OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Alger, John Goldworth

​ALGER, JOHN GOLDWORTH (1836–1907), journalist and author, born at Diss, Norfolk, and baptised on 7 Aug. 1836, was the only son of John Alger, a corn merchant of that town, by his wife Jemima, daughter of Salem Goldworth, yeoman, of Morning Thorpe, Norfolk. Educated at Diss, Alger ​became a journalist at the age of sixteen. At first he wrote for the 'Norfolk News,' and afterwards transferred his services to the 'Oxford Journal.' In 1866 he joined the parliamentary reporting staff of 'The Times,' and after eight years' work in that capacity was sent to Paris in 1874 to act as assistant to Henri Opper de Blowitz, 'The Times' Paris correspondent. There he remained for twenty-eight years. His leisure he chiefly devoted to historical research in the Bibliotheque Nationale and National Archives. He made himself thoroughly familiar with the topographical history of Paris, and threw new light on byways of the French revolution, investigating with especial thoroughness the part which Englishmen played in the great movement. His chief publications were:
* 'Englishmen in the French Revolution,' 1889.
* 'Glimpses of the French Revolution,' 1894.
* 'Paris in 1789-94; Farewell Letters of Victims of the Guillotine,' 1902.
* 'Napoleon's British Visitors and Captives,' 1904.
He also published 'The Paris Sketch Book' (a description of current Parisian life) (1887); contributed historical articles to several leading magazines, and was an occasional contributor to this Dictionary. In 1902 Alger retired from the service of 'The Times' on a pension, and settled in London. He died unmarried at 7 Holland Park Court, Addison Road, West Kensington, on 23 May 1907.
[The Times, 25 May 1907; Who's Who, 1907; M. de Blowitz, My Memoirs, 1903.]
S. E. F.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Harman, George Byng

​HARMAN, Sir GEORGE BYNG (1830–1892), lieutenant-general, born 30 Jan. 1830, was the son of John Harman of Chester Square, London, and Moor Hall, Cookham, Berkshire. He was educated at Marlborough College (1844-6), and was commissioned as ensign in the 34th foot on 18 Sept. 1849. He was promoted lieutenant on 21 June 1850, and captain on 19 June 1855. After serving with his regiment in the Ionian Islands and West Indies, he went with it to the Crimea in December 1854. It was assigned to the light division, and took part in the assault of the Redan on 18 June 1855, where Harman received seven severe wounds. He was mentioned in despatches, and obtained the medal with clasp, the Turkish medal, the Medjidie (5th class), and a brevet majority on 2 Nov. 1855.
He served with the 34th in India during the mutiny, and was present at Windham's action with the Gwalior contingent at Cawnpore, and at the siege and capture of Lucknow. He received the medal with clasp, and was given an unattached majority on 4 June 1858. He was assistant-inspector of volunteers from 18 Feb. 1860 to 8 March 1865, when he was made brevet lieutenant-colonel. He served on the staff in the West Indies from 10 June 1866 to 30 April 1872, first as assistant military secretary, and afterwards as deputy adjutant-general. He became brevet colonel on 2 June 1871. On 1 May 1872 he was given an unattached lieutenant-colonelcy, and on 1 April 1873 he was ​appointed to the command of a brigade depot at Pontefract.
He went on half-pay on 16 Dec. 1874, and on the 18th was made assistant adjutant-general at Aldershot. On 1 Jan. 1878 he went to Ireland as deputy adjutant-general. He was promoted major-general on 14 Nov. 1881, and was placed on the staff of the expeditionary force in Egypt on 3 Sept. 1882. He commanded the garrison of Alexandria, was included in the thanks of parliament, and received the medal and bronze star. On 18 April 1883 he was appointed deputy adjutant-general at headquarters, and on 1 Nov. 1885 military secretary. He was made C.B. on 24 May 1881, and K.C.B. on 21 June 1887. A distinguished service pension was given to him on 17 April 1889, and he was promoted lieutenant-general on 1 April 1890. He was still serving on the staff at headquarters when he died in South Kensington on 9 March 1892. He married in 1868 Helen, daughter of John Tonge of Starborough Castle and Edenbridge, Kent; she survived him.
[Times, 10 March 1892; Marlborough Coll. Register, p. 16; Army Lists.]
E. M. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Hardy, Mary Anne

​HARDY, MARY ANNE, Lady (1825?–1891), novelist and traveller, was the only child of Charles MacDowell and Eliza, his second wife. She was born in Fitzroy Square. London, about 1825. Her father had died five months before, and she was entirely educated at home under her mother's superintendence. She became the second wife of Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy [q. v.] In recognition of her husband's services—he died in 1878—Lady Hardy received on 19 June 1879 a pension of 100l. a year from the civil list; it was augmented by 55l. on 5 February 1881.
Although Lady Hardy had always been fond of writing, she did not turn seriously to literature until after her marriage. Her first important novel, 'Paul Wynter's Sacrifice,' was published in 1869. It had a success, and was translated into French. A new edition came out in 1881. Her next novel, 'Daisy Nicholl' (1870), achieved a great success in America. In 1880 and 1881, respectively, Lady Hardy travelled in the United States. The tour brought forth two books, 'Through Cities and Prairie Lands: Sketches of an American Tour,' 1881, and 'Down South,' 1883. Lady Hardy wrote articles on social subjects and short stories for various journals and magazines. She died on 19 May 1891 at 124 Portsdown Road, London, and was buried at Willesden. A portrait, painted during her early married life, is in the possession of her daughter, Miss Iza Duffus Hardy. Other works are:
* 'War Notes from the Crimea,' 1855.
* 'The Artist's Family: an Historical Romance,' 1857.
* 'A Casual Acquaintance: a Novel founded on Fact,' 1866, 2 vols.
* 'A Hero's Work,' 1868, 3 vols.
* 'A Woman's Triumph,' 1872, 3 vols.
* 'Lizzie,' 1875, 3 vols.
* 'Madge,' 1898, 3 vols.
* 'Beryl Fortescue,' 1881, 3 vols.
* 'In Sight of Land,' 1885, 3 vols.
* 'A Dangerous Experiment,' 1888, 3 vols.
* 'A Buried Sin,' 1894, 3 vols.
[Allibone's Dict. Suppl. ii. 764; Times, 21 May 1891; Colles's Literature and the Pension List; private information.]
E. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Hardinge, Charles Stewart

​HARDINGE, CHARLES STEWART, second Viscount Hardinge (1822–1894) of Lahore and King's Newton, eldest son of Sir Henry Hardinge, first viscount [q. v.], and elder brother of Sir Arthur Edward Hardinge [q.v. Suppl.], was born in London on 12 Sept. 1822. He was educated at Eton and destined for the army, but while a boy met with a severe accident which compelled him to use an artificial leg for the rest of his life. In 1840 he matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, and graduated B.A. in 1844. Within a month after taking his degree he accompanied his father to India as private secretary, and was with him during all the period of his governor-generalship. From 8 Aug. 1851 to 1856 he ​was M.P. for Downpatrick in the conservative interest, and after his succession to the peerage (in 1856) he was under-secretary for war in Lord Derby's second administration (March 1858 to March 1859). He never held office again, but always remained a supporter of the conservative party. In 1868 he was appointed a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, and in 1876 chairman of the trustees, an office which he actively filled till his death. Owing to his father's friendship with Sir Francis Grant (1803-1878) [q. v.] and Sir Edwin Henry Landseer [q. v.], he was brought up among artistic associations, and was himself no mean painter in water-colours. In 1847 his friends in England published a folio volume entitled 'Recollections of India,' consisting of twenty lithographs from his drawings made in India. The most interesting of these are portraits of Sikh chieftains and views of scenery in Kashmir, then an almost unknown country, which he visited in company with John Nicholson (1821-1857) [q. v.], afterwards the hero of Delhi. The originals hang among the military trophies of his father on the walls of South Park, near Penshurst. In 1891 he contributed a brief memoir of his father to the 'Rulers of India' series (Oxford, Clarendon Press).
Hardinge died at South Park on 28 July 1894, and was buried in the churchyard of Fordcombe, Kent. He married, on 10 April 1856, Lavinia, third daughter of Sir George Charles Bingham, third earl of Lucan [q. v. Suppl.], by whom he had a family of five sons and three daughters; she died on 15 Sept. 1864.
[Personal knowledge.]
J. S. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Harrowby, Earl of

​HARROWBY, Earl of. [See Ryder, Dudley Francis Stuart, 1831–1900.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Colling, Robert

​COLLING, ROBERT (1749–1820), stockbreeder, born in 1749, was the eldest son of Charles Colling of Ketton, near Darlington, and brother of Charles Colling [q. v. Suppl.] After receiving 'an ordinary education,' he was apprenticed to a grocer in Shields; but 'not having his health' he came home to his father's farm and commenced an agricultural career. After spending some time at Hurworth, he entered on a farm at Barmpton, under the Lambton family. He had then 'no thought of becoming a breeder of shorthorns, and only kept dairy cows.' The foundation of his pedigree herd was a yellow-red and white bull, originally bought on the advice of his brother Charles for eight guineas, and afterwards sold to his brother for the Ketton herd (known in shorthorn history as 'Hubback'). A 'shyness' sprang up between the brothers, which became accentuated in March 1793; and the Barmpton and Ketton herds for some time lived apart, though later more amicable relations were restored. When, in October 1810, Charles Colling sold off his Ketton herd of shorthorns, Robert's herd at Barmpton 'became the centre of interest' to the breeders of shorthorns, which had then become fashionable. A famous white heifer (daughter of the bull Favourite), which weighed at four years old 1,820 lbs., was painted by Thomas Weaver, and an engraving of the picture was made by William Ward, and published on 13 Dec. 1811, with a dedication to Robert Colling. The heifer was purchased by two butchers, and exhibited at Christmas 1811, at the stables of the Three Kings, Piccadilly, as 'the greatest wonder of the world of the kind,' and then weighed 2,448 lbs. 'The same system of in-and-in breeding that had been in vogue at Ketton was pursued without interruption at Barmpton, and that without any admixture of fresh alloy' (Bates, p. 22). Robert carried on his herd until Michaelmas day, 1810, when it was sold by auction, and sixty-one lots fetched 7,852l. 19s. He died unmarried at Barmpton on 7 March 1820, leaving his property to his brother Charles, a final sale being held on 3 Oct. 1820.
Robert was described as 'a model all-round farmer good cattle, good sheep, good crops, neat hedges, neat farm-buildings,' but, not being so much of a specialist, was less known than his more businesslike and versatile brother Charles.
[Authorities as under Charles Colling.]
E. C.-e.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Coleridge, Henry James

​COLERIDGE, HENRY JAMES, D.D. (1822–1893), born on 20 Sept. 1822, was second son of Sir John Taylor Coleridge [q. v.] He was thus a grand-nephew of the poet and younger brother of John Duke Coleridge, Baron Coleridge [q. v. Suppl.] From Eton he proceeded to Trinity College, Oxford, where he matriculated on 16 June 1840. Soon after taking his B.A. degree in 1845 he was elected a fellow of Oriel College. He graduated M. A. in 1847, and after taking Anglican orders he held for a short time a cure at Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, a village which for nearly two centuries has been associated with his family. He was received into the Roman catholic church in 1852 and soon afterwards went to Rome to pursue his theological studies in the Collegio Romano (Browne, Annals of the Tractarian Movement, p. 262). He was ordained priest in 1855 and took about the same time his doctor's degree. He joined the Jesuit novitiate at Beaumont Lodge, near Windsor, 7 Sept. 1857, and on the expiration of his two years' probation he was sent to St. Beuno's College, Flintshire, where he was engaged for six years in teaching holy scripture.
About 1864 the 'Month' was started under the editorship of Miss Fanny Margaret Taylor, and in 1865 she sold it to the Jesuit fathers, who were anxious to possess a periodical of their own. This was the immediate occasion of Coleridge's removal from Wales to Farm Street, London, where he spent the remainder of his active life. He became editor of the 'Month,' and held that post till 1881, when he resigned it in order to devote himself exclusively to his work on 'The Life of our Lord' and the bringing out of 'The Quarterly Series.' In 1891 he had a stroke of paralysis, and he died at Manresa House, Roehampton, on 13 April 1893. His remains were interred in the family vault at Ottery St. Mary.
[Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1715-1886; Month, May 1893, p. 1; Tablet, 22 April 1893, p. 624; Times, 17 April 1893; Weekly Register, 22 April 1893, p. 499.]
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Gray, James (d.1773)

​GRAY, Sir JAMES (d. 1773), diplomatist and antiquary, was elder son of Sir James Gray, who was created baronet (of Scotland) by Queen Anne in 1707, and of Hester Dodd, his wife. Horace Walpole said of Gray that 'his father was first a box-keeper and then footman to James II.' In 1744 Gray, who had succeeded his father in the baronetcy, accompanied Robert D'Arcy, fourth earl of Holderness [q. v.], to Venice, and remained there as British resident until 1753, when he was transferred to Naples as envoy extraordinary to the king of Naples and the Two Sicilies. In 1761 he was again transferred as minister plenipotentiary to the king of Spain, and was made a knight of the Bath. Owing to the outbreak of war with Spain in that year, he did not take up his residence at Madrid until 1766. He held that post until his death. He was sworn of the privy council in 1769, and died in London, unmarried, in January 1773.
He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his younger brother, George Gray (d. 1773), colonel of the 17th foot and major-general in the army, who, however, only survived his brother a few weeks, and died in the following February. Their mother, Hester, lady Gray, survived both her sons, and died in 1788, aged 97. She was buried with her sons at Kensington.
Sir James Gray and General Gray are noteworthy as two of the original founders of the Society of Dilettanti in 1732, and they were among the leading spirits of the society. General Gray acted as secretary and treasurer to the society from 1738 to 1771, and was well known in society as an amateur of architecture. In 1750, when British resident in Venice, Sir James Gray met there and made acquaintance with James Stuart (1713-1788) [q. v.] and Nicholas Revett [q. v.], then just about to start for Athens. Through Gray's influence they were elected members of the Society of Dilettanti, which society thereby became identified with the important works on 'The Antiquities of Athens,' published by Stuart and Revett. At Naples he took a leading part in the discoveries at Herculaneum, and in the whole progress of classical research.
Portraits of Sir James Gray and General Sir George Gray in fancy dress are among the series painted by Knapton, and still in the possession of the Society of Dilettanti. The former was one of the party at the celebrated Calves' Head Club dinner, on 30 Jan. 1734, at the White Eagle tavern in Suffolk Street, which resulted in a street riot, and was converted at the moment into a matter of historical importance.
[Gust's History of the Society of Dilettanti; Faulkner's History of Kensington; Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montague.]
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Green, William Kirby Mackenzie

​GREEN, Sir WILLIAM KIRBY MACKENZIE (1836–1891), diplomatist, born in 1836 at Nauplia in Greece, was the son of Sir John Green (d. 18 Sept. 1877), consul-general at Bucharest from 1867 to 1874, by his wife Margaret, daughter of George Suter. He was educated abroad and entered the consular service at the age of seventeen. In 1856 he became private secretary to the consul-general for Egypt, and in 1859 became secretary to (Sir) John Drummond Hay [q. v. Suppl.], remaining in the public ​service in Morocco for several years. He was vice-consul at Tetuan and acting consul at Tangier, and was engaged upon special missions in the court of Morocco at various times during the next ten years. In 1869 he was transferred to Tunis as acting agent and consul-general, and thence was moved to Damascus in 1871 and to Bairfit in 1873. In 1876 he was promoted to be consul at Scutari, and on 6 Jan. 1879 he became consul-general for Montenegro and the vilayet of Scutari. Here during three eventful years he did work which made his name familiar to the public. He consistently maintained the view that the Turkish government, though in urgent need of reform, was not beyond hope, and that the Christian subjects of the Porte were not faultless. He was frequently consulted by government, his opinions appeared in many blue-books, and he was freely attacked by the anti-Turkish party in England. In 1881 he was created C.M.G. in recognition of his services, and on 1 July 1886 he succeeded Sir John Drummond Hay as envoy to Morocco and consul-general at Tangier.
In Tangier Green's knowledge of oriental languages in which he was second only to Sir Richard Burton [q. v. Suppl.] together with his diplomatic ability, gave him great influence with the sultan. He obtained several important concessions from Muley Hassan, among others the establishment of telegraphic communication between Tangier and Gibraltar, which the sultan had refused for the space of twelve years. On 10 Dec. 1890 he started on a special mission to Morocco to obtain from the sultan compensation for the destruction of the factories of the North-West Africa Company by a party of Bedouin Arabs. He was successful in his mission, but died suddenly at Morocco on 25 Feb. 1891. He was buried at Tangier on 8 March. On 21 June 1887 he was created K.C.M.G. He married in 1863 Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Reade. By her he had issue.
[Times, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 14 March 1891 ; Burke's Peerage, 1891.]
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Graves, Henry

​GRAVES, HENRY (1806–1892), print-seller, son of Robert Graves (d. 1825), and younger brother of Robert Graves, A.R.A. [q. v.], was born on 16 July 1806. At the age of sixteen he became an assistant of Samuel Woodburn, the art dealer, and later was employed by Messrs. Hurst, Robinson, & Co., the successors of Boydell, as manager of their print department. On the failure of this firm in 1825 Graves, in conjunction with Francis Graham Moon [q. v.] and J. Boys, acquired the business which was carried on with various changes of partnership until 1844, when Graves became sole proprietor ; the title of the firm has since been Henry Graves & Co. In the course of an enterprising and successful career, throughout which he was recognised as the leading London printseller, Graves published ​an immense number of fine engravings from pictures by Turner, Wilkie, Lawrence, Constable, Landseer, Faed, Frith, Grant, Millais, and other contemporary painters. He specially devoted himself to the reproduction of the works of Sir Edwin Landseer, employing upon the work the best engravers of the day, and paying the artist himself more than 50,000l. for copyrights. He also issued valuable library editions of the works of Reynolds, Lawrence, Gainsborough, Liverseege, and Landseer. Graves was one of the founders of the 'Art Journal' and 'Illustrated London News,' an active member of the Printsellers' Association and the Artists' General Benevolent Fund, and a governor of the Shakespeare memorial at Stratford. He died at his house in Pall Mall, London, on 23 August 1892, and was buried in Highgate cemetery. By his first wife, Mary Squire (d. 1871), Graves had two sons, Boydell Graves and Algernon Graves, the latter of whom is chairman of the company to which the business was transferred in 1896.
[Times, 24 Aug. 1892; Athenaeum, 3 Sept. 1892; private information.]
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Gray, John Miller

​GRAY, JOHN MILLER (1850–1894), art critic and curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, was born in Edinburgh in 1850,his mother dying at his birth. His father, John Gray, who had retired from business, lost nearly all he had saved by the failure of the Western Bank, and Gray had to leave school somewhat early and enter the Commercial Bank. Devoting his leisure to the study of books and pictures and prints, he gradually made a beginning as a critic, writing principally for the 'Edinburgh Courant.' His monograph on George Manson [q. v.] in 1880, along with other art criticism, attracted attention, and when the Scottish National Portrait Gallery was founded in 1884 by John Ritchie Findlay [q. v. Suppl.], Gray was appointed curator. Throwing himself ardently into the work, for he was devoted to history as well as to art, he did much for the welfare of the gallery. Meanwhile he also extended his literary connection, writing regularly for the 'Academy,' and occasionally for the 'Art Journal' and the 'Magazine of Art,' while after the collapse of the 'Courant' he became art critic on the 'Scottish Leader.' He also contributed much to the 'Encyclopædia Britannica,' 'Chambers's ​Encyclopædia,' and the 'Dictionary of National Biography.' His interests were very varied; book plates, bookbindings, stained glass, &c., claimed his attention, and he was the originator of the Heraldic Exhibition held in Edinburgh in 1891. He died unmarried in Edinburgh on 22 March 1894. He left practically all he possessed to form a fund for the purchase of portraits for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. An oil portrait by P. W. Adam and a pencil drawing and a medallion by C. S. Matthew hang in the curator's room in the Scottish Portrait Gallery, and in the 'Memoirs' (published 1895) a caricature by G. R. Halkett and a photograph are reproduced.
In addition to magazine and other articles, and the work already mentioned, he published 'David Scott, R.S.A.' (1882); 'P. W. Nicholson' (with Mr. Baildon) (1887), and 'James and William Tassie ' (1894). He also edited 'Clerk of Penicuik's Memoirs' (1892) for the Scottish History Society.
[Scotsman, 23 and 28 March 1894; Academy, vol. xlv.; Athenæum (Sir George Scharf), 16 June 1894; J. M. Gray, Memoirs and Remains, Edinburgh, 1895.]
J. L. C.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Snow-drop

Edition of 1802.
​SNOW-DROP, the Common, or Fair-Maids-of-February, Galanthus nivalis, L. a native perennial plant, growing in orchards, meadows, and the sides of hedges; flowering in February and March.
The snow-drop presents a beautiful little flower, and is chiefly ​esteemed on account of its early appearance; adorning the garden, when the soil is covered with snow: it is divided into three varieties, known under the names of single, semi-double, and double, which differ only in the seasons of their flowering. They may be easily propagated in any soil, and will multiply exceedingly by offsets from the roots.
The roots of the snow-drop may be made subservient to an useful domestic purpose: Dr. Darwin thinks that, if they were dug up in the winter, and prepared in a similar manner, they might atford a nutritious powder, resembling that of salep. He observes, that he once boiled a few; which on tasting them, possessed no unpleasant flavour. He is therefore of opinion, that, if prolific seeds could be procured from this plant, it might be advantageously cultivated for the same purposes as the Orchis; a conjecture which is corroborated by the experiments of Gleditsch, who obtained from the roots of the snow-drop, an excellent starch.