OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Owen, Thomas (1557-1618)

​OWEN, THOMAS (1557–1618), jesuit, born in Hampshire in 1567, studied humanities at Douay, and law at Paris, and entered the Society of Jesus at Lyons in 1579. Afterwards he taught rhetoric and philosophy at Tournon, where he became prefect of studies and spiritual director. Eventually he was summoned to Rome, and appointed, first, confessor, and then minister in the English College. Father Robert Parsons [q. v.], on his deathbed in 1610, made a request to the father-general, Claudius Aquaviva, that Owen might succeed him in the office of rector of the college and prefect of the English mission. The recommendation was adopted, and Owen held those offices until his death on 6 Dec. 1618. A status of the English College at Rome for 1613 says that Thomas Owen and his brother Cyprian were of a very ancient catholic house. Owen was the author of the following ​translations from the French: 1. 'A Letter of a Catholike Man beyond the Seas, written to his Friend in England, inclvding another of Peter Coton, Priest, of the Society of Iesus, to the Queene Regent of France . . . Tovching the imputation of the death of Henry the IHI, late K. of France, to Priests, Iesuites, or Catholicke Doctrine' [St. Omer], 1610, 8vo. The 'Catholike Man' subscribes himself T. A. — Audoenus, being the latinised form of Owen. 2. 'The Copie of a Letter sent from Paris to the Reverend Fathers of the Society of Iesus who live in England. Contayning an Answere to the Calumniations of Anti-Coton against the same Society in generall, and Fa. Coton in particuler [St. Omer], 1611, 4to. 3. 'Cardinal Perron's Letter to Isaac Casaubon,' St. Omer, 1612.
[De Backer's Bibl. des Ecrivains de la Compagnie de Jesus, ii. 1663; Dodd's Church Hist. ii. 417; Douay Diaries, p. 435; Foley's Records, vi. 531, 777, vii. 562; Oliver's Jesuit Collections, p. 153; Southwell's Bibl. Scriptorum Soc. Jesu, p. 764.]
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Owen, William (1530?-1587)

Wiliam Llŷn in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
​OWEN, WILLIAM (1530?–1587), Welsh poet, better known by his bardic name of William Lleyn or Llŷn, was born at Llangian in Lleyn, Carnarvonshire, being, according to tradition, a natural son of one of the Griffiths of Cefh Amwich, by whom he was educated for the church. The date of his birth is generally given as 1540, but since Gruflydd Hiraethog, who was his bardic teacher, died in 1550, the date of 1530 is more probable (Cambrian Biography, p. 342, sub William Lleyn and G. ap Rhys, Llenyddiaeth Gymreig, p. 308 n.) Owen is always described as M.A., but where he graduated appears unknown. He was appointed vicar of Oswestry in 1683, and died there in 1587 (Thomas, Diocese of St. Asaph, p. 655).
He was present at the Eisteddfod held by virtue of a royal commission at Caerwys 22 May 1568, when he received the degree of chief bard (Pennant, Tours in Wales, ii. 92-5). It was probably on that occasion that he had a poetical contest with a rival bard, Owain Gwynedd. He is almost the only Welsh poet of the day who was not a Roman catholic, and he is credited with having instructed in the rules of Welsh prosody Edmund Prys [q. v.], the evangelical psalm-writer. Owen shows himself a master of style, but his poems also possess such intrinsic merit that he is generally considered the greatest Welsh poet in the period between Dafydd ab Grwilym and Goronwy Owen. Nine pieces by him, including his elegy on his teacher, Gruffydd Hiraetnog, are printed in 'Gorchestion Beirdd Cymru,' ed. 1864, pp. 250-77, and three others were published in 'Y Brython,' iii. 117, 263, 394; but a large number still remain unpublished. Nearly one hundred poems by him — some of them probably duplicates are found in thirty-three different volumes (between 14866 and 15059) in the Additional MSS., in the British Museum, while No. 15065 contains a Welsh vocabulary by him, transcribed by Lewis Morris. Among the Hengwrt MSS., now at Penairth, No. 110 is in the poet's own handwriting, while Nos. 168, 232, 247, and 253a contain some of his poems (see 'Catalogue of Hengwrt MSS.' in Arch. Cambr. 3rd ser. xv. 209, 352, 4th ser. i. 73, 323). His own elegy was written by Rhys Cain. Another poet of the name of Huw Lleyn is supposed by some to have been his brother.
[Hanes Llenyddiaeth Gymreig, by G. ap Rhys, pp. 302-9; Williams's Eminent Welshmen (p. 279), and Foulkes's Enwogion Cymru, sub Lleyn; Catalogue of Manuscripts at the British Museum.]
D. Ll. T.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Owen, William (1769-1825)

​OWEN, WILLIAM (1769–1825), portrait-painter, was born at Ludlow, Shropshire, in 1769. He was the son of a bookseller, and, after having been educated at Ludlow grammar school, was sent in 1786 to London, where he became a pupil of Charles Catton, R.A., the coach-painter. Soon afterwards he attracted the notice of Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose picture of 'Perdita' he had copied, and he was indebted to Reynolds for some valuable advice. He entered the Royal Academy as a student in 1791, and his earliest exhibited works—a portrait of a gentleman and a view of Ludford Bridge, Shropshire—appeared in the exhibition of 1792; and in each succeeding year, except 1823, he contributed portraits and occasional rustic subjects. Some of the most eminent men of the day were among his sitters, and his portraits were truthful and characteristic, although somewhat weak in drawing. Among them were the Duke of Cumberland, afterwards king of Hanover; William Pitt, Lord Grenville, Lord-chancellors Eldon and Loughborough, Lord-chief-justice Abbott, afterwards Lord Tenterden; Sir William Scott, afterwards Lord Stowell; the Marquis of Stafford, the Earl of Bridgewater, Admiral Viscount Exmouth, Dr. Howley, bishop of London, and afterwards archbishop of Canterbury; and Sir John Soane, R.A. His portraits of ladies were not equally successful. His fancy subjects included 'The Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green,' 1801; 'The Schoolmistress,' engraved by James Ward, and 'A Sleeping Girl,' 1802; 'The Children in the Wood,' 1806; 'Girl at the Spring' and 'The Roadside,' 1807; 'The Fortune Teller,' 1808; and 'A Cottage Door: Summer Evening,' 1809.
Owen was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1804, and an academician in 1806, when he presented as his diploma work a 'Boy and Kitten,' In 1810 he was appointed portrait-painter to the Prince of Wales, and in 1813 principal portrait-painter ​to the prince-regent, who offered him the honour of knighthood, which he declined. His income was at this time 3.000l. a year; but not long afterwards his health began to fail, and eventually an affection of the spine confined him to his room and rendered him unable to paint. Many of his unfinished portraits were completed by Edward Daniel Leahy [q.v.]
Owen died of poison, through a mistake of a chemist's assistant, at 33 Bruton Street, Berkeley Square, London, on 11 March 1625.
His portraits of Alexander Wedderburn, Lord Lougborough (afterwords Earl of Rosslyn), and of John Wilson Croker, as well as a portrait of John Philpot Curran, which is in his style, are in the National Portrait Gallery.
[Gent. Mag. 1825, i. 570; Times, 15 and 16 March 1825; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists of the English School, 1878 : Bryan's Dict. of Painters and Engravers, ed. Graves and Armstrong, 1886-9, ii, 239; Royal Academy Exhibition Catalogues, 1792-1831.]
R. E. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Owens, John Lennergan

​OWENS, JOHN LENNERGAN (fl.1780), actor, was born in Ireland, to which country his performances seem to have been confined. He succeeded Henry Mossop [q. v.] at Smock Alley theatre, and was held as Zanga in the 'Revenge' to have approached more nearly than any other actor of the time to his original. All that survives concerning him is a reputation for persistent inebriety. Coming on the stage as Polydore in the 'Orphan,' he was hissed for obvious intoxication. Advancing to the front of the stage, he delivered with a scowl the following words in his soliloquy, 'Here I'm alone and fit for mischief,' and put himself in a fighting attitude. This Hibernian form of apology served the desired end, and Owens was allowed to finish his performance. His failing gradually drove him from the stage. On seeing John Kemble announced for Zanga, he begged some money of a stranger, who asked him his name. To this inquiry he answered with tragic solemnity, 'Have six years' cruel absence extinguished majesty so far that nought shines here to tell you I'm the real Zanga? Yes, sir, John Lennergan Owens, successor to Henry Mossop.' The dates of his birth and death are unknown.
J. K.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Owen, William (1469?-1574)

​OWEN, WILLIAM (1469?–1574), lawyer, born about 1469 in Pembrokeshire, was the son of Rhys ap Owen of Henllys, near Newport, Pembrokeshire, by Jane, daughter of,' Owen Elliott of Earwere in the same county. According to his son's account, he was a fellow-student and near 'cousin of Sir Thomas Elyot' [q. v.] An ancestor, Richard de Hoda, had married Ales, the only daughter of Nicholas Fitzmartin, great-grandson of Martin of Tours and lord of the barony of Kemes in Pembrokeshire ; in virtue of this descent, Owen, after a suit which lasted nineteen years, recovered the barony of Kemes from Sir John Tuchet, son of James, lord Audiey (beheaded in 1497), into whose family it had passed in the female line (Campen, Britannia, 6th ed. 1607, p. 512). In the deed of release, which is dated 21 Aug. 1543, Owen is described as of Maesgwenith in the county of Monmouth, but the family residence was Henrys, Pembrokeshire. Owen became a member of the Middle Temple, where he was 'chamber-fellow with Sir Anthony Fitzherbert' (1470–1538), whose 'Abridgment of the Laws' ('La Graunde Abridgement,' London, 1514) he is said to have written out. He himself compiled a much less bulky abridgment, 'in soe small a volume as the price thereof was but 12d.,' entitled 'Le Bregement de toutes les Estatutes . . . nouvellemet Abbreges correctes, et amendes,' par 8vo (London, 1521, 8vo, 2nd ed. 1528; both editions, being printed by Pynson). The running title of the work is 'Le Bregement de Statutis,' and the articles are in alphabetical order (Ames, Typographical Antiquities, ed. Herbert, i. 268, 281). Williams, in his 'Eminent Welshmen,' attributes to Owen an earlier edition, dated 1499, of which there is a copy without a title-page in the British Museum. Many years before his death he gave up the practice of the law, and retired to Pembrokeshire, where, among other offices, he held that of vice-admiral for South Wales.
He was also one of the Pembrokeshire members of the commission appointed in 1537 for the division of Wales into counties. He died 29 March 1574, and was buried the following day at Nevern, Pembrokeshire (Owen, Pembrokeshire, i. 239 ; Arch. Cambr. 1867, 3rd ser. xiii. 132). According to his son's account, he 'was present at the coronation and proclamation of thirteen kings and queens of England, and lived under the fourteenth, and also saw eight bishops in ​St. Davids, and all his lifetime was never sick but once, and at his dying day wanted not one tooth,'
Owen married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George Herbert, brother to William, first earl of Pembroke of the Herbert line (second creation), and by her he had, among other children, George Owen (1652-1613) [q. v.] He had also several illegitimate children, some of whom are mentioned in Dwnn's 'Heraldic Visitations' (i. 157).
[The chief authority is the Description of Pembrokeshire by his son George Owen (1552-1613) [q. v.], edited by Mr. Henry Owen, 1892, pp. 236-9, and Introduction generally; see also Fenton's Pembrokeshire, p. 563.]
D. Ll. T.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Owen, William Fitzwilliam

​OWEN, WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM (1774–1857), vice-admiral, born in 1774, younger brother of Sir Edward Campbell Rich Owen [q. v.], entered the navy in June 1788 and served in different ships on the home and West Indian stations. He was midshipman of the Culloden in the battle of 1 June 1794, and of the London, bearing the flag of Vice-admiral Colpoys, at the time of the great mutiny. On 12 June 1797 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and appointed to command the Flamer gun-vessel. He continued serving in the Channel during the war, and in July 1803 was appointed to command the Seaflower brig, in which he went to the East Indies. In September 1806 he explored the Maldive Islands, then very imperfectly known, and on 10 Nov. discovered the Seaflower Channel between Si-biru and Si-pora on the west coast of Sumatra. On 27 Nov. he piloted the squadron under Sir Edward Pellew (afterwards Viscount Exmouth) [q. v.] into Batavia roads, and afterwards shared in the operations which resulted in the total destruction of the Dutch men-of-war. In September 1808 he was taken by the French and detained in Mauritius till June 1810, when he was exchanged. He had meantime been promoted, on 20 May 1809, to be commander, and was now employed at Madras as superintendent of the transports fitting out for Mauritius. In November he was appointed to the Barracouta, which, in 1811, formed part of the force at the reduction of Java. In May 1811 he was promoted to the rank of captain, and was posted in December to the Cornelia frigate. He returned to England with a convoy in 1813, and in March 1815 was appointed to the survey of the lakes of Canada, from which he came home in May 1816.
In August 1821 Owen was appointed to the Leven, in which, for upwards of four years, he was employed in the survey of the coast of Africa, and in February 1826 in supporting the troops in the war with Ashanti. In 1827 he returned, in the Eden, to the coast of Africa, where he settled the colony at Fernando Po. After some time on the coast of South America, the Eden returned to England in the end of 1831, and was paid off. In 1847 he commanded the Columbia surveying-ship on the coast of North America, but returned to England on his promotion to flag rank on 21 Dec. 1847. He had no further service, but became a vice-admiral on 27 Oct. 1854, accepted a pension on the reserved list on 6 Feb. 1855, and died at St. John's, N.B., on 3 Nov. 1857.
In 1833 Owen published a ‘Narrative of Voyages to explore the Shores of Africa, Arabia, and Madagascar in H.M. Ships Leven and Barracouta’ (2 vols. 8vo). It is, however, by his accurate surveys of coasts, till then only explored, that Owen is best known. The charts of the west and east coasts of Africa, of Madagascar, Mauritius, and of Asia, from Aden to Cape Comorin, drawn under his superintendence, are very numerous, and form the basis of those still in use.
[Marshall's Roy. Nav. Biogr. vi. (supplement, pt. ii.), 378; O'Byrne's Nav. Biogr. Dict.; Gent. Mag. 1858, i. 112.]
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Owen, Thomas (1749-1812)

​OWEN, THOMAS (1749–1812), agricultural writer, son of Thomas Owen of Anglesey, was born there in 1749. On 20 March 1767 he matriculated from Jesus College, Oxford, and graduated B. A. in 1770; migrating to Queens College, he proceeded M.A. in 1773. In 1779 he was presented to the living of Upton Scudamore, Wiltshire. He died in Anglesey in May 1812. Owen was author of: 1. 'Three Books of M. Terentius Varro translated into English,' Oxford University Press, 1800, 8vo. 2. 'Γεωπονικά, Agricultural Pursuits, translated from the Greek,' 2 vols. London, 1805–1806, 8vo. 3. 'Fourteen Books of Palladius on Agriculture,' London, 1807, 8vo. Donaldson describes these translations as 'honest performances.'
A contemporary Thomas Ellis Owen (1764–1814), son of William Owen of Conway, Carnarvonshire, was elected scholar of Westminster School in 1780, matriculated as student from Christ Church, Oxford, on 26 May 1785, and graduated B.A. in 1789; he was presented to the living of South Stoke, Oxfordshire, in 1792, and Llandyfrydog, Anglesey, in 1794, where he also became an 'able, active, and upright magistrate.' He died in 1814, and was buried in Llanfair-is-Gaer Church, Carnarvonshire. He wrote 'Methodism Unmasked; or the Progress of Puritanism,' 1802, 8vo.
[Works in Brit. Mus. Library; Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1715–1886; Watt's Bibl. Brit.; Donaldson's Agricultural Biogr. pp. 89–90; Hoare's Modern Wiltshire, Warminster, p. 94; Gent. Mag. 1802, i. 523–6, ii. 642–3, 1806 ii. 830–3, 1812 i. 497, ii. 183, 1815 i. 91; Welch's Queen's Scholars, pp. 412, 419.]
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Howard, Charles (1674-1738)

Contains subarticle of his eldest son, Henry Howard (1694-1758), 4th Earl of Carlisle.
​HOWARD, CHARLES, third Earl of Carlisle (1674–1738), born in 1674,was the eldest son of Edward, second earl of Carlisle (1646?–1692), by Elizabeth, dowager-lady Berkeley, daughter of Sir William Uvedale, knt., of Wickham, Southampton. As Viscount Morpeth he sat for Morpeth in parliament from 1690 until 23 April 1692, when he succeeded his father as third earl of Carlisle, and on 1 March 1693 was appointed governor of Carlisle Castle. He was also lord-lieutenant of Cumberland and Westmoreland (28 June 1694–29 April 1712), vice-admiral of Cumberland, gentleman of the king's bedchamber (23 June 1700– 8 March 1702), deputy earl-marshal of England (8 May 1701-26 Aug. 1706), privy ​councillor (19 June 1701), first lord of the treasury (30 Dec. 1701–6 May 1702), and a commissioner for the union with Scotland (10 April 1706). At the death of Anne, 1 Aug. 1714, Howard was appointed one of the lords justices of Great Britain until George I should arrive from Hanover. He was reappointed lord-lieutenant of Cumberland and Westmoreland on 9 Oct. 1714, and again acted as first lord of the treasury from 23 May until 11 Oct. 1715. He was also constable of the Tower of London (16 Oct. 1715–29 Dec. 1722), lord-lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets (12 July 1717-December 1722), constable of Windsor Castle and warden of the forest (1 June 1723–May 1730), and master of the foxhounds (May 1730). He died at Bath on 1 May 1738, and was buried at Castle Howard. On 5 July 1688 he married Lady Anne Capel, daughter of Arthur, first earl of Essex, by whom he had two sons and three daughters. The second son Charles is separately noticed. The countess died on 14 Oct.1752, aged 78, distinguished for her extensive charities, and was buried at Watford. Howard occasionally amused him self by writing poetry. A short time be fore his death he addressed some moral precepts in verse to his elder son Henry (see below). These are printed in Walpole's 'Royal and Noble Authors,'ed. Park, iv. 170-173. There are two oil portraits of Howard at Naworth, and two at Castle Howard; there is also an engraved portrait.
Henry Howard, fourth Earl of Carlisle (1694-1758), eldest son of the above, was M.P. for Morpeth 1722, 1727, and from 1734 to 1738. He succeeded to the earldom in 1738, became K.G. 1756, died 4 Sept. 1758, and was succeeded by his only surviving son, Frederick Howard, fifth earl of Carlisle, who is separately noticed. Isabella, second wife of the fourth earl of Carlisle, daughter of William, fourth lord Byron, etched with ability, and made several copies of works by Rembrandt. She married, after the earl's death, Sir William Musgrave, and died 22 Jan. 1795.
[Doyle's Official Baronage, i. 330–1; Redgrave's Dict.; Political State of Great Britain, iv. 481–482.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Howard, Charles (1720-1786)

​HOWARD, CHARLES, tenth Duke of Norfolk (1720–1786), born on 1 Dec. 1720, was the second son and eventually heir of Charles Howard of Greystoke, Cumberland, by Mary, daughter and coheiress of John Aylward (Doyle, Official Baronage,ii.600). He was thus great-grandson of Henry Frederick, earl of Arundel (1608–1652) [q. v.] He was brought up in the Roman catholic faith. On 14 Jan. 1768 he was elected F.S.A., and on 24 March following F.R.S. On 20 Sept. 1777 he succeeded, as tenth duke of Norfolk, his second cousin, Edward Howard, ninth duke (1686–1777) [q. v.], and died on 31 Aug. 1786. He married Katherine, second daughter and coheiress of John Brockholes of Claughton, Lancashire, by whom he had a son and successor, Charles (1746–1815) [q. v.] The duchess died on 21 Nov. 1784. Howard lived chiefly in the country, and is said to have indulged in many eccentricities.
He published:
* 'Considerations on the Penal Laws against Roman Catholics in England and the new-acquired Colonies in America,' 1764, 8vo.
* 'Thoughts, Essays, and Maxims, chiefly Religious and Political,' 8vo, 1768.
* Historical Anecdotes of some of the Howard Family' (with an account of ​the office of earl-marshal of England, taken from a manuscript in the possession of J. Edmondson), 8vo, 1769; new edit., 1817.
[Collins's Peerage (Brydges), i. 141; H. K. S. Causton's Howard Papers; Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors (Park), iv. 328-31.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Howard, Edward (d.1841)

​HOWARD, EDWARD (d. 1841), novelist, entered the navy, where Captain Marryat was his shipmate (Athenæum, 8 Jan. 1842, p. 41). On obtaining his discharge he became a contributor of sea stories to periodical literature. When Marryat took the editorship of the 'Metropolitan Magazine' in 1832, he chose Howard for his sub-editor (Mrs. Ross Church, Life of Marryat, i. 227). He subsequently joined the staff of the 'New Monthly Magazine,' then edited by Thomas Hood. Howard died suddenly on 30 Dec. 1841. In reviewing Howard's posthumous and best work, `Sir Henry Morgan,' Hood wrote sympathetically of the author as `one of the most able and original-minded men' of the day, who had but 'just felt the true use of his powers when he was called upon to resign them' (New Monthly Magazine, lxiv. 439). In one of the volumes of the same periodical is a portrait of Howard engraved after Osgood by Freeman, with a facsimile of his autograph; it has also been published separately (Evans, Cat. of Engraved Portraits, ii. 210).
Howard's greatest success was his 'Rattlin the Reefer,' 3 vols. 12mo, London, 1836, a maritime novel of considerable power. To insure for it a large sale it was published as 'edited by the author of "Peter Simple,"' and on this account has been erroneously assigned to Marryat. Howard's other works, which were mostly issued as 'by the author of "Rattlin the Reefer,"' are: 1. `The Old Commodore,' 3 vols. 12mo, London, 1837. 2. `Outward Bound; or, a Merchant's Adventures,' 12mo, London, 1838. 3. `Memoirs of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith, K.C.B.,' 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1839. 4. `Jack Ashore,' 3 vols. 12mo, London, 1840. 5. 'The Centiad: a Poem in four books,' 12mo, London, 1841. 6. `Sir Henry Morgan, the Buccaneer,' 3 vols. 12mo, London, 1842 (another edit., 1857). 7. `The Marine Ghost,' in part i. of `Tales from Bentley,' 8vo, 1859.
G. G.