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

​NEEDHAM or NEDEHAM, JAMES (fl. 1530), architect and master-carpenter, belonged to a Derbyshire family (Cussans, Hertfordshire, ii. 60). In 1523 he accompanied the Duke of Suffolk's army to France, and his name appears among the pioneers and artificers in Sir William Skevington's retinue as a master carpenter in the receipt of twelve pence a day. In September 1525 he was appointed ​by grant a gunner in the Tower of London. After 1530 Needham's name frequently occurs in the State Papers in connection with the building operations of the king and Cromwell. He was appointed clerk of the king's works on 30 April 1530, and during that and the two following years was engaged in devising and superintending the building alterations which were carried out at Esher, York Place, and Westminster Palace. In September 1532 he was engaged in the ‘re-edifying’ of St. Thomas's tower within the Tower of London, and was occupied on that and other works in the Tower during the next three years. In April 1533 he was appointed by grant clerk and overseer of the king's works in England. An entry among the records of the Carpenters' Company shows that Needham was master of the company in 1536. From 1537 to 1541 large sums of money passed through his hands for works and alterations at the king's manors of Otford, Knole, Petworth, and More (Arundel MS. 97); and about this time he signs himself as ‘accountant, surveyor-general, and clerk of the king's works’ (Addit. MS. 10109, f. 173). Needham is doubtfully said to have died in 1546.
On the dissolution of the monasteries the priory of Wymondley in Hertfordshire was granted to James Needham for a term of twenty years, and subsequently an absolute grant of this property was made to his son, and it continued in his family until 1731. There was a brass plate in Wymondley church erected by his grandson to the memory of Needham, in which mention was made of his services to the king in England and France, and of the fact that his body ‘Lieth buried in our lady-church of Bolvine.’
W. C.-r.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Necton, Humphrey

​NECTON or NECHODUN, HUMPHREY (d. 1303), Carmelite, was a native of Norfolk according to Leland, of Suffolk according to Bale. He joined the Carmelite order while it was new in England. Devoting himself to study, he went to Cambridge in 1259, and was the first Carmelite who took the degree of doctor of theology there. His preaching against heretics in the schools and to the populace met with praise (Bale, Harl. MS. 3838, f. 53 b). He was chaplain to William de Luda, bishop of Ely (1294–8) (Blomefield, vi. 49). He died and was buried in the Carmelite house at Norwich 1303 (Bale, MS. loc. cit.) His works, according to Bale, were: 1. Fourteen ‘Sermones Dominicales,’ or ‘Sacræ Conciones,’ in one book, beginning ‘Omne debitum dimisi tibi,’ which some attribute to John Foulsham (see Leland, Comment. ii. 346). 2. ‘Quæstiones ordinariæ,’ in one book. 3. ‘Lecturæ Scholasticæ,’ in one book. 4. ‘Super articulis theologicis,’ in one book. No copies of these works are known to exist.
M. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Needham, Elizabeth

​NEEDHAM, ELIZABETH, commonly known as ‘Mother Needham’ (d. 1731), a notorious procuress, kept a house in Park Place, near St. James's Street. She is said to have been employed by the infamous Colonel Charteris [see Charteris, Francis], and in ‘Don Francisco's Descent into the Infernal Regions’—a satire published upon Charteris's death in February 1732—she is represented as proposing in hell to marry the colonel, much to the latter's horror and disgust. She is represented in the first plate of Hogarth's ‘Harlot's Progress,’ in the courtyard of the Bell Inn, Wood Street, cajoling with flattering promises the then innocent Kate Hackabout on her first arrival in London. She is depicted as a middle-aged woman, simpering beneath her patches, and well dressed in silk. The male figure leaning on his stick, and leering at the maid from the inn door, is supposed to represent Charteris himself, while behind him stands his factotum, Jack Gourlay. In spite of pertinacious efforts made to screen her, Mother Needham was committed to the Gate House on 24 March 1731, convicted of keeping a disorderly house on 29 April, and ordered to stand in the pillory over against Park Place on 30 April 1731. She is described in the contemporary journals as lying upon the pillory on her face; notwithstanding which evasion of the law, and the diligence of a number of beadles and other persons who had been paid to protect her, she was so severely pelted by the mob that her life was despaired of. She actually died on 3 May 1731, declaring that what most affected her was the terror of standing in the ​pillory again. She is alluded to in the ‘Dunciad’ as ‘pious Needham.’ Pope states in a note that she ‘was a matron of great fame, and very religious in her way,’ her constant prayer being that she might get enough by her profession to leave it off in time and make her peace with God. ‘Mother Needham's Lamentation,’ a sixpenny pamphlet, was published in May 1731.
T. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Neate, Charles (1784-1877)

​NEATE, CHARLES (1784–1877), pianist and composer, born in London on 28 March 1784, gained his earliest musical education on the pianoforte from James Windsor of Bath, and on the violoncello from William Sharp. Subsequently he studied the pianoforte under John Field, and composition under Woelfl. On 2 March 1806 Neate was admitted a member of the Royal Society of Musicians. In 1813 he was one of the original members of the Philharmonic Society, of which he became a director and at whose concerts he was often a performer and occasionally conductor. In 1815 he spent eight months in Vienna, where he contracted a close intimacy with Beethoven, and for five months subsequently studied counterpoint with Winter at Munich. After spending two years abroad he returned to London, where he resided first in Foley Place, and afterwards in Charlotte Street. By this time he had acquired a considerable reputation as a pianist and teacher of music. He was the first to introduce to English audiences, at the Philharmonic Society's concerts, Beethoven's pianoforte concertos in C minor and E flat, Weber's Concertstuck, and Hummel's concerto in E and septuor in D minor. As a composer he lacked fancy and originality. He died at Brighton on 30 March 1877, after a retirement of many years. His wife predeceased him, and he left one son.
His compositions include a sonata in C minor for pianoforte, Op. 1, 1808; a sonata in D minor for pianoforte, 1822; a fantasia for pianoforte, with violoncello obbligato, 1825 (?); a hundred Impromptus for pianoforte, 1830; two trios for pianoforte, violin, and violoncello; and various quadrilles, fantasias, and minor pieces for pianoforte.
He was the author of 'An Essay on Fingering. … Together with some General Observations on Pianoforte Playing,' London [1855].
[Grove's Dict, of Music, ii. 450; Records of Royal Soc. of Musicians; Musical Directory of 1878, p. xiv; Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review, ii. 384; Brit. Mus. Catalogues.]
R. F. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Willoughby, Digby

​WILLOUGHBY, DIGBY (1845–1901), soldier adventurer, born in 1845, left England for South Africa in 1871 to seek his fortune. In the Zulu campaign of 1879 Willoughby was with the Natal native contingent, and was in command of the native mounted corps. He then for a time acted as auctioneer's assistant, subsequently becoming partner in the firm of Willoughby & Scoones at Maritzburg, where he resided. After a brief period with a theatrical company, he raised and commanded a troop of irregular horse, ‘Willoughby's Horse,’ which saw service in the Basuto war in 1880. In January 1884 he went to Madagascar, where, gaining the confidence of the Queen of Madagascar and her husband, who was prime minister, he was appointed general commander of the Hovas or Madagascar forces (18 May). On the outbreak of the Franco-Malagasy war next year he got together a well-drilled army of 20,000 soldiers. The Hovas, however, suffered from want of serviceable ammunition, and were severely defeated. At the close of the war in December 1885 he helped in negotiations with the French government, and went to London charged as minister plenipotentiary with a special mission on behalf of the Malagasy government. Although he was cordially received in England, the imperial authorities found it impossible to recognise him as an envoy, as he was still a British subject.
Wearing the uniform of a British field-marshal, he conducted a military spectacle at the Chicago Exhibition of 1893. In Oct. of the same year, after the outbreak of the first Matabele war, he proceeded to Rhodesia. The war was almost over, but he went up country by way of Kimberley, Vryburg and Palapye. On the journey he conferred with Cecil Rhodes, and reached Bulawayo just before the end of the campaign. On the declaration of peace he helped in the administration of Rhodesia. Next year (1894) he was again in London, lecturing on the Matabele war. On the outbreak of the second Matabele war in March 1896, he formed one of a council of defence at Bulawayo, under the acting administrator of Rhodesia. He revisited South Africa on the outbreak of the war there in 1899, but took no part in the fighting, and soon returned to England. Willoughby, who had made a wealthy second marriage, was then ruined in health, and had lost an eye. He died at Goring-on-Thames on 3 June 1901. His courage and soldiership were unquestioned, but love of spectacular adventure was his most salient characteristic. He was a vivid raconteur of his varied experiences.
[The Times, 5 June 1901; South Africa, 8 June 1901; see also issue of 14 July 1894 (interview); S. P. Oliver, Madagascar, 1886, vol. ii.; Howard Hensman, History of Rhodesia, 1900, p. 171.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Whittle, Peter Armstrong

Peter Aloysius Whittle in the ODNB.
​WHITTLE, PETER ARMSTRONG (1789–1866), Lancashire antiquary, was born at Inglewhite in the parish of Goosnargh, Lancashire, on 9 July 1789, and was educated at the grammar schools of Goosnargh, Walton-le-Dale, and Preston. He began business as a bookseller and printer at Preston in 1810, and became an active contributor to various journals. He was intelligent but ill-educated, and his works, though not without value, abound in errors. He styled himself F.S.A., but was not a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. In 1858 Lord Derby, as prime minister, gave him a pension of 50l. a year for ‘literary services.’ After giving up business in 1851, he lived at Bolton for some years, and then removed to Mount Vernon, Liverpool. Whittle, who was a Roman catholic, died on 7 Jan. 1866. He married, in October 1827, Matilda Henrietta Armstrong, and had two sons: Robert Claudius, author of ‘The Wayfarer in Lancashire,’ and Henry Armstrong.
He was the author of the following local histories: 1. ‘A Topographical Account, &c., of Preston,’ 1821; vol. ii. 1837, 12mo (the first volume was published under the pseudonym of ‘Marmaduke Tulket’). 2. ‘Marina; or an Historical and Descriptive Account of Southport, Lytham, and Blackpool,’ Preston, 1831, 8vo (anon.). 3. ‘Architectural Description of St. Ignatius's Church, Preston,’ 1833. 4. ‘Description of St. Mary's Cistercian Church at Penwortham,’ 8vo. 5. ‘Historical Notices of Hoghton Tower,’ 1845. 6. ‘An Account of St. Marie's Chapel at Fernyhalgh,’ 1851, 8vo. 7. ‘Blackburn as it is,’ 1852. 8. ‘Bolton-le-Moors and the Townships in the Parish,’ Bolton, 1855, 8vo.
C. W. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Whittaker, John William

​WHITTAKER, JOHN WILLIAM (1790?–1854), divine, son of William Whittaker of Bradford, Yorkshire, by his wife, Sarah Buck, was born at Manchester about 1790, and educated at Bradford grammar school and St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was admitted a pensioner on 31 March 1810. He was thirteenth wrangler in 1814, when he was admitted to a Beresford fellowship of his college and took his B.A. degree. He proceeded M.A. in 1817, B.D. in 1824, and D.D. in 1830. In 1819 he was a candidate for the professorship of Arabic at Cambridge, and about the same time was appointed examining chaplain to Charles Manners-Sutton [q. v.], archbishop of Canterbury, who presented him to the important vicarage of Blackburn, Lancashire, in February 1822. He was nominated honorary canon of Manchester in 1852. During his vicariate of Blackburn the parish church was rebuilt and twelve new churches in various parts of the old parish were erected.
His learning was wide, and he kept up to the end his reading in philology, geology, and astronomy. His interest in the last-named subject led him to assist in the formation of the Royal Astronomical Society. One of his unfulfilled projects was a work on the nebular hypothesis and geological time. He died at Blackburn vicarage on 3 Aug. 1854. On 20 June 1825 he married Mary Haughton, eldest daughter of William Feilden (afterwards created a baronet) of Feniscowles, by whom he left nine children.
He wrote: 1. ‘An Historical and Critical Inquiry into the Interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures, with Remarks on Mr. Bellamy's New Translation,’ Cambridge, 1819, and Supplement, 1820. It was this work that brought the author under the notice of the archbishop, and marked him out for promotion. It was reviewed in the ‘Quarterly Review,’ xxiii. 291, and by Robert Nares [q. v.] in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine,’ 1819, ii. 340. 2. ‘Justification by Faith: a Course of Lectures preached before the University of Cambridge,’ 1825. 3. ‘The Catholic Church: five Sermons on the Commemoration of the Reformation,’ 1836. 4. ‘A Series of Letters to the Rev. Nicholas Wiseman on the Contents of his late Publications,’ 2 parts, 1836–1837. 5. ‘Motives to the Study of Biblical Literature,’ 1839. 6. ‘A Treatise on the Church of Christ,’ 1842. 7. ‘Letters to William Eccles of Blackburn on the Voluntary System,’ 2 vols. 1844. He also published several single sermons, including one preached to the chartists at Blackburn church in 1839, of which a great number were circulated, and he contributed a paper on ‘Ancient Etymologies, especially Celtic,’ to the British Archæological Association, 1850, besides articles to periodicals.
C. W. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Whitty, Edward Michael

​WHITTY, EDWARD MICHAEL (1827–1860), journalist, son of Michael James Whitty [q. v.], was born in London in 1827. He was educated at the Liverpool Institute and at Hanover. About 1844 he became a reporter on the provincial press, and from 1846 to 1849 he was the writer of the parliamentary summary of the ‘Times.’ He was the London correspondent of the ‘Liverpool Journal,’ and for several years served with George Henry Lewes, E. F. S. Pigott, and other distinguished writers on the staff of the ‘Leader.’ His great powers of sarcasm were first conspicuous in the singularly vivid and vigorous sketches of the proceedings in parliament which he contributed to the ‘Leader.’ The preliminary essays began in its columns on 14 Aug. 1852, and the first description of the debates by ‘The Stranger in Parliament’ appeared in the number for 13 Nov. in that year. A selection from them was published anonymously in 1854 as the ‘History of the Session 1852–3: a Parliamentary Retrospect.’ These articles originated the superior kind of parliamentary sketch, and for pungency of expression and fidelity of description have never been surpassed. A volume entitled ‘The Derbyites and the Coalition’ (1854?, 12mo) is assigned to Whitty by Allibone. A brilliant series of Whitty's ‘Leader’ articles was collected in ‘The Governing Classes of Great Britain: Political Portraits’ (London, 1854; with additions, 1859). The volume is said to have greatly impressed Montalembert. The phrase ‘the governing classes,’ though previously used by Carlyle (Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, 1845, ii. 150), was identified with Whitty's volume; R. B. Brough dedicated to him in 1855 his ‘Songs of the Governing Classes.’
Before long Whitty quarrelled with his old friends on the ‘Leader,’ and he seized the opportunity of satirising them in clever epigrammatic sentences in his novel of ‘Friends of Bohemia, or Phases of London Life,’ which was written in a fortnight and sold for 50l. (London, 1857, 2 vols.; New York and Philadelphia, 1864, with memoir). Whitty was appointed editor of the ‘Northern Whig’ early in 1857, but the engagement terminated abruptly in the spring of 1858. He returned for a time to London, and on the death of his wife and two children emigrated to Australia to work on the ‘Melbourne Argus.’ He died at Melbourne, at the house of a relative, on 21 Feb. 1860. A few years later a handsome monument was erected to his memory by Barry Sullivan the actor.
Whitty possessed great talent, and was endowed ‘with a brilliant style and a powerful battery of sarcastic irony’ (Irish Quarterly Review, vii. 385, &c.). A sketch of him under the name of ‘Ned Wexford,’ by James Hannay, is in the ‘Cornhill Magazine’ (xi. 251–2; reprinted in Espinasse's Literary Recollections, pp. 323–4).
[Athenæum, 12 May 1860, p. 651; Saunders, Otley, & Co.'s Oriental Budget, 1 June 1860, p. 122; Dublin Review, July 1857, pp. 101–4; Jeaffreson's Novels and Novelists, ii. 402; information from Miss Whitty of Concordia, Blundellsands, Liverpool, Sir Edward R. Russell, and Mr. F. D. Finlay.]
W. P. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Oldfield, Thomas Hinton Burley

​OLDFIELD, THOMAS HINTON BURLEY (1755–1822), political historian and antiquary, born in 1755, was according to the 'Gentleman's Magazine,' 1822, pt. ii. p. 566, 'an attorney of great celebrity.' His name, however, is unknown to the 'Law List.' He died at Exeter on 25 July 1822.
Oldfield was a zealous pioneer of parliamentary reform, and the author of (1) 'An Entire and Complete History, Political and Personal, of the Boroughs of Great Britain, together with the Cinque Ports; to which is prefixed an original Sketch of constitutional rights from the earliest Period until the present Time,' &c., London, 1792, 3 vols. 8vo; 2nd ed. 1794, 2 vols. 8vo. (2) 'History of the Original Constitution of Parliaments from the Time of the Britons to the present Day; to which is added the present State of the Representation,' London, 1797, 8vo.
Both works were subsequently reprinted under the title 'A Complete History, Political and Personal, of the Boroughs of Great Britain, together with the Cinque Ports; To which is now first added the History of the Original Constitution of Parliaments,' &c., London (no date), 3 vols. 8vo. A final edition, revised and amplified, entitled 'The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland; being a History of the House of Commons, and of the Counties, Cities, and Boroughs of the United Kingdom from the earliest Period,' appeared in 1816, London, ​6 vols. 8vo. Oldfield also compiled 'A Key to the House of Commons, being a History of the last General Election in 1818; and a correct State of the virtual Representation of England and Wales,' London, 1820, 8vo.
[Gent Mag. 1822, pt. ii. p. 566; Biogr. Dict. of Living Authors, 1816; Brit. Mus. Cat.; Edinburgh Review, June 1816.]
J. M. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Oldfield, Henry George

​OLDFIELD, HENRY GEORGE (d. 1791?), antiquary collaborated with Richard Randall Dyson in the compilation of 'History and Antiquities of the Parish of Tottenham High Cross,' London, 1790 (2nd ed. 1792, 12mo); and was the author of 'Anecdotes of Archery, Ancient and Modern', London, 1791, Svo. To him also is ascribed a brief description of the church of St. Giles, Camberwell, printed without other title than 'Camberwell Church,' and without place or date of publication. In 1790 he was resident at Great Scotland Yard, Whitehall. As his name is omitted from the title-page of the second edition of the 'History and Antiquities of Tottenham High Cross,' it is probable that he was dead in 1792.
[Biogr. Dict. of Living Authors, 1816; Brit. Museum Cat.]
J. M. R.
# Dictionary of the Swatow dialect/pok
### pokpok

* 卜pok717259
* To divine by looking at, or rattling coins inside of tortoise shell; sortilege.

#### pok-khùe;

    to divine; to inquire of the fates.

#### i pok lâi cún căi;

    he rightly divined it.

#### būe pok, soiⁿ cai;

    knew it before he forecast.
* 燐pok5418613
* Flitting, like an ignis fatuns.

#### pok-pok-thìo, cū sĭ kúi-húe hìeⁿ-seⁿ;

    flitting hither and thither like a will-o-the-wisp.

#### mêⁿ-kùa tŏ̤ cûn-thâu thóiⁿ-kìⁿ suaⁿ-phîaⁿ kâi kúi-húe pok-pok-thìo;

    in the night, saw from the prow of the boat, the will-o-the-wisps flitting about on the shore.
* 僕pôk717912
* A vassal, a retainer, a servant or menial; one who aids in laborious duties.

#### nôⁿ-pôk;

    a man servant or slave.

#### pĭ-pôk;

    a female slave.

#### cêk cú cêk pôk cò̤-pû lâi;

    master and servant came together.

#### pôk hŭ;

    a servant's wife, or a woman-servant. ​
* 漾pôk10738511
* Movement of water in commotion.

#### cúi pôk-pôk-êk;

    the water swashes up and down.

#### cúi pôk lâi pôk khṳ̀;

    the water swashes to and fro.

#### màiⁿ khṳt cúi pôk cêk sin;

    do not let the water swash over you.
# Dictionary of the Swatow dialect/pua
### puapua

* 播pùa7036412
* To disseminate; to strew; to scatter abroad; to sow.

#### pùa-îang i kâi mîaⁿ;

    publish his name far and wide.

#### thŵn-pùa;

    to promulgate.
* 簸pùa70411813
* A winnowing; to winnow.

#### pùa bí;

    to winnow rice.

#### pùa-ki;

    a winnowing basket.

#### pùa tīo cho-khng;

    winnow away the chaff.

#### khṳt huang éng pùa tîeh;

    splashed by wind and waves.
# Dictionary of the Swatow dialect/poih
### poihpoih

* 八poih647120
* Eight.

#### poih choiⁿ lâng poih câp poih;

    eight thousand and eighty-eight.

#### tŏiⁿ poih kâi;

    the eighth one.

#### nî huang jī poih;

    he is now sixteen.

#### poih jī kha;

    flaring legs.

#### poih jī;

    the eight characters, denoting the year, month, day and hour of one’s birth, from which horoscopes are cast.

#### poih im ceng;

    a musical clock or a music-box.

#### poih pó̤;

    the eight precious things which the eight genti carry in their hands.

#### sĭ poih-kak kâi;

    it is octagonal.

#### poih-kak;

    a kind of spice, having eight points around the seed.

#### poih-sien chn̂g;

    an octagonal table.

#### i sĭ poih pài cṳ kau;

    they are on very friendly terms.
* 拔pôih647645
* To pull out; to extract; to eradicate.

#### cun-thak pôih m̄ chut;

    I cannot pull the cork out of the bottle.

#### khuaⁿ-khuaⁿ pôih;

    pull it gently.

#### pôih kìam;

    to draw a sword.

#### hăm kṳn pôih khí lâi;

    pull it up roots and all.

#### i cêk mô̤ⁿ put pôih;

    he would not pull out a hair for it; would give nothing at all for it.

#### i àiⁿ khîu lṳ́ pôih i chut lâi;

    he is going to beseech you to take him out of prison.
* 䥀pôih4716710
* To pull in extending anything; to extend by pulling.

#### pôih i tn̂g;

    stretch it to its full length; lengthen it by pulling.

#### cē pôih i ŏi tn̂g;

    it stretches when you pull on it.

#### pôih ngṳ̂n sùaⁿ;

    to draw silver wire.