OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Devereux, Walter (d.1558)

​DEVEREUX, WALTER, Viscount Hereford (d. 1558), son of John, lord Ferrers, of Chartley, Staffordshire, and Cecily, sister of Henry Bourchier, earl of Essex, was born before 1490 (Doyle), succeeded his father as third baron Ferrers in 1501, and on 7 Dec. 1509 received special livery of the lands of his inheritance, being then under full age (Cal. of Henry VIII, vol. i. No. 736). He was appointed high steward of Tamworth in 1510 (ib. 1354), and joint-constable of Warwick Castle with Sir Edward Belknap in February 1511 (ib. 1499). He accompanied his brother-in-law, the Marquis of Dorset, on the expedition sent to Guipuscoa in 1512, in order to act with the Spaniards in an intended invasion of Guienne (Herbert, History of Henry VIII, p. 127). In the December of that year he was appointed captain of the Imperyall Carrik (Cal. ii. No. 3591), and the next year commanded the Trinitye, receiving 6s. 8d. a day as pay (ib. 4533). While serving under Admiral Sir Edward Howard he took a prominent part in the engagement off Conquêt on 25 April, in which the admiral fell (Herbert, p. 138). On 1 Aug. following he was appointed a member of the council of Wales and the marches. He was made a knight of the Garter in 1523, and served in the ineffectual campaign of the Duke of Suffolk against France. In 1525 he was appointed steward of the household of Mary, princess of Wales, and chief justice of South Wales, and the next year chamberlain of South Wales (Cal. iv. No. 2200), and appears to have been actively engaged in fulfilling the duties of these offices. When Henry made his expedition against France in 1544, he marched in the rear guard of the army under the command of Lord Russell (Herbert, p. 690). He was sworn of the privy council of Edward VI in January, and created Viscount Hereford on 2 Feb. 1550 (Doyle). He died 27 Sept. 1558, and was buried in the parish church of Stowe, near Stafford, under a monument erected during his lifetime (Dugdale). By his first wife, Mary, daughter of Thomas Grey, marquis of Dorset, he had two sons and a daughter. His eldest son, Richard, married Dorothy, daughter of George Hastings, earl of Huntingdon, and predeceased him in 1547, leaving a son Walter, created earl of Essex [q. v.], and other children. His second wife was Margaret, daughter of Robert Garnish of Kenton, Suffolk, by whom he had an only son, Sir Edward Devereux.
W. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Devey, George

​DEVEY, GEORGE (1820–1886), architect, was born in London in 1820, travelled in Italy and Greece, and the experience he thus acquired, joined to his artistic talents, aided him considerably in making designs for country houses. He was principally known by the successful manner in which he added to and altered many of the English mansions. Among these may be mentioned those of the Duke of Argyll, Lord Granville, Lord Rosebery, Lord Wolverton, Lord Revelstoke, Lord Kenmare, and others. He died at Hastings in November 1886. He was a fellow of the Royal Institute of Architects, and exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1841 and 1848.
L. F.
# Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century/Glycerius, deacon in Cappadocia

Glycerius (5), a deacon in Cappadocia, who caused Basil much annoyance by his extravagant and disorderly proceedings c. 374. Being a vigorous young man, well fitted for the humbler offices of the church, and having adopted the ascetic life, he was ordained deacon by Basil, though to what church is doubtful. It is variously given as Venesa, Veësa, Venata, and Synnasa. His elevation turned the young man's head. He at once began to neglect the duties of his office, and gathered about him a number of young women, partly by persuasion, partly by force, of whom he took the direction, styling himself their patriarch, and adopting a dress in keeping with his pretensions. He was supported by the offerings of his female followers, and Basil charges him with adopting this spiritual directorship in order to get his living without work. The wild and disorderly proceedings of Glycerius and his deluded adherents created great scandal and caused him to be gravely admonished by his own presbyter, his chorepiscopus, and finally by Basil himself. Glycerius turned a deaf ear, and having swelled his fanatical band by a number of young men, he one night hastily left the city with his whole troop against the will of many of the girls. The scandal of such a band wandering about under pretence of religion, singing hymns, and leaping and dancing in a disorderly fashion, was increased by the fact that a fair was going on, and the young women were exposed to the rude jests of the rabble. Fathers who came to rescue their daughters from such disgrace were driven away by Glycerius with contumely, and he carried off his whole band to a neighbouring town, of which an unidentified Gregory was bishop. Several of Basil's letters turned on this matter, the further issue of which is not known.
[E.V.]
# Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century/Gordianus, father of Pope Gregory the Great

Gordianus (7), father of pope Gregory the Great, was a noble Roman of senatorial rank; and descended from a pope Felix (Joann. Diac. in Vit. S. Gregorii; Greg. Dialog. l. 4, c. 16). John the Deacon says that Felix IV. (acc. 523) was his ancestor; but this pope being described as a Samnite, whereas Gregory is always spoken of as of Roman descent, Felix III. (acc. 467) is more probable. A large property accrued to Gregory on his father's death. Gordianus is described as a religious man, and thus contributing to the eminently religious training of his son, though not canonized after death, as were his wife Silvia, and his two sisters, Tarsilla and
Aemiliana. John the deacon (op. cit. l. 4, c. 83) describes two pictures of him and his wife Silvia remaining to the writer's time (9th cent.) in the Atrium of St. Andrew's monastery, where they had been placed by St. Gregory himself, the founder of the monastery. Gordianus is represented as standing before a seated figure of St. Peter (who holds his right hand) and as clothed in a chestnut-coloured planeta over a dalmatic, and with caligae on his feet. Gordianus is designated "Regionarius," from which, as well as from his dress, Baronius supposes that he was one of the seven cardinal deacons of Rome, it having been not uncommon, he says, for married men, with the consent of their wives, to embrace clerical or monastic life. As to the dress, he adduces two of St. Gregory's epistles (Ep. 113, l. i. ind. 2, and Ep. 28, l. 7, ind. 1) to shew that the dalmatic and caligae were then part of the costume of Roman deacons. But the meaning of the title "regionarius" is uncertain. It occurs in St. Gregory's Ep. 5, l. 7, ind. 1, in Ep. 2 of pope Honorius I. (regionarius nostrae sedis); in Aimoinus, de Gestis Francorum, pt. 2, p. 247 (regionarius primae sedis); in Vit. Ludovici Pii, ann. 835 (regionarius Romanae urbis); and in Anastasius, On Constantine (Theophanes regionarius). In two of these instances, those from Honorius and Aimoinus, the persons so designated are expressly said to be subdeacons. It seems to have denoted an office connected with the city of Rome and the apostolic see, but certainly not one confined to deacons. As to the dress, it is merely originally ordinary lay costume, the planeta, rather than the casula, having been worn by persons of rank. St. Gregory himself, in his portrait in the same monastery described by John the deacon, wears precisely the same dress, even to the colour of the planeta, only having the pallium over it, to mark his ecclesiastical rank.
[J.B—Y.]
# Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century/Germanus, bp. of Paris

Germanus (18) (Germain), St., 20th bp. of Paris, born at Autun of parents of rank named Eleutherius and Eusebia (c. 496), and educated at Avalon and Luzy (Lausia). In due time he was ordained deacon, and three years later priest. He was next made abbat of the monastery of St. Symphorian at Autun, by bp. Nectarius. In 555, being present at Paris on some mission to Childebert, when that see was vacant by the death of Eusebius, he was raised to the archbishopric. His great object seems to have been to check the unbridled licence of the Frank kings, and to ameliorate the misery produced by constant civil war. In 557 he was present at the third council of Paris, and appears to have exercised considerable influence over Childebert, whose edict against pagan revelry on holy days may have been due to St. Germanus (Migne, Patr. Lat. lxxii. 1121), and likewise the building by Childebert of the church of St. Vincent to receive the stole of that martyr which he had brought from Spain. (See the charter given by Aimoin, de Gest. Franc. ii. 20, ed. Jac. du Brevi, Paris, 1602, and cf. Hist. Litt. de la France, iii. 270). This church was said to have been consecrated by St. Germanus on the day Childebert died (Dec. 23, 558). Childebert's successor Clotaire was, according to Venantius Fortunatus, at first not equally amenable, but a sickness changed his disposition. Germanus's death is variously dated 575, 576, and 577. He was buried in an oratorium near the vestibule of the church of St. Vincent; and in 754 his body was removed with great ceremony into the church itself, in the presence of Pippin and his son Charles the Great, then a child. The church henceforth was called St. Germain des Prés.
There is extant by St. Germanus a treatise on the Mass, or exposition of the old Gallic Liturgy (Patr. Lat. lxxii. 89; cf. Ceillier, xi. 308 seq., for the reasons for ascribing it to him). Among his writings is also generally counted the privilege which he granted to his monastery exempting it from all episcopal jurisdiction (c. 565). Its authenticity has been vehemently attacked and defended (see Migne, Patr. Lat. lxxii. 81 n. and the authorities there referred to). St. Germanus's Life was written by Venantius Fortunatus, his contemporary and friend, but the work is little else than a string of miracles. It may be found in Mabillon's Acta SS. Ord. S. Bened. i. 234–245 (Paris, 1668–1701). See also Boll. Acta SS. Mai. vi. 774 sqq.; Gall. Christ. vii. 18–21; Mansi, ix. 747, 805, 867, 869; and, for the monastery, the Dissertatio of Ruinartius, in Bouquet, ii. 722.
[S.A.B.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Burgess, William Oakley

​BURGESS, WILLIAM OAKLEY (1818–1844), mezzotint engraver, was the son of the parish surgeon of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, London. He was born in 1818, and early in life became a pupil of Thomas Goff Lupton, the well-known mezzotint engraver, with whom he remained until he was twenty years of age. He applied himself with great earnestness to the study of his art, and acquired so much delicacy in its practice that he would in all probability have attained a very high position in it had he not been prematurely cut off. His death, which took place on 24 Dec. 1844, in the twenty-seventh year of his age, was caused by an abscess in the head, supposed to have arisen from a blow of a skittle-ball some years before.
Burgess's best engavings are after the works of Sir Thomas Lawrence. They include a larger and a smaller plate of the Duke of Wellington, both of which are remarkable for their admirably graduated tones, as well as the portraits of General Sir John Moore and of Charlotte, duchess of Northumberland, which were published in the series of fifty plates of ‘Engravings from the choicest Works of Sir Thomas Lawrence,’ 1835-45.
[Historocal Register, 4 Jan. 1845; Art Union, 1845, p. 10l.]
R. E. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Burgh, Benedict

1904 Errata appended.
​BURGH, BENEDICT (fl. 1472), clerk and translator, became rector of Sandon, Essex, in 1440, archdeacon of Colchester in 1465, a prebendary of St. Paul’s in 1472, and was afterwards made ‘high canon of St. Stephen's' at Westminster. He translated Cato's precepts into English verse. The opening words of Caxton’s translation of Cato’s precepts, printed on 23 Dec. 1483, are: ‘Here begynneth the prologue or prohemye of the booke callid Caton, whiche booke hath ben translated out of Latin in to Englysshe by Mayster Benet Burgh, late Archedeken of Colchester and hye chanon of Saint Stephens at Vifesmestre, which ful craftly hath made it in balade ryal for the erudicion of my lorde Bousher, sone and heyr at that time to my lord the erle of Essex.' Burgh then was probably tutor of the young Lord Bouchier, and was certainly dead in 1483.
[Newcourt’s Reportorium, ii. 517; Le Neve’s Fasti, ed. Hardy, ii. 341; Caxton’s Cato in the Library of the British Museum; Ames’s Typogr. Antiq. (Herbert), 49; Tanner's Bibl. Brit. 140.]
W. H.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.43 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 315 | ii | 19 | Burgh, Benedict: after Estsex' insert Burgh also edited and completed Lydgate's 'Secretes of Philosophers' (see Robert Steele's edition of the 'Secreta' for the Early English Text Society, 1893) |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Burgess, William (1755?-1813)

​BURGESS, WILLIAM (1755?–1813), engraver, in conjunction with his son, Hilkiah, published a set of prints of the Lincolnshire churches, and of Lincoln and Ely cathedrals. To the profession of an artist he united that of a baptist minister, and presided over a congregation of that sect at Fleet in Lincolnshire for twenty years. He was also the author of a controversial pamphlet on the works of Dr. Adam Clarke. He died suddenly at Fleet on 11 Dec. 1813, in his fifty-ninth year (Gent. Mag. lxxxiii. ii. 701).
[Redgrave's Dictionary of Artists (1878), p. 62.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Burgh, James

​BURGH, JAMES (1714–1775), political writer, was born at Madderty, Perthshire, where his father was minister of the parish. His mother, Margaret, was sister of William Robertson, father of the historian. James was educated at St. Andrews, with a view to the ministry, but gave it up on account of ill-health, and went into business. Failing in this, he went to London, where he corrected the press for Bowyer, and made indexes. He then became usher in a school at Great Marlow, where he published a pamphlet called ‘Britain's Remembrancer,’ in honour of the suppression of the rebellion of 1745. It went through several editions, and was highly praised. After being usher for a short time at Enfield, he set up an academy at Stoke Newington in 1747. Here he remained till 1771, publishing many works, and making money. He then retired to devote himself to his chief work, ‘Political Disquisitions.’ He suffered severely from stone, and died on 26 Aug. 1775. He had married a widow, Mrs. Harding, in 1751, who survived till 1788.
Burgh's works are:
* ‘Thoughts on Education,’ 1747.
* ‘Hymn to the Creator of the World, with a Prose Idea of the Creator from his Works,’ 2nd edition, 1750.
* ‘A Warning to Dram-drinkers,’ 1751.
* ‘The Dignity of Human Nature,’ 1754, 1767, 1794 (four books upon prudence, knowledge, virtue, and revealed religion).
* ‘The Art of Speaking,’ 1762, 7th edition, 1792 (a schoolbook, with passages for recitation).
* ‘Proposals … for an Association against the iniquitous Practices of Engrossers, Forestallers, Jobbers, &c., and for reducing the Price of Provisions, especially Butchers' Meat,’ 1764.
* ‘An Account of the … Cessares, a people of South America,’ in nine letters from Mr. Vander Neck, 1764 (a political utopia after Sir T. More's fashion).
* ‘Crito, or Essays on various Subjects,’ 1766 (written to expound his political and educational views, and to explain the origin of evil, after an interview with the Princess Dowager of Wales, Dr. Hales, her clerk of the closet, and apparently Lord Waldegrave, who thought that the world might be improved by an association for a supply of good periodical writing. A second volume appeared in 1767, with more political remarks, and a further explanation of the origin of evil).
* ‘Political Disquisitions;’ two volumes in 1774, and a third in 1775. This is an inquiry into public errors, defects, and abuses, and contains a good many statistics as to the state of the representation, taxation, and so forth, which show that Burgh was a strong reformer for his time, in spite of his relations with the princess.
When Dr. Parr was asked whether he had read this book, he said in reply, ‘Have I read my Bible, sir?’ (Nichols, Illustrations, vi. 61). Burgh also published various papers in the newspapers in defence of annual parliaments, a place-bill, and the claims of the American colonists. A little book printed for his pupils was pirated by a bookseller in 1754 as ‘Youth's Friendly Monitor.’
[Biog. Brit. art. by Kippis, from personal knowledge and Burgh's widow's information; Nichols's Lit. Anecd. ii. 263, 430]
L. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Baker, Henry (1734-1766)

​BAKER, HENRY (1734–1766), author, was born at Enfield, Middlesex, 10 Feb. 1734, the second son of Henry Baker, F.R.S. [q. v.], and Sophia, daughter of Daniel Defoe. According to Nichols (Anecdotes of Bowyer, 416), he followed the profession of a lawyer, but in no creditable line. He contributed occasional poetry and essays to periodicals, and in 1756 published, in two volumes, 'Essays Pastoral and Elegiac.' Wilson, in his 'Life of Defoe,' states that he died 24 Aug. 1776, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Mary-le-Strand beside his mother, but the parish register gives the date of his burial as 24 Aug. 1766. According to Chalmers, he left ready for the press an arranged collection of all the statutes relating to bankruptcy, with cases, precedents, &c., entitled 'The Clerk to the Commission,' which is supposed to have been published under another title in 1768. His son, William Baker, born 1763, afterwards rector of Lyndon and South Luffenham, Rutlandshire, inherited the property and papers of Henry Baker, F.R.S.
[Notes and Queries, 2nd series, viii. 94; Nichols's Anecdotes of Bowyer, 416; Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, v. 277-8; Wilson's Life of Defoe, iii. 647; Chalmers's Biog. Dict. iii. 341.]
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Baker, Henry Aaron

​BAKER, HENRY AARON (1753–1836), Irish architect, was a pupil of James Gandon, 'and acted as clerk of the works to the buildings designed and chiefly constructed by his master for the Inns of Court, then called the King's Inns, at Dublin.' He was a member of, and for some time secretary to, the Royal Hibernian Academy. In 1787 he was appointed teacher of architecture in the Dublin Society's school, and retained the post till his death. He erected the triumphal arch known as Bishop's Gate at Derry, and he gained (1802-4) the first prize for a design ​for converting the Irish parliament house into a bank. The superintendence of that work was given, however, to another architect, Francis Johnstone. He died on 7 June 1836.
[Duhigg's History of the King's Inns, 1806; Mulvany's Life of J. Gandon, Dublin, 1846; Dict. Architectural Publication Society, 1853; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists, 1879.]
E. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Baker, Henry Williams

​BAKER, Sir HENRY WILLIAMS (1821–1877), hymn writer, was the son of Vice-admiral Sir Henry Loraine Baker, C.B., by his marriage with Louisa Anne, only daughter of William Williams, Esq., of Castle Hall, Dorset. His father served with distinction at Guadaloupe in 1815. His grandfather was Sir Robert Baker of Dunstable House, Surrey, and of Nicholashayne, Culmstock, Devon, on whom a baronetcy was conferred in 1796. Sir Henry Williams Baker was born in London on Sunday, 27 May 1821, at the house of his maternal grandfather; and after completing his university education at Trinity College, Cambridge, took his B.A. degree in 1844, and proceeded M.A. in 1847. In 1851 he was presented to the vicarage of Monkland near Leominster. On the death of his father, on 2 Nov. 1859, he succeeded him as third baronet. In 1852, while at Monkland, Sir Henry wrote his earliest hymn, 'Oh, what if we are Christ's.' Two others, 'Praise, O praise our Lord and King,' and 'There is a blessed Home,' have been referred to 1861 ((Selborne's Book of Praise, pp. 176, 207-8, 288-9). Sir Henry Baker's name is chiefly known as the promoter and editor of 'Hymns Ancient and Modern,' first published in 1861. To this collection Baker contributed many original hymns, besides several translations of Latin hymns. In 1868 an 'Appendix' to the collection was issued, and in 1875 the work was thoroughly revised. The hymnal was compiled to meet the wants of churchmen of all schools, but strong objections were raised in many quarters to Sir Henry Baker's own hymn addressed to the Virgin Mary, 'Shall we not love thee. Mother dear?' Sir Henry Baker held the doctrine of the celibacy of the clergy, and at his death the baronetcy devolved on a kinsman. He was the author of 'Daily Prayers for the Use of those who have to work hard,' as well as of a 'Daily Text-book' for the same class, and of some tracts on religious subjects. He died on Monday, 12 Feb. 1877, at the vicarage of Monkland, and was buried in the churchyard of the parish. Stained glass windows have been put up to his memory in his own church and in All Saints, Notting Hill.
[Foster's Baronetage, 1882; Gent. Mag., June 1796 and Dec. 1859; Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1877; Annual Register, 1877; Literary Churchman, 24 Feb. 1877; Academy, 24 Feb. 1877; Church Times, 16 and 23 Feb. 1877; Guardian, 21 Feb. 1877; Earl Selborne's Book of Praise, 1865; Miller's Singers and Songs of the Church. 1869; Stevenson's Methodist Hymn Book, illustrated, with Biography, &c., 1883.]
A. H. G.