OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nelson, William (fl.1720)

​NELSON, WILLIAM (fl. 1720), legal writer, born in 1653, was son of William Nelson of Chaddleworth, Berkshire. On 16 July 1669 he matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford, but did not graduate. He was called to the bar from the Middle Temple in 1684, and was elected a bencher in 1706 (Foster, Alumni Oxon. 1500–1714, iii. 1056). He practised in the court of chancery for many years.
Nelson's juridical knowledge was undoubtedly great, but he lacked both judgment and acumen. Although an unsparing critic of the labours of others, he was himself inaccurate and slovenly. His books are: 1. ‘Reports of Special Cases argued and decreed in the Court of Chancery,’ 1625–1693, 8vo, the Savoy, 1694 (another edit. 1717). 2. ‘The Rights of the Clergy … of Great Britain,’ 8vo, the Savoy, 1709 (2nd edit. 1712; 3rd edit. 1732). 3. ‘The Office and Authority of a Justice of the Peace,’ 8vo, the Savoy, 1710 (6th edit. 1718; 12th edit. 2 vols. 1745). 4. ‘Lex Testamentaria; or, a Compendious System of all the Laws of England … concerning Last Wills and Testaments,’ 8vo, the Savoy, 1714 (other edits. 1724 and 1728). 5. ‘Reports of Cases decreed in the High Court of Chancery during the time of Sir Heneage Finch (Lord Chancellor Nottingham), 1673–81,’ fol., London, 1725, said to be a book of no authority. 6. ‘Lex Maneriorum; or, the Law and Customs of England relating to Manors,’ &c., 2 pts. fol., the Savoy, 1726 (other edits. in 8vo, 1728, 1733, 1735). 7. ‘An Abridgment of the Common Law of England,’ 3 vols. fol., the Savoy, 1725–6, chiefly borrowed from William Hughes's ‘Abridgments.’ He does not abridge cases anterior to those in ‘Fitzherbert’ and ‘Brooke,’ and treats the ‘Year Books’ as a rhapsody of antiquated law. 8. ‘The Laws of England concerning the Game; of Hunting, Hawking, Fishing, and Fowling,’ 12mo, the Savoy, 1727 (other edits. 1732, 1736, 1751, 1753, 1762).
Nelson translated and annotated Sir Edward Lutwyche's ‘Reports and Entries,’ fol., London, 1718; the work was stigmatised by Charles Viner ‘as being a reproach and dishonour to the profession, and rather adapted to Billingsgate than Westminster Hall’ (Viner, Abridgment, vol. xviii. Preface). He also translated Lutwyche's ‘Reports of the Resolutions of the Court on divers exceptions taken to Pleadings … arising … in the … Common Pleas,’ 8vo, London, 1718.
In 1717 he issued enlarged editions of Blount's ‘Law Dictionary,’ fol., and Manwood's ‘Treatise of the Forest Laws,’ 8vo. To J. Lilly's ‘Reports and Pleadings of Cases in Assise for Offices … and Tenements,’ fol., 1719, he supplied a ‘Prefatory Discourse, shewing the Nature of this Action and reasons for putting it in practice.’ Nelson is supposed to have been the editor of the first five volumes of the so-called ‘Modern Reports,’ 1669–1700, fol., London, 1682–1711 (other edits.); a long preface by him precedes vol. v.
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nelthorpe, Richard

​NELTHORPE, RICHARD (d. 1685), conspirator, was son of James Nelthorpe of Charterhouse, London. On 7 Dec. 1669 he was admitted of Gray's Inn (Register, ed. Foster, p. 308). He was concerned in the Rye House plot, and upon its failure escaped with a brother lawyer, Nathaniel Wade, to Scarborough, whence they took ship to Rotterdam, and arrived at Amsterdam at the end of June 1683. His chambers in the Temple, together with those of his associate, Richard Goodenough [q. v.], were on 20 June rigorously searched, but without result (Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. vol. ii. p. 55). Finding that the States-General had resolved to arrest them, they fled to Vevay in Switzerland, and were kindly received by Edmund Ludlow [q. v.] (Wade's ‘Confession’ in Harl. MS. 6845, ff. 268 b–9). Meanwhile, a reward of 100l. was offered by royal proclamation for Nelthorpe's apprehension, and on 12 July the grand jury found a true bill against him (Luttrell, Brief Relation, i. 262, 273). He was accordingly outlawed. A staunch protestant, Nelthorpe became an adherent of the Duke of Monmouth, and landed with him at Lyme in 1685. After the battle of Sedgemoor he was sheltered by Alice Lisle [q. v.] at her house in Hampshire, but his hiding-place was betrayed by one Barter. He was examined on 9 Aug., refused to divulge anything of moment (Lansd. MS. 1152 A., f. 301), and in consequence was subjected to such rigorous treatment that he temporarily lost his reason. He was executed under his old outlawry before the gate of Gray's Inn, on 30 Oct. 1685, and died with composure (Luttrell, i. 362). Jeffreys would have spared him for a bribe of 10,000l., but Nelthorpe refused to save his life by depriving his children of their fortunes (Gent. Mag. 1866, pt. i. p. 126). In the next reign his attainder was reversed (Luttrell, i. 542). Nelthorpe left a widow and five children. He is described as a ‘tall, thin, black man.’
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nesbit, Anthony

​NESBIT, ANTHONY (1778–1859), schoolmaster and writer of school-books, was the son of Jacob Nesbit, farmer, of Long Benton, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, where he was baptised on 3 May 1778. In the preface to his ‘Arithmetic’ he states that he was educated ‘under the direction of some of the first commercial and mathematical preceptors in the kingdom,’ and that, having a decided predilection for teaching, he became a schoolmaster at an early age. He lived successively at Whitby, Malton, Scarborough, Bridlington, and Hull. In 1808–9 he was an under-master at Preston grammar school, as appears from a communication to the ‘Lady's Diary’ for 1809. In 1810 he describes himself on the title-page of his ‘Land Surveying’ as ‘land surveyor and teacher of the mathematics at Farnley, near Leeds.’ About 1814 he set up a school at Bradford, removing in 1821 or thereabouts to Manchester, where his school in Oxford Road became well known. About 1841 he removed to London, and started a school at 38 Lower Kennington Lane [see Nesbit, John Collis.]
His books, which had a considerable reputation in their day, especially in the North of England, are: 1. ‘Land Surveying,’ York, 1810. 2. ‘Mensuration,’ 1816. 3. ‘English Parsing,’ 1817. 4. ‘Practical Gauging,’ York, 1822. 5. ‘Arithmetic,’ Liverpool, 1826; second part, London, 1846. 6. ‘An Essay on Education,’ London, 1841. His sons, John Collis Nesbit and Edward Planta Nesbit, took part in the compilation of the last-named work. Some of his books went through several editions, and his ‘Land Surveying,’ revised by successive editors, still retains its popularity, the twelfth edition appearing in 1870. He was an excellent teacher, though somewhat severe; and in the preface to his ‘Arithmetic’ he laments that an over-fond parent too often ‘prohibits the teacher from using the only means that are calculated to make a scholar of his son.’ He contributed to the mathematical portions of the ‘Lady's Diary,’ ‘Enquirer,’ and ‘Leeds Correspondent.’ He died in Kennington Lane on 15 March 1859, and was buried in Norwood Cemetery (Gent. Mag. May 1859, p. 547 a).
R. B. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nepean, Evan

​NEPEAN, Sir EVAN (1751–1822), secretary of the admiralty, secretary of state for Ireland, governor of Bombay, born in 1751, was the second son of Nicholas Nepean of Saltash, Cornwall. In early life he entered the navy as a clerk; in 1776 he was purser of the Falcon sloop on the coast of North America, in 1777 of the Harpy, in 1779 of the Hero, from which he exchanged, 1 April 1780, to the Foudroyant with Capt. John Jervis, afterwards earl of St. Vincent [q. v.] In 1782 he was secretary to Molyneux Shuldham, lord Shuldham [q. v.], port admiral at Plymouth, and became under-secretary of state in the Shelburne ministry. In 1784 he was made a commissioner of the privy seal; in 1794 he was appointed under-secretary for war; and in 1795 he succeeded Sir Philip Stephens [q. v.] as secretary of the admiralty. For nine busy years he continued in this office, being made a baronet on 16 July 1802; and on 20 Jan. 1804 he was appointed chief secretary for Ireland. It was only for a few months, and in September 1804 he was back at the admiralty as one of the lords commissioners. He went out of office in February 1806, but in 1812 was appointed governor of Bombay, an office which he held till 1819. In 1799 he had purchased the manor of Loders in Dorset, and had afterwards considerably enlarged the estate by other purchases. On his return from Bombay he retired to his seat, and there he died on 2 Oct. 1822, aged 71 (Gent. Mag.)
As a hard-working official, the story of Nepean's active life is buried in the details of administration; but it is worthy of notice that his service at the admiralty, whether as secretary or with a seat at the board, coincided with the date of the great successes of the navy under Jervis, Duncan, and Nelson; and while his early appointment to the admiralty may have been due to some extent to ​Jervis's interest, it is as probable that Nepean's voice was not without influence in the selection of Jervis for the Mediterranean command. With both Jervis and Nelson he corresponded on terms of friendly familiarity. He married Margaret, daughter of William Skinner, a captain in the army, and had by her four sons and a daughter.
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Moir, Frank Lewis

​MOIR, FRANK LEWIS (1852–1904), song composer, was born at Market Harborough on 22 April 1852. Early in life he showed musical and other artistic talents, and while still a boy composed a song. After acting as tuner in London and Nottingham, he became an art student at South Kensington. Though he had no musical training, he won a scholarship at the National Training School for Music, where he studied under Prout, Stainer, and Bridge; and while there Boosey & Co. engaged him to compose ballads for four years. He won the Madrigal Society's prize in 1881. Possessing a good baritone voice, he gave recitals and taught singing at a studio in Oxford Street, London. He composed sentimental drawing-room ballads with extraordinary facility; many had very great popularity, especially 'Only once more' (1883) and 'Down the Vale' (1885). He wrote both music and words in many cases, including a comic opera, 'The Royal Watchman.' He tried a higher style in a harvest cantata, a communion service in D, and some elaborate songs, which met with little success. He published a work on 'Natural Voice Production' (1889), and contributed organ solos, of little value, to the collections 'Abbey Voluntaries,' 'Chancel Echoes,' 'Cathedral Voluntaries,' and 'Stark's Select Series.'
The music-pirates, who surreptitiously printed popular songs and sold them in the streets at a penny, ruined Moir. Publishers refused his compositions; he fell into despondency and penury, and after a painful illness died at Deal on 14 July 1904. He had married Eleanor Farnol, a vocalist from Birmingham, and left three children.
[Goodworth's Musicians of All Times; Musical Herald and Musical Times, August 1904 (obit.); Moir's works in Brit. Museum.]
H. D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Moncreiff, Henry James

​MONCREIFF, HENRY JAMES, second Baron Moncreiff of Tullibole (1840–1909), Scottish judge, born at Edinburgh on 24 April 1840, eldest son of James Moncreiff, first Baron Moncreiff [q. v.], by his wife Isabella, daughter of Robert Bell, procurator of the Church of Scotland. After education at Edinburgh Academy and at Harrow School, he went in 1857 to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. and LL.B. in 1861 (with a first class in the law tripos). Having attended law lectures at Edinburgh University, and becoming a member of the Speculative Society, he passed on 14 July 1863 to the Scottish bar, where he acquired a fair practice. A whig in politics according to the tradition of his family, he was appointed advocate-depute in 1865 by his father, who was then lord advocate, but lost that office when the Russell ministry went out in June 1866. He was re-appointed under Gladstone's administrations of 1868 and 1880. In 1881 he became sheriff of Renfrew and Bute. On Gladstone's adoption of his home rule policy Moncreiff joined the liberal unionists. In 1888 he was raised to the bench, with the title of Lord Wellwood. In 1895, on the death of his father, he succeeded to the peerage, and in 1901 was appointed lord-lieutenant of Kincardineshire. He resigned his judgeship owing to failing health in 1905, died at Bournemouth on 3 March 1909, and was buried in the Grange cemetery at Edinburgh.
Moncreiff, who was a versatile writer, with a keen sense of humour, contributed many articles and short stories to 'Blackwood's Magazine,' the 'Cornhill Magazine,' the 'World,' 'Fraser's Magazine,' the 'Badminton Magazine,' and other periodicals, and wrote 'General Remarks on the Game of Golf' for the volume on golf in the 'Badminton Library.' A collection of his articles and stories was printed for private circulation in 1898 and 1907. He was also author of a useful treatise on 'Review in Criminal Cases' (1877).
Moncreiff married (1) in 1866 Susan (d. 1869), daughter of Sir William Dick Cunyngham of Prestonfield, Midlothian; (2) in 1873 Millicent (d. 1881), daughter of Colonel Fryer of Moulton Paddocks, Newmarket. He had no family, and was succeeded in the peerage by his brother, the Hon. and Rev. Robert Chichester Moncreiff (b. 1843). A portrait was painted by Fiddes Watt shortly before Moncreiff's death.
[Scotsman, 4 March 1909; Harrow School Register; Roll of the Faculty of Advocates; History of the Speculative Society, p. 151; personal knowledge.]
G. W. T. O.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Hardy, Frederic Daniel

​HARDY, FREDERIC DANIEL (1827–1911), painter of domestic subjects, born at Windsor on 13 Feb. 1827, was son of George Hardy, a musician to George IV, Queen Adelaide, and Queen Victoria, who showed some taste for painting. The eldest brother also, George Hardy (1822–1909), was a painter of domestic subjects, especially cottage interiors. Brought up to the musical profession, Frederic soon abandoned music for painting, in which his eldest brother instructed him. In 1851 he began to exhibit at the Royal Academy and British Institution small but highly finished interiors with figures. Careful detail was combined with breadth and refinement. He excelled in depicting cottage interiors, reproducing the surfaces of walls and brick floors with notable effect. His work soon became popular. He exhibited ninety-three pictures at the Academy between 1851 and 1898, five at the British Institution, and a few at other galleries. High prices were paid for his pictures at sales. 'A Quartette Party' fetched 810 guineas at Christie's in 1873, and 'Reading the Will' 550 guineas in 1877. Other of his works were 'A Christmas Party' (1857), 'The Foreign Guest' (1859), 'Coal Heavers' (1865), 'The Late Arrival' (1873), 'Fatherless' (1876), 'A Music Party' (1879), and 'The Pet Lamb' (1888). He also painted a few portraits. 'Still Life' (1852) and 'Sunday Afternoon' (cottage interiors) are at the Victoria and Albert Museum; 'Children Playing at Doctors' (1863) at the Bethnal Green Museum; 'Try This Pair' and 'Little Helpers' at the Corporation Art Gallery, Guildhall, London; 'Interior of a Sussex Farmhouse' at the Leicester Corporation Art Gallery; 'Expectation' (interior of a cottage with mother and children, 1854) at the Royal Hollo way College, Egham; eighteen pictures, of which two only; 'Baby's Birthday' (1867) and 'A Misdeal' (1877) are dated, at the Municipal Art Gallery, Wolverhampton; and 'Tragedy' (four feet by six feet), lifesize figures in the box of a theatre (1880) at the City Art Gallery, Leeds.
On leaving Windsor, about 1852, Hardy after a short residence at Snell's Wood, near Amersham, Buckinghamshire, settled about 1854 at Cranbrook, Kent, where his brother George and his friends Thomas Webster, R.A. [q. v.], who was related to Hardy's mother, John Callcott Horsley, R.A. [q. V. Suppl. II], George Henry Boughton, A.R.A. [q. v. Suppl. II], and G. B. O'Neill also worked. Like Webster, he had a studio in the house known as the 'Old Studio' in the High Street. About 1875 he moved to Kensington but returned to Cranbrook about 1893. He died at 1 Waterloo Place, Cranbrook, on 1 April 1911, and was buried by the side of his wife in St. Dunstan's churchyard. He married on 11 March 1852 Rebecca Sophia (d. 1906), daughter of William Dorrofield, of Chorley Wood, by whom he had five sons and one daughter.
[Private information; A. G. Temple, The Art of Painting, 302, 303; Ottley, Dict.; Graves, Dict. of Artists, Roy. Acad, and British Institution Exhibitors; Redford, Art Sales, ii. 49–50; J. C. Horsley, Recollections of a Royal Academician, p. 338.]
B. S. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Hartshorne, Albert

​HARTSHORNE, ALBERT (1839–1910), archaeologist, born at Cogenhoe, Northants, on 15 Nov. 1839, was the eldest survivor of the eight sons of Charles Henry Hartshorne [q. v.], rector of Holdenby, Northamptonshire, by his wife Frances Margaretta, youngest daughter of Thomas Kerrich [q. v.] of Denton, Norfolk. His education, which was begun at Westminster school (1854-7), was completed in France and at Heidelberg. Until 1865, when his father died, his home was Holdenby Rectory, and he soon developed the passion for archaeology which he inherited from his father and grandfather.
Between 1876 and 1883 and from 1886 to 1894 he was secretary of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and from 1878 to 1892 editor of the 'Archæological Journal.' He was elected F.S.A. on 8 June 1882, member of council on 4 May 1886, and local secretary for Derbyshire on 2 Dec. 1886.
His splendid monograph on 'Old English Glasses,' published in 1897 (4to), called attention to a neglected subject. Hartshorne was an authority also on monumental effigies, and published in 1876 'The Recumbent Monumental Effigies in Northamptonshire,' a folio volume of 128 photographic reproductions of scale drawings with historical descriptions. Valuable also was his 'Portraiture in Recumbent Effigies, and Ancient Schools of Monumental Sculpture in England, illustrated by Examples in Northamptonshire' (1899). An excellent draughtsman, Hartshorne illustrated his works with minute fidelity. {{nop} ​Hartshome, who resided chiefly at Bradbourne Hall, Derbyshire, died at 7 Heene Terrace, Worthing, on 8 Dec. 1910, and was buried in Holdenby churchyard. He married in 1872 Constance Amelia (d. 1901), youngest daughter of the Rev. Francis MacCarthy of Ballyneadrig and Lyradane, but left no issue. A portrait-sketch, made in 1888 by Seymour Lucas, R.A., belongs to Mr. Hugh R. P. Wyatt at Gissbury, Worthing.
Besides the works above mentioned and contributions to the 'Archæological Journal' (xxxix. 376, on 'Collars of SS.,' 1882, and xlv. 238, on 'Monuments in St. Mary's Church,Warwick') and to other publications, Hartshorne published: 1. 'On Kirkstead Abbey, Lincolnshire, Kirkstead Chapel, and a Remarkable Monumental Effigy there preserved,' 1883. 2. 'Bradbourne Church, Derbyshire,' 1888. 3. 'Hanging in Chains,' 1891. 4. 'The Sword-belts of the Middle Ages,' 1891. 5. 'Oxford in the Time of WilUam III and Anne, 1691-1712,' 1910. To 'Some Minor Arts as practised in England,' fol. 1894, by A. H. Church and others, Hartshorne contributed 'English Effigies in Wood.' He edited 'Memoirs of a Royal Chaplain, 1729-1763, the Correspondence of Edmund Pyle, D.D., with Samuel Kerrich, D.D.,' in 1905.
[Proc. Soc. Antiquaries, xxiii. 436; Who's Who, 1907; Athenæum, 3 Sept. and 17 Dec. 1910; The Times, 10 Dec. 1910; Cat. of Libr. of Soc. of Antiquaries; private information.]
C. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rainborow, William

​RAINBOROW, WILLIAM (d. 1642), naval commander, second son of Thomas Rainborow, mariner, was in 1626 master of the king's ship Sampson. In the following year he was living at Wapping. From this time he seems to have been counted as one of the most experienced seamen in the service of the crown, and to have been frequently consulted on practical questions. In April 1632 he was associated with Best, Mansell, Mervin, Trevor, and other men of repute, in a commission on manning the king's ships. In December 1635 he was one of a commission on the Chest at Chatham, and in December 1636 was examined as to the defects of the ships and the faulty administration of the navy. In 1635 he was captain of the Merhonour in the fleet under the Earl of Lindsay, probably also in 1636 under the Earl of Northumberland. In February 1636–7 he was appointed to the Leopard and the command of a squadron ordered to proceed to Sallee ‘for the suppressing of Turkish pirates and redeeming his Majesty's subjects whom they have taken and detain captives,’ and to capture or sink such pirates as he should meet on the way. The squadron, consisting of eight ships, anchored off Sallee on 24 March and instituted ​a rigid blockade, which, without any serious fighting, brought the Moors to terms and obtained the release of 339 captives—men, women, and boys. In October he returned to England, and in the following January sent in a series of proposals for the release of the captives in Algiers. To obtain this by treaty, he wrote, had been found impossible; to redeem them by money was impolitic; but the end might be gained by blockading their port with a fleet of sufficient strength. If this was continued for three or four years, the trade of the Moors would be destroyed, their ships would become worm-eaten and unserviceable, and the sale—in Spain or Italy—of such prisoners as were taken would furnish money for the redemption of English captives. At the same time the maintenance of the fleet would be much to the king's honour. The king's absolute want of means and the state of affairs at home prevented the suggestion being then acted on; but it appears to be the origin of the plan which was effectually carried out some forty years later, under Narbrough, Allin, and Herbert. In April 1638 Rainborow was one of a commission to inquire into frauds in the importation of timber. In 1640 he was member for Aldborough in the Long parliament, but died in February 1641–2. He was buried on the 16th, when he was described as ‘grand-admiral and general captain,’ a style which can scarcely have been official. He was married, and left issue several daughters and sons, one of whom, Thomas [q. v.], is separately noticed. He wrote his name with the spelling here given.
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Raikes, Charles

​RAIKES, CHARLES (1812–1885), writer on India, son of Job Matthew Raikes, was born in 1812, and entered the Bengal civil service in 1830. For some time he was commissioner of Lahore and judge of the Sudder court at Agra. He acted as civil commissioner in the field during the Indian mutiny in 1857, and retired from the service in 1860. He became a magistrate for Wiltshire and Sussex; was nominated a companion of the Star of India in 1866; and died at his residence, Mill Gap, Eastbourne, on 16 Sept. 1885. He married, first, in 1832, Sophia, daughter of Colonel Matthews, of the 31st foot; and, secondly, in 1837, Justina Davidson, daughter of William Alves of Enham House, Hampshire. She died in 1882.
His works are: 1. ‘Notes on the North-Western Provinces of India,’ London, 1858, 8vo. 2. ‘Notes on the Revolt of the North-Western Provinces of India,’ London, 1858, 8vo. 3. ‘The Englishman in India,’ London, 1867, 8vo.
T. C.