OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thomas, Arthur Goring

​THOMAS, ARTHUR GORING (1850–1892), musical composer, born at Ratton Park, Sussex, on 20 Nov. 1850, was the youngest son of Freeman Thomas of Ratton Park, by his wife Amelia, eldest daughter of Colonel Thomas Frederick. After being educated at Haileybury College, he was destined for the civil service, but his health failed. In early life he showed musical proclivities; when about ten years old his power of extemporisation was remarkable. This power he lost after he began to study seriously. In 1873 he went to Paris, where, on Ambroise Thomas's advice, he studied for two years with Emile Durand. After returning to England in 1875, he began on 13 Sept. 1877 a three years' course at the Royal Academy of Music under Sullivan and Prout, and he twice won the Lucas medal for composition. Later on he studied for a time orchestration under Dr. Max Bruch. While still a pupil of the Royal Academy of Music Thomas composed an opera, ‘The Light of the Harem,’ which was played at that institution with such success as to induce Carl Rosa to commission him to write ‘Esmeralda.’ That opera was produced at Drury Lane on 26 March 1883. It was also played at Cologne in the following November, and at Hamburg in 1885. In this latter year Carl Rosa produced his ‘Nadeshda,’ also at Drury Lane (16 April), Mme. Valleria playing the title rôle. It was given at Breslau in 1890. On 12 July 1890 ‘Esmeralda’ was performed at Covent Garden in French. Another opera, ‘The Golden Web,’ which was left unfinished so far as regards the scoring, was completed by Sydney P. Waddington, and was produced posthumously at the Court Theatre, Liverpool, on 15 Feb. 1893.
In 1881 Thomas's choral ode, ‘The Sun Worshippers,’ was brought out at the Norwich festival. His unfinished cantata, ‘The Swan and the Skylark,’ which Professor Villiers Stanford completed, was given at the Birmingham festival in 1894. Thomas died prematurely on 20 March 1892.
In addition to the works already mentioned Thomas composed a cantata, ‘Out of the Deep;’ a ‘suite de ballet’ for orchestra, produced at Cambridge on 9 June 1887; a violin sonata, several vocal scenas, and a very large number of songs, many of which enjoy a well-merited vogue. On 13 July 1892 a concert (in which most of the leading operatic singers of the day took part) was given at St. James's Hall, London, to help to found a scholarship in memory of Thomas at the Royal Academy of Music. The effort was successful, and the Goring Thomas scholarship is now competed for annually.
Thomas was one of the most richly gifted of the British school of musical composers. His works, which show traces of their author's French training, are melodious and refined, while his orchestration is beautiful.
R. H. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thomas, Edward

​THOMAS, EDWARD (1813–1886), Indian antiquary, born on 31 Dec. 1813, the son of Honoratus Leigh Thomas [q. v.], was educated at the East India College at Haileybury. He went to India in 1832 as a ‘writer’ in the Bengal service of the company. Ill-health interfered with his duties, and compelled several absences in England on sick leave; and when Lord Dalhousie, struck by his abilities, offered him in 1852 the post of foreign secretary to the government of India, he was reluctantly obliged to decline it, feeling himself unequal to the strain. After acting for a short time as judge at Delhi, he was appointed superintending judge of the Saugor and Nerbudda territory. He retired on a pension in 1857, and spent the rest of his life in scholarly pursuits, attending the meetings of learned societies and writing numerous essays and articles on oriental archæology. He died in Kensington on 10 Feb. 1886.
By breaking ground in a dozen obscure subjects—such as Bactrian, Indo-Scythic, and Sassanian coins, Indian metrology, Persian gems and inscriptions—Thomas rendered important services to science, which were recognised by his election as a fellow of the Royal Society on 8 June 1871, as correspondent of the Institute of France in January 1873, and as honorary member of the Russian Academy, and by his decoration as companion of the Indian Empire. His chief published volumes were his ‘Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi’ (1847; 2nd enlarged edit. 1871), and his edition of James Prinsep's ‘Essays on Indian Antiquities’ and ‘Useful Tables’ (2 vols. 1858), which he enriched with valuable notes, and rendered an indispensable work of reference for oriental archæologists. Other noteworthy publications were his ‘Coins of the Kings of Ghazni’ (1847, 1858), ‘Initial Coinage of Bengal’ (1886, 1873), ‘Early Sassanian Inscriptions’ (1868), ‘Ancient Indian Weights’ (1874, being part i. of the new ‘Numismata Orientalia’ which he edited for Nicholas Trübner [q. v.]), and ‘The Revenue of the Mughal Empire’ (1871, 1882). His numerous short papers in the transactions of learned societies, albeit often avowedly premature and containing tentative views which later study caused him to modify or abandon, not only bore the marks of a fine gift for palæography, numismatics, and a wide range of archæology, but gave a fresh impetus to the science, and stimulated other students. Many of these papers appeared in the ‘Numismatic Chronicle’ between 1847 and 1883, but the greater number were contributed to the ‘Journal’ of the Royal Asiatic Society, of which he was a member for forty years and treasurer for twenty-five, and in which his influence and advice were deeply felt and valued.
[Personal knowledge; private information; obituary by the present writer in Athenæum, 21 and 28 Feb. 1886; Annual Rep. Royal Asiatic Soc. May 1886; Men of the Time, 1884.]
S. L-P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thomas, Francis Sheppard

1904 Errata appended.
​THOMAS, FRANCIS SHEPPARD (1794?–1857), archivist, was born at Kington in Herefordshire in 1793 or 1794. In 1826 he entered the Public Record Office in Chancery Lane, where he rose to the position of secretary. In 1846 he privately printed a useful collection of passages from public records relating to the departments of state under the title ‘Notes of Materials for the History of Public Departments,’ with an account of the contents of the state paper office (London, fol.) This was followed in 1848 by a more elaborate work on the exchequer, which comprised a sketch of the entire central financial machinery of England and Ireland. It was entitled ‘The Ancient Exchequer of England, the Treasury, and Origin of the Present Management of the Exchequer and Treasury of Ireland’ (London, 8vo). In the following year appeared ‘A History of the State Paper Office’ (London, 8vo), elaborated from the sketch of the department which he had already given in ‘Notes for the History of Public Departments.’ In 1852 he wrote an explanatory preface to ‘Liber Munerum Publicorum Hiberniæ,’ by Rowley Lascelles [q. v.], which was then first offered to the public. In 1853 appeared his ‘Handbook to Public Records,’ and in 1856 ‘Historical Notes’ (3 vols.), which was perhaps his most important work. It consists of a collection of short notes, chiefly biographical, compiled while he was arranging the papers in the state paper office, and afterwards supplemented by further research. Thomas died at Croydon on 27 Aug. 1857.
E. I. C.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.264 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 180 | i | 52-53 | Thomas, Francis S.: for Kingston read Kington |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Emly, Lord

​EMLY, Lord. [See Monsell, William, 1812–1894.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Esher, Viscount

​ESHER, Viscount. [See Brett, William Baliol, 1815–1899.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ogilvy, James (1714?-1770)

​OGILVY, JAMES, sixth Earl of Findlater and third Earl of Seafield (1714?–1770), eldest son of James, fifth earl of Findlater and second of Seafield, by Lady Elizabeth Hay, second daughter of Thomas, sixth earl of Kinnoull, was born about 1714. While on foreign travel he made the acquaintance of Horace Walpole, who, in a letter to General Conway on 23 April 1740, wrote of him, 'There are few young people have so good an understanding,' but referred to his 'solemn Scotchery' as not a 'little formidable' (Walpole, Letters, ed. Cunningham, i. 46). Before succeeding his father in 1704 he was known as Lord Deskford. From an early period he took an active interest in promoting manufactures and agriculture. In the parish of Deskford he opened, in 1752, a large bleachfield, and in Cullen he established a manufacture for linen and damask. From 1754 to 1761 he was one of the commissioners of customs for Scotland, and in 1765 he was constituted one of the lords of police. lie was also a trustee for the improvement of fisheries and manufactures, and for the management of the annexed estates in Scotland. By his example and encouragement he did much to promote advanced methods of agriculture in Banffshire. He introduced turnip husbandry, and granted long leases to his tenants on condition that within a certain period they should endorse their lands, and adopt certain improved methods of cropping. To prevent damage to young plantations on his estate, he agreed to give certain of his tenants, on the termination of their leases, every third tree, or its value in money. He died at Cullen House on 3 Nov. 1770. By his wife, Lady Mary, second daughter of John Murray, first duke of Atholl, he had two sons: James, seventh earl of Findlater and fourth earl of Seafield (d. 1811), the last earl of the Ogilvy line; and John (d. 1763).
[Douglas's Scottish Peerage, ed. Wood, i. 688; Horace Walpole's Letters; New Statistical Account of Scotland, xiii. 166. 229, 235. 323; Craddock's Annals of Banff (New Spalding Club).]
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ogle, Charles (1775-1858)

​OGLE, Sir CHARLES (1775–1858), admiral of the fleet, eldest son of Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle (1727–1816), and grandnephew of Sir Chaloner Ogle [q. v.], was born on 24 May 1775, and entered the navy in 1787, on board the Adventure, with Captain John Nicholson Inglefield [q. v.] After uneventful service in different ships on the coast of Africa and home stations, he was made lieutenant into the Woolwich, in the West Indies, on 14 Nov. 1793. In January 1794 he was moved into the Boyne, flagship of Sir John Jervis, and in May was appointed acting-captain of the Assurance. On 21 May 1795 he was confirmed as commander of the Avenger sloop, from which he was moved to the Petrel, and on 11 Jan. 1796, in the Mediterranean, was posted by Jervis to the Minerve. During the following years he commanded the Meleager, Greyhound, and Egyptienne, for the most part in the Mediterranean. In 1805 he commanded the Unité frigate, and in 1806 was appointed to the Princess Augusta yacht, which he commanded till August 1815, when he took command of the Ramillies in the Channel. In November 1815 he commanded the Malta at Plymouth, and in 1816 the Rivoli at Portsmouth. By the death of his father on 27 Aug. 1816 he succeeded to the baronetcy. He was promoted to be rear-admiral on 12 Aug. 1819, was commander-in-chief in North America 1827–30, became vice-admiral 22 July 1830, admiral 23 Nov. 1841, and was commander-in-chief at Portsmouth 1845–8. He was promoted to be admiral of the fleet on 8 Dec. 1857, and died at Tunbridge Wells on 16 June 1858. Ogle married, first, in 1802, Charlotte Margaret, daughter of General Thomas Gage [q. v.] (she died in 1814, leaving issue two daughters and a son, Chaloner, who succeeded to the baronetcy); secondly, in 1820, Letitia, daughter of Sir William Burroughs, bart. (she died in 1832, leaving issue one son, William, who succeeded as fifth baronet); thirdly, in 1834, Mary Anne, daughter of George Cary of Tor Abbey, Devon, already twice a widow (she died in 1842, without issue).
[Marshall's Roy. Nav. Biogr. i. 709; O'Byrne's Nav. Biogr. Dict.; Return of Services in the Public Record Office; Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xxix. p. cxxxii; Gent. Mag. 1858, ii. 189; Foster's Baronetage.]
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ogilvy, Patrick

​OGILVY or OGILVIE, Sir PATRICK, seventh Baron of Boyne (fl. 1707), was the son of Sir Walter, sixth baron of Boyne, and succeeded his father in 1656. On 14 Oct. 1681 he was named an ordinary lord of session, with the title of Lord Boyne, and at the same time received the honour of knighthood. In January 1686 he received a pension from the king. On 11 May of the same year he was insulted in the high Street of Edinburgh as as he was returning from Court by Campbell of Caldor, who spat in his face, calling him rascal and villain. The court of session committed Campbell to prison in the Tolbooth, and laid the matter before the king, who directed that Campbell should ask his pardon and theirs, and particularly Lord Boyne's, on his knees. This he did on 14 Sept. Ogilvy represented Banffshire in the Scottish parliament 1669-74, 1678, 1681-1682, 1685-6, in the convention of 1689, and from 1689 until 29 April 1693, when his seat was declared vacant because he had signed the assurance. Burnet states that he 'heard from some of the lords of Scotland' that on Queen Anne's accession to the throne the Jacobites sent up Ogilvy of Boyne, 'who was in great esteem among them,' to propose to her 'the design of bringing the Pretender to succeed to the crown upon a bargain that she should hold it during her life;' and that 'when he went back he gave the party full assurance that she had accepted it' (Own Time, ed. 1838, p. 853). He is mentioned in 1705 in the Duke of Perth's instructions as one of those who had distinguished themselves by their loyalty to the exiled family since the revolution (Correspondence of Nathaniel Hooke, i. 230), and as favouring a descent on England (ib. ii. 25). In September 1707 he signed credentials to his son James to treat with the pretender as to the means of his restoration to the throne (ib. ii. 47). On account of debt he was ultimately compelled to sell the estate of Boyne. By his first wife, Mary, daughter of Sir James Grant of Grant, he had a son James, a very active Jacobite (cf. Correspondence of Nathaniel Hooke), who ultimately settled in France; and by his second wife, a daughter of Douglas of Whittinghame, he had Patrick, from whom the Ogilvys of Lintrathen are descended.
[Lauder of Fountainhall's Historical Notices; Burnet's Own Time; Correspondence of Nathaniel Hooke (Roxburghe Club); Douglas's Baronage of Scotland, p. 289; Brunton and Haig's Senators of the College of Justice.
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ogilvy, Walter

​ OGILVY or OGILVIE, Sir WALTER (d. 1440), of Lintrathen, lord high treasurer of Scotland, was the second son of Sir Walter Ogilvy of Wester Powrie and Auchterhouse. The father was the 'gude Schir Walter Ogilvie' of Wyntoun's 'Chronicle,' who was killed in 1392, with sixty of his followers, at Gasklune, near Blairgowrie, by a body of highlanders of the clan Donnochy. His mother was Isabel, daughter and sole heiress of Malcolm Ramsay, knight of Auchterhouse. The Ogilvys trace their descent from Gilbert, a younger son of Gilbride, first thane of Angus, on whom the barony of Ogilvy was bestowed by William the Lion. The eldest son of Sir Walter of Aucherhouse is 'the gracious good Lord Ogilvy' mentioned in the old ballad as 'of the best among' those slain at the battle of Harlaw in 1411. ​The second son, Walter, had a charter of various lands in the barony of Lintrathen from Archibald, earl of Douglas, which was confirmed by Robert, duke of Albany, on 20 Nov. 1406. He had also a ratification from Alexander Ogilvy of Ogilvy of the lands of Wester Powris on 2 Aug. 1428. On 8 June 1424 he had a safe conduct for a year to go to Flanders (Cal. Documents relating to Scotland, 1357-1509, entry 962). After the arrests of the nobles at Perth in 1435 [see under James I of Scotland] he was made lord high treasurer, and he was also one of the jury who in the same year sat at the trial at Murdoch, duke of Albany and his relatives. In 1426 he founded and endowed two chaplainries in the church of Auchterhouse for the safety of the souls of the king and queen, and of those who fell at the battle of Harlaw. With other Scottish commissioners, he had on 24 Jan. 1429-30 a safe-conduct to meet the English at Hawdenstank to redress complaints (ib. entry 1032). On 11 Dec. 1430 he was appointed one of the special envoys to treat for the prorogation of a truce and a final peace with Henry, king of England (ib. entry 1037), and on 15 Dec. he signed a truce with England for five years from 11 May 1431 (ib. entry 1038). In 1431 he was appointed treasurer of the king's household, and was succeeded in the office of lord high treasurer by John Myrton. He was one of those who, in 1431, attended the Princess Margaret into France on her marriage with the dauphin. By warrant of the king he erected Airlie tower or fortalice of Airlie, Forfarshire, into a royal castle. He died in 1440. By Isabel de Durward, heiress of Lintrathen, he had two sons and a daughter. The sons were: Sir John of Lintrathen, his heir, whose son, Sir James Ogilvy of Airlie, was created by James IV on 28 April 1491 a peer of parliament by the title of Lord Ogilvy of Airlie; and Sir Walter of Auchleven, whose eldest son, Sir James, was ancestor of the Ogilvys, earls of Findlater, and whose second son. Sir Walter Ogilvy of Boyne, was ancestor of the lords of Banff. The daughter, Giles, was married to Sir William Arbuthnott of Arbuthnott.
[Cal. Documents relating to Scotland; Crawfurd's Officers of State. pp. 356-7; Douglas's Scottish Peerage, ed. Wood, i. 29.]
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thomson, Alexander (1763-1803)

​THOMSON, ALEXANDER (1763–1803), poet, was born on 7 Aug. 1763. He resided in Edinburgh, and was an intimate friend of Robert Anderson (1750–1830) [q. v.] Thomson was the author of several poems, of which the best known were ‘Whist’ (London, 1791, 4to; 2nd edit. 1792, 8vo) and ‘An Essay on Novels’ (Edinburgh, 1793, 4to). He died in Edinburgh on 7 Nov. 1803, leaving a widow and six daughters.
Besides the works mentioned, Thomson published:
* ‘The Choice,’ a poem, Edinburgh, 1788, 4to.
* ‘The Paradise of Taste,’ London, 1796, 4to.
* ‘Pictures of Poetry,’ Edinburgh, 1799, 8vo.
* ‘The British Parnassus at the Close of the Eighteenth Century,’ Edinburgh, 1801, 4to.
* ‘Sonnets, Odes, and Elegies,’ Edinburgh, 1801, 8vo.
He also published ‘The German Miscellany,’ Perth, 1796, 12mo, consisting of translations from Kotzebue and Meissner, and translated Kotzebue's comedy, ‘The East Indian,’ London, 1799, 8vo. He left an unfinished ‘History of Scottish Poetry.’
[Nichols's Lit. Illustr. vii. 78, 122, viii. 343, 374; Gent. Mag. 1803, ii. 1096; Lit. Memoirs of Living Authors, 1798, ii. 306; Baker's Biogr. Dram. i. 710, ii. 58, 264; Monthly Mag. 1801, p. 93.]
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thomson, Alexander (1817-1875)

​THOMSON, ALEXANDER (1817–1875), architect, known as ‘Greek Thomson,’ born at Balfron in Stirlingshire in 1817, was the son of John Thomson, bookkeeper in a spinning-mill at Balfron, by his second wife, Elizabeth Cooper, sister of the burgher minister at Balfron. After serving for a short time in a lawyer's office, Robert Foote, an architect, saw some drawings by him, and took him as an apprentice. About 1834 he entered the office of John Baird, an architect in Glasgow, and about 1847 went into partnership with John Baird, his son. While in partnership with John Baird he assisted him in the plans (which were not carried out) for the new buildings for the university of Glasgow in a style imitating the old college buildings. Convincing himself of the inferiority of this style, he determined to follow in his future work the principles of Greek architecture. ‘Greek Thomson,’ as he was thenceforth generally called, to distinguish him from other architects of the same name in Glasgow, was perhaps the most original architect of modern times. His ability was acknowledged by Gothic architects such as William Burgess; and Roger Smith, speaking in London at the Society of Arts, called him an architect of genius. He never had the opportunity of designing great buildings; but whether he designed shops and tenements, merchants' offices, rows of houses, or united presbyterian churches, he made every building remarkable, and impressed it with the stamp of genius. His style, while developed to carry out modern requirements, was founded on Greek architecture, breathing its spirit rather than strictly following its forms, and sometimes adopting features which suggested ancient Eastern styles. He had a fine sense of proportion, and gave to common buildings massiveness and dignity. His influence affected the general architecture of Glasgow, giving it largeness and dignity, and it still inspires students of the art.
Thomson died at Glasgow on 22 March 1875, leaving a widow and seven children. Among his works in Glasgow may be mentioned the united presbyterian churches in Caledonia Road, in Vincent Street, and in Queen's Park, the Egyptian Hall in Union Street, and almost all the buildings in Gordon Street.
His younger brother, George Thomson (1819–1878), was born at Balfron on 26 March 1819. He was associated with Alexander from 1856 till 1871, when he went as a missionary to Victoria in the Cameroons. He died there on 14 Dec. 1878.
[This article is largely based on information kindly given by Mr. J. J. Stevenson, F.R.I.B.A.; see also ‘Greek Thomson,’ by Thomas Gildard, in the Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow, xix. 191–209; Builder, 26 March 1875; British Architect, 26 March 1875, 19 Nov. 1886; Dictionary of Architecture, 1887; Memoir of George Thomson, 1881.]
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thomson, David

​THOMSON, DAVID (1817–1880), professor of natural philosophy at Aberdeen, eldest son of David Thomson, merchant of Leghorn, was born at Leghorn on 17 Nov. 1817. Receiving his school education in Italy and Switzerland, he entered the university of Glasgow in 1832 and Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1836, graduating ​B.A. in 1839 and M.A. in 1845. His mathematical powers were freely recognised, but the state of his health barred his chance of distinction.
In 1840 he became professor-substitute (for William Meikleham) of natural philosophy in the university of Glasgow, and that position he held until, in 1845, he was appointed professor of natural philosophy and one of the regents in the university and King's College, Aberdeen. He was sub-principal of King's College from 1854 to 1860, in which year, on the union of King's and Marischal colleges, he became professor of natural philosophy in the reconstituted university of Aberdeen. He died in office on 31 Jan. 1880, leaving a widow, a son, and three daughters.
‘Davie’ Thomson was known to two generations of Aberdeen students as an ideal teacher, and his name is inseparably connected with the high reputation which the university at one time possessed for mathematical scholarship. His lectures, while strictly scientific in method, were lightened by the free play of his keen and delicate humour. While still young he showed qualifications in the conduct of business which a little later rendered him the directing pilot in the somewhat troublous period of transition when the Aberdeen colleges had to be remodelled under the pressure of the demand for university extension and reform. His views, in spite of much local opposition, were in every particular adopted when the union of the colleges was finally carried out by act of parliament in 1860.
Thomson's only contribution to the literature of the subject of his chair is the article ‘Acoustics’ in the ninth edition of the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica.’ In 1852 he edited the second edition of ‘Caledonia Romana,’ by Robert Stuart, his brother-in-law.
The university of Aberdeen possesses a bust of Thomson by John Hutcheson, R.S.A., subscribed for by old students.
[Records of Aberdeen Arts Class, 1868–72, 2nd ed. 1892; Low's David Thomson, a sketch, 1894; Davie Thomson, in Aberdeen Evening Gazette, 30 April 1894; Scotsman, 2 Feb. 1880; personal knowledge.]
P. J. A.