OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Smith, William (a)

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​SMITH. (Captain, 1846. f-p., 24; h-p., 17.)
William Smith entered the Navy in July, 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Shannon of 50 guns, throwing a broadside weight of 538 lbs., and 306 men, Capt. Philip Bowes Vere Broke. In that frigate, after visiting the Greenland seas for the protection of the whale fisheries, he witnessed the surrender of Madeira, and assisted as Midshipman in taking, among other vessels, Le Pommereuil French cutter privateer of 14 guns and 60 men, the Nautilus American brig of 14 guns and 106 men, and the Thorn privateer of 18 guns and 140 men. He was also, 1 June, 1813, present at the memorable capture of the American ship Chesapeake of 50 guns, yielding a broadside weight of 590 lbs., and 376 men; an exploit which was achieved after 15 minutes of intense combat, productive of a loss to the British of 24 men killed and 59 wounded, and to the enemy of 47 killed and 115 wounded. “The Chesapeake’s maintop,” says Mr. James in his account of this action, “was stormed by Midshipman Wm. Smith and his topmen, about five in number, who either destroyed or drove on deck all the Americans there stationed. This gallant young man had deliberately passed along the Shannon’s foreyard, which was braced up to the Chesapeake’s mainyard, which was nearly square, and thence into her top."” As a reward for the valour he had displayed, Mr. Smith, who had been particularly recommended by his Captain, was promoted, 14 July following, to the rank of Lieutenant. He continued in the Shannon until Nov. 1813; and was subsequently appointed – 27 Oct. 1815, to the Tiber 38, Capt. Jas. Rich. Dacres, with whom he served on the Irish, Newfoundland, and Channel stations until paid off 18 Sept. 1818 – and, in May, 1822, and Dec. 1825, to the Alligator 28, Capts. Thos. Alexander and Henry Ducie Chads, and Boadicea 46, Commodore Sir Jas. Brisbane, both in the East Indies, where he was actively employed during the war in Ava. While attached to the Alligator he commanded a division of boats, in Feb. 1825, and had 2 men mortally wounded, at the destruction of a stockade a few miles above Thesit. He contrived about the same period to render inefiective several of the
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Smith, Thomas (b)

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​SMITH. (Captain, 1841. f-p., 17; h-p., 31.)
Thomas Smith (b) was born 1 Feb. 1786, in Middlesex, and died 9 Jan. 1846, at Stoke, Plymouth. This officer entered the Navy, 10 July, 1798, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Dragon 74, Capts. Geo. Campbell and Fred. Lewis Maitland, employed in the Channel, off Cadiz, and in the Mediterranean, where, from July, 1801, until Oct. 1802, he served as Midshipman (he had attained that rating 2 March, 1800) in the Camelion sloop, Capts. Lord Edw. O’Bryen and Jas. Hawes, and Carrère frigate, Capt. F. L. Maitland. Joining next, in Aug. 1804, the Adamant 50, Capt. Geo. Burlton, he assisted in the boats in the ensuing Oct. in the celebrated catamaran attack upon the Boulogne flotilla. After serving with Capt. Burlton in the North Sea in the same ship and in the Resolution 74, he was nominated, 1 Aug. 1807 and 13 May and 5 Nov. 1808, Acting-Lieutenant of the Agincourt 64, Capt. Henry Hill, Hound bomb, Capt. Nicholas Lockyer, and Agincourt again, Capts. Robt. Henderson and Wm. Kent. Under Capt. Hill he escorted convoy ​to and from St. Helena; and under Capt. Lockyer he aided, in Aug. 1808, in embarking the Marquis de la Romana and his patriot troops from the vicinity of Nyeborg. He was confirmed to the Agincourt 29 Nov. 1808, and was subsequently appointed – 7 Jan. and 9 Oct. 1809, to the Nymphen 36, Capt. Keith Maxwell, and Blake 74, Capt. Edw. Codrington – 10 April, 1811, four months after he had left the Blake, to the Briseis 10, Capt. Edw. Thurlow Smith, stationed in the North Sea – in 1812-13, to the Venerable and Bulwark 74’s, Capts. Sir Home Popham and David Milne, the latter of which ships he left in Oct. 1814 for the purpose of attending a trial – and 26 Oct. 1824, to the Genoa 74, Capts. Wm. Cumberland, Walter Bathurst, and Hon. Leonard Chas. Irby. In the Nymphen and Blake he took part in the operations connected with the expedition to the Walcheren – the Nymphen being one of the frigates which, under Lord Wm. Stuart, forced the passage between the batteries of Flushing and Cadsand. During the time he continued in the Blake Mr. Smith was also present at the siege of Cadiz, and was actively employed on the coast of Catalonia. At Cadiz he was intrusted with the command of a Spanish gun-boat, in which he came into almost daily collision with the enemy’s batteries. In the Venerable he assisted at the capture of Santander and Castro, and otherwise cooperated with the patriots on the north coast of Spain; and, while stationed in the Bulwark on the coast of North America, he contributed to the capture of a great variety of the enemy’s vessels, and witnessed the surrender of the towns of Castine and Machias. As a reward for his services as First of the Genoa at the battle of Navarln, he was promoted to the rank of Commander 22 Oct. 1827. He afterwards, from 9 March, 1828, until 3 June, 1829, commanded the Brisk 10 in the Mediterranean; and, on 23 Nov. 1841, he was advanced to Post-rank.
Capt. Smith married, 24 Oct. 1814, Agnes, youngest daughter of the late Mr. Thos. Langdon, of Devonport, formerly of Barnstaple.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Smith, Thomas (c)

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​SMITH. (Commander, 1844.)
Thomas Smith (c) entered the Navy, 14 Nov. 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Driver sloop, Capt. Robt. Simpson, stationed at Halifax, where he became Midshipman, in July, 1806, of the Indian sloop, Capt. Chas. John Austen, and continued almost uninterruptedly employed (until presented, in May, 1815, with a commission bearing date 3 March in that year) in the Sylvia cutter, Lieut.-Commander Crumpholtz, Observateur, Capts. Rich. Smith, Fred. Hickey, John Lawrence, and Henry Fane, Halifax, Capt. Alex. Fraser, Curlew, Capt. Michael Head, Martin 18, Capt. Humphrey Fleming Senhouse, Centurion 50, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Edw. Griffith, Cossack 22, Capt. Hon. Robt. Rodney, and Pomone 38, Capt. John Rich. Lumley. In the Observateur, Halifax, and Curlew he held the rating of Master’s Mate; and in the Martin and Centurion he acted as Lieutenant from 29 Jan. 1814 until 27 Feb. 1815. From 22 May, 1840, until advanced to his present rank 22 Oct. 1844, he served in the Victory 104, guard-ship at Portsmouth, Capts. Fras. Erskine Loch and Wm. Wilmott Henderson.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Smith, Thomas (a)

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​SMITH. (Captain, 1825.)
Thomas Smith (a) died 19 Sept. 1847, at Louvain, in Belgium.
This officer entered the Navy, in 1800, as Fst.-Cl. Vol., on board the Nemesis 28, Capt. Thos. Baker, with whom, deducting some time passed during the peace of Amiens in the Thunderer 74, Capt. Wm. Bedford, he continued to serve in the Downs and Channel as Midshipman in the Phoebe 36 and Phoenix of 42 guns and 245 men until about 1805. He was present in the Nemesis, 25 July, 1800, in a smart conflict of 25 minutes, which terminated in the capture of the Danish frigate Freija; and in the Phoenix, prior to sharing in Sir Rich. Strachan’s action, he assisted, 10 Aug. 1605, at the capture, after a memorable and furious conflict, in which the British lost 12 killed and 28 wounded, and the enemy 27 killed and 44 wounded, of La Didon of 46 guns and 330 men, a remarkably fine frigate, and the fastest sailer in the French Navy. Becoming attached, in Oct. 1806, to the Ajax 74, Capt. Hon. Henry Blackwood, Mr. Smith was in that ship when she took fire and was destroyed off’ the island of Tenedos 14 Feb. 1807. He was received in consequence on board the Pompée 74, bearing the flag of Sir Wm. Sidney Smith, under whom during the ensuing expedition to Constantinople he contributed to the destruction of a Turkish squadron and a formidable redoubt at Point Pesquies. He was made Lieutenant, 1 Sept. following, into the Hibernia 120, Capt. Chas. Marsh Schomberg; and was next, in March and Sept. 1808, appointed, on the Home station, to the Warspite 74, Capt. Hon. H. Blackwood, and Lyra sloop, Capt. Wm. Bevians. On 12 April, 1809, while in command of a boat belonging to the latter vessel and engaged in burning the enemy’s ships in Aix Roads, he was captured by two national luggers. He was detained a prisoner in France during the remainder of the war. Soon after his return to England he was advanced, 15 June, 1814, to the rank of Commander, and he was subsequently, from 6 May until 12 Aug. 1815, and from 1 Jan. 1817 until 1 March, 1819, employed in that capacity in the Pincher and Cherokee sloops on the Leith station. He did not afterwards go afloat. He was promoted to Post-rank 16 Aug. 1825. Agents – Holmes and Folkard.
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# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Smith, William Forsyth

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​SMITH. (Lieutenant, 1821. f-p., 12; h-p., 23.)
William Forsyth Smith., on board the Laurestinus 24, Capt. Thos. Graham, stationed at Halifax, where and at Home he served, from March, 1813, until Dec. 1818, a great part of the time as Midshipman, in the Spartan 38, Capt. Edw. Pelham Brenton, Leviathan 74, Capt. Adam Drummond, Princess (guardship at Liverpool), Capt. M‘Leod, Leander 50, Capt. Sir Geo. Ralph Collier, Argo 44, Capt. D. M‘Leod, Princess again, Capt. Wm. Simpson, and Dee 24, Capt. Sam. Chambers. He was afterwards, from 11 Sept. 1819 until 20 May, 1823, employed in the West Indies in the Tribune 36, Capt. Nesbit Josiah Willoughby, Sapphire 26, Capt. Alex. Montgomerie, and Esk 20, Capts. Edw. Lloyd and Arthur Lee Warner; and, from 25 Feb. 1826 until 30 June, 1827, at the Cape of Good Hope, in the Sparrowhawk 18, Capt. Jas. Polkinghorne. He was made Lieutenant while serving in the Esk 21 July, 1821. Since he left the Sparrowhawk he has been on half-pay.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Smith, William Henry

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​SMITH. (Retired Commander, 1847. f-p., 13; h-p., 35.)
William Henry Smith is son of the late Mr. Smith, Master R.N., who lost the two first fingers of his right hand in Rodney’s action, 12 April, 1782, and died, while serving in the West Indies in the Europa 50, of yellow fever, brought on by over-exertion in saving portions of a wreck.
This officer entered the Navy, 9 March, 1799, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Romney 50, Capt. John Lawford, in which ship he accompanied the ensuing expedition to Holland and witnessed the surrender of the Dutch squadron under Rear-Admiral Storey. Being discharged from the Romney in Nov. of the same year, he next, for a few months in 1800, served at Plymouth in the Raven sloop, Capt. Ferris; and from April, 1801, until Jan. 1805, in the Vanguard 74, Capts. Sir Thos. Williams, Chas. Inglis, Jas. Walker, Lord Wm. FitzRoy, and Andrew Fitzherbert Evans. In 1803 he assisted at the capture, among other vessels, of Le Duquesne 74 and La Créole of 44 guns, with the French General Morgan and 530 troops on board. He was also present at the surrender of the town of St. Marc, St. Domingo; the garrison of which place, amounting to 1100 men, were brought off by the Vanguard and her prizes to rescue them from the vengeance of the black General Dessalines. In the course of 1805-6 Mr. Smith joined in succession, on the Jamaica, Home, and Mediterranean stations, the Fairy sloop, Capt. Geo. Adey Creyke, Triumph 74, Capt. Henry Inman, Sampson 64, Capt. Wm. Cuming, and Repulse 74, Capt. Hon. Arthur Kaye Legge. In the latter ship he passed the Dardanells with Sir John Duckworth in Feb. 1807, and assisted at the destruction of the Turkish squadron off Point Posquies. Being made Lieutenant, 8 Feb. 1809, into the Snap 16, Capts. Jas. Pattison Stewart and Thos. Barclay, he co-operated in that vessel in the reduction of the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and St. Martin’s. He invalided home from the West Indies in April, 1810, and was subsequently appointed – 30 Oct. 1810, to the Standard 64, Capts. Aiskew Paffard Hollis, Joshua Sydney Horton, and Hon. Chas. Elphinstone Fleeming – 28 Sept. 1812, after three months of half-pay, to the Lavinia 40, Capt. Geo. Digby, stationed at Gibraltar – and, 31 March, 1813, to the Warspite 74, Capts. Hon. Henry Blackwood and Lord Jas. O’Bryen. In the Standard, prior to making a voyage to the port of Lima, in South America, he served at the defence of Cadiz, and aided in destroying the fort at St. Mary’s. While attached to the Warspite he assisted in capturing a variety of vessels protected by the enemy’s batteries in Basque Roads; where, on 29 May, 1813, he was the first person, out of six boats, that boarded the American letter-of-marque Flash, of 2 long 9-pounders, 14 swivels, and 20 men. He left the Warspite in April, 1814, and accepted his present rank 9 April, 1847.
Although wounded in the Snap by a stiletto while engaged on Impress service, Lieut. Smith never received the least compensation.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Smith, Thomas (e)

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​SMITH. (Retired Commander, 1845.)
Thomas Smith entered the Navy, in Jan. 1794, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Brunswick 74, Capt. John Harvey. After sharing as Midshipman in Lord Howe’s action, he removed, in the following July, to the Robust 74, Capt. Edw. Thornbrough, stationed in the Channel; where he next, in the course of 1797-8, joined the Intrepid 64, Capt. Robt. Parker, and Royal Sovereign 100, flag-ship of Sir Alan Gardner and Sir Henry Harvey; to the latter of whom he became Flag-Lieutenant 5 Sept. 1800, the date of his first commission. In 1802-3 he served with Capt. Geo. Wolfe in the Galataea and Aigle frigates; in Aug. of the latter year he was nominated Flag-Lieutenant to Sir Thos. Graves in the Foudroyant 80; and in 1804-5 he was appointed to the Atlas 98, Capt. Wm. Johnstone Hope, and Orpheus 32, Capts. Henry Hill and Thos. Briggs. In the Orpheus he visited the West Indies, He was subsequently employed at Spithead in the Royal William, Capt. Hon. Courtenay Boyle. He was placed on the Junior List of Retired Commanders 26 Nov. 1830; and on the Senior 8 March, 1845.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Bloomfield, Robert

​Bloomfield, Robert (1766-1823).—Poet, b. at Honington in Suffolk, lost his f. when he was a year old, and received the rudiments of education from his mother, who kept the village school. While still a boy he went to London, and worked as a shoemaker under an elder brother, enduring extreme poverty. His first and chief poem, The Farmer's Boy, was composed in a room where half a dozen other men were at work, and the finished lines he carried in his head until there was time to write them down. The manuscript, after passing through various hands, fell into those of Capel Lofft, a Suffolk squire of literary tastes, by whose exertions it was pub. ​with illustrations by Bewick in 1800. It had a signal success, 26,000 copies having been sold in three years. The Duke of Grafton obtained for him an appointment in the Seal Office, and when, through ill-health, he was obliged to resign this, allowed him a pension of 1s. a day. Other works were Rural Tales (1804), Wild Flowers (1806), The Banks of the Wye (1811), and May Day with the Muses (1817). An attempt to carry on business as a bookseller failed, his health gave way, his reason was threatened, and he d. in great poverty at Shefford in 1823. B.'s poetry is smooth, correct, and characterised by taste and good feeling, but lacks fire and energy. Of amiable and simple character, he was lacking in self-reliance.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Bodenham, John

​Bodenham, John (fl. 1600).—Anthologist, is stated to have been the ed. of some of the Elizabethan anthologies, viz., ''Politeuphuia'' (''Wits' Commonwealth'') (1597), Wits' Theater (1598), Belvidere, or the Garden of the Muses (1600), and England's Helicon (1600). Mr. Bullen says that B. did not himself ed. any of the Elizabethan miscellanies attributed to him by bibliographers: but that he projected their publication, and he befriended the editors.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Boorde, or Borde, Andrew

​Boorde, or Borde, Andrew (1490?-1549).—Traveller, b. near Cuckfield, Sussex, was brought up as a Carthusian, and held ecclesiastical appointments, then practised medicine at various places, including Glasgow, and was employed in various capacities by T. Cromwell. He travelled widely, going as far as Jerusalem, and wrote descriptions of the countries he had visited. His Dyetary is the first English book of domestic medicine. The Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge describes his journeys on the Continent. Other works are The Boke of Berdes (Beards), Handbook of Europe, and Itinerary of England.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Boece, or Boethius, Hector

​Boece, or Boethius, Hector (1465?-1536).—Historian, probably b. at Dundee, and ed. there and at Paris, where he was a regent or professor, 1492 to 1498. While there he made the acquaintance of Erasmus. Returning to Scotland he co-operated with Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, in founding the univ. there of which he was the first Principal. His literary fame rests on two works, his Lives of the Bishops of Mortlach and Aberdeen, in which his friend Elphinstone figures prominently, and his History of Scotland to the accession of James III. These works were, of course, composed in Latin, but the History was translated into Scottish prose by John Bellenden, 1530 to 1533, and into English for Hollinshed's Chronicle. The only predecessor of the work was the compendium of Major, and as it was written in a flowing and pleasing style it became very popular, and led to ecclesiastical preferment and Royal favour. B. shared in the credulity of his age, but the charge of inventing his authorities formerly brought against him has been shown to be, to some extent at any rate, unfounded.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Boker, George Henry

​Boker, George Henry (1823-90).—Poet, was in the American Diplomatic Service. Among his dramas, generally tragedies, are Anne Boleyn, The Betrothed, and Francesca da Rimini, and among his books of poetry, Street Lyrics, Königsmark, and The Book of the Dead. His dramas combine poetic merit with adaptability for acting.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Bonar, Horatius

​Bonar, Horatius (1808-1889).—Divine and poet, s. of James B., Solicitor of Exise for Scotland, b. and ed. in Edin., entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland, and was settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the Disruption in 1843, and in 1867 was translated to Edin. In 1853 he was made D.D. of Aberdeen. He was a voluminous and highly popular author, and in addition to many books and tracts wrote a number of hymns, many of which, e.g., "I heard the voice of Jesus say," are known all over the English-speaking world. A selection of these was pub. as Hymns of Faith and Hope (3 series). His last vol. of poetry was My Old Letters.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Borrow, George

​Borrow, George (1803-1881).—Philologist and miscellaneous author, and traveller, b. at East Dereham, Norfolk, s. of a recruiting officer, had a somewhat wandering childhood. He received most of his education in Edin., and showed a peculiar talent for acquiring languages. After being for a short time in the office of a solicitor in Norwich, he travelled widely on the Continent and in the East, acquainting himself with the people and languages of the various countries he visited. He specially attached himself to the ​Gipsies, with whose language he became so familiar as to pub. a dictionary of it. His learning was shown by his publishing at St. Petersburg Targum, a work containing translations from 30 languages. B. became a travelling agent of the Bible Society, and his book, The Bible in Spain (1843), giving an account of his remarkable adventures in that country, made his literary reputation. It was followed by Lavengro (1851), and its sequel, Romany Rye (1857), and Wild Wales (1862), which, though works of originality and extreme interest, and now perhaps his most popular books, were received with less public favour. The two first give a highly coloured picture of his own story. He translated the New Testament into Manchu. In his latter years he settled at Oulton Broad, Norfolk, where he d. B. was a man of striking appearance and great vigour and originality of character and mind. His writings hold a unique place in English literature.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Boston, Thomas

​Boston, Thomas (1677-1732).—Scottish divine, was successively schoolmaster at Glencairn, and minister of Simprin in Berwickshire, and Ettrick in Selkirkshire. In addition to his best-known work, The Fourfold State, one of the religious classics of Scotland, he wrote an original little book, The Crook in the Lot, and a learned treatise on the Hebrew points. He also took a leading part in the Courts of the Church in what was known as the "Marrow Controversy," regarding the merits of an English work, The Marrow of Modern Divinity, which he defended against the attacks of the "Moderate" party in the Church. B., if unduly introspective, was a man of singular piety and amiability. His autobiography is an interesting record of Scottish life, full of sincerity and tenderness, and not devoid of humorous touches, intentional and otherwise.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Blind Harry or Henry The Minstrel

​Blind Harry or Henry The Minstrel (fl. 1470-1492).—Is spoken of by John Major in his History of Scotland as a wandering minstrel, skilled in the composition of rhymes in the Scottish tongue, who "fabricated" a book about William Wallace, and gained his living by reciting it to his own accompaniment on the harp at the houses of the nobles. Harry claims that it was founded on a Latin Life of Wallace written by Wallace's chaplain, John Blair, but the chief sources seem to have been traditionary. Harry is often considered inferior to Barbour as a poet, and has little of his moral elevation, but he surpasses him in graphic power, vividness of description, and variety of incident. He occasionally shows the influence of Chaucer, and is said to have known Latin and French.