1862, ii. 233); and, secondly, on 10 Aug. 1865, to John Sale-Barkerof Cadogan Place, Chelsea, who died, 6 Oct. 1884. Mrs. Sale-Barker died on 6 May 1892.
Mrs. Sale-Barker began her literary career with occasional articles for the magazines,and about 1872 began to write regularly for children. Between 1874 and 1888 she published more than forty volumes for juvenile readers. Many of the stories she had composed for her own children. Some of her publications bore such titles as 'Little Bright Eyes' Picture Book' and 'Little Golden Locks' Story Book.' She edited 'Little Wide-Awake,' a magazine for children,from its commencement in 1874 until her death, and wrote the verses for Kate Greenaway's popular 'Birthday Book for Children' (1880).
[Times, 9 May 1892; Burke's Peerage, s.v. Perth; Allibone's Dict. s.v. 'Barker,' Suppl. i. 93; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
E. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Salisbury, Enoch Robert Gibbon

​SALISBURY, ENOCH ROBERT GIBBON (1819–1890), barrister, eldest son of Joseph Salisbury of Bagillt, Flintshire, was born on 7 Nov. 1819. He became a student of the Inner Temple, 7 Jan. 1850, and was called to the bar, 17 Nov. 1852. He went the North Wales circuit, where he had a good practice, but his chief success was as a parliamentary counsel. He was elected in the liberal interest M.P. for Chester in 1857, but he was unsuccessful in contesting the seat in 1859. His knowledge of books relating to Wales and the border counties was remarkable. Of these he made a fine collection, which is now in the possession of Cardiff College. He died at his house, Glen-aber, Saltney, near Chester, on 27 Oct. 1890, and was buried at Eccleston, near that city. He married, on 28 June 1842, Sarah, youngest daughter of the Rev. Arthur Jones, D.D. She died on 2 March 1879, leaving a son and five daughters.
Salisbury published: 1. ‘A Letter on National Education, suggested by “A Letter on State Education in Wales,”’ 1849, 16mo. 2. ‘A Catalogue of Cambrian Books at Glen-aber, Chester, 1500–1799, not mentioned in Rowlands's Cambrian Bibliography,’ Carnarvon, 1874, 8vo. 3. ‘Border Counties Literature, a Catalogue of Border County Books in the Glen-aber Library, Chester, A.D. 1500–1882,’ pt. i. Chester, 12mo, no date. 4. ‘Border Counties Worthies’ (reprinted from the ‘Oswestry Advertiser’), 1st and 2nd ser. London, 1880, 8vo.
A. N.