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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Raymond, Thomas

1904 Errata appended.
​RAYMOND, Sir THOMAS (1627–1683), judge, son of Robert Raymond of Bowers-Gifford, near Downham, Essex, born in 1627, was admitted from Stortford School pensioner of Christ's College, Cambridge, 5 April 1643, aged 16, being admitted student of Gray's Inn 4 Feb. 1644–5, and graduating B.A. at Midsummer 1646. He was called to the bar at Gray's Inn on 11 Feb. 1649–50, and on 26 Oct. 1677 was sworn serjeant-at-law. He succeeded Edward Thurland on the exchequer bench 8 May 1679; was knighted on 26 June following; transferred to the common pleas on 7 Feb. 1679–80, and advanced to the king's bench on 29 April following. He sat with Scroggs at Westminster during the trials of Elizabeth Cellier [q. v.] and Roger Palmer, earl of Castlemaine [q. v.], and as assessor to the House of Lords at the trial of Lord Stafford [see Howard, William, Viscount Stafford]. He concurred with Chief-justice Sir Francis Pemberton [q. v.] in ​overruling, on 11 May 1681, the plea to the jurisdiction of the king's bench set up by Edward Fitzharris [q. v.], and with Chief-justice Sir Francis North in passing sentence on 18 Aug. the same year on Stephen College [q. v.] He also concurred in the judgment on the quo warranto against the Corporation of London in June 1683, and died on circuit on 14 July following. His remains were interred in the church of Downham, Essex, in which parish was situated his seat, Tremnall Park.
Raymond married Anne, daughter of Sir Edward Fishe, bart., by whom he had, with two daughters who died in infancy, a son Robert [q. v.]
Raymond left in manuscript a valuable collection of reports first printed in 1696 (London, fol.), under the title ‘Reports of divers Special Cases adjudged in the courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer in the reign of King Charles II,’ 2nd ed. London, 1743, fol.; later editions, Dublin, 1793, 8vo, London, 1803, 8vo. His commonplace book, in several folio volumes, is among the manuscripts in the possession of Sir Edmund Filmer, bart.
J. M. R.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.231 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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| 346 | ii | 15 f.e. | Raymond, Sir Thomas: after in 1627, insert was admitted from Stortford School pensioner of Christ's College, Cambridge, 5 April 1643, aged 16, being admitted student of Gray's Inn 4 Feb. 1644-5 and graduating B.A. at midsummer 1646. He |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ray, James

​RAY, JAMES (fl. 1745), chronicler of the ‘45,’ was a native of Whitehaven in Cumberland. On the advance from Edinburgh of the rebel army under Prince Charles Edward Stuart, in the autumn of 1745, Ray marched with a party of his townsmen, who intended to join the royal garrison at Carlisle. But Carlisle surrendered to the rebels before he arrived, whereupon he followed the advance of the rebels to Derby as closely as he was able. All the information he obtained concerning them he reported to the Duke of Cumberland, whose forces he met at Stafford on 5 Jan. 1746. With the duke's army he continued till the final victory at Culloden. He published, probably in 1746, ‘The Acts of the Rebels, written by an Egyptian. Being an Abstract of the Journal of Mr. James Ray of Whitehaven, Volunteer under the Duke of Cumberland.’ This is a pamphlet of thirty-two pages, and was reprinted at Preston in 1881. About the same date he published ‘A Complete History of the Rebellion in 1745,’ of which many editions ​appeared (Manchester, 12mo, 1746; York, 12mo, 1749; Bristol, 12mo, 1750; Whitehaven, 8vo, 1754). It is in many ways the best and most trustworthy account extant of the campaign and of the state of feeling in England [cf. art. Home, John].
[Ray's Works.]
A. N.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ray, Thomas Matthew

​RAY, THOMAS MATTHEW (1801–1881), secretary of the Loyal National Repeal Association, born in 1801, was the son of Matthew Ray of Dublin. Early in life he engaged in the nationalist movement in Ireland, and as secretary of the Trades' Political Union in Dublin attracted the notice of Daniel O'Connell. O'Connell recognised his talents as an organiser, and, when the Precursor Society was founded in 1838, appointed Ray its secretary. Ray transferred his services to the Loyal National Repeal Association on its inauguration on 15 April 1840. ‘The vast correspondence of the association, with branches throughout the country, in Scotland, England, America, and youthful Australia … was carefully watched, and almost exclusively written, by himself, and displayed unerring judgment, tact, and skill’ (Freeman's Journal, 6 Jan. 1881). ‘He possessed,’ wrote Sir C. G. Duffy, ‘remarkable powers of organising and superintending work … a talent rarer in Ireland than the gift of speech … he might be counted upon for seeing done efficiently and silently whatever was ordered’ (Young Ireland, popular ed. p. 67). O'Connell's allocutions on questions of the day were for the next three years generally addressed to ‘My dear Ray.’ Ray rarely spoke at the meetings of the association. In April 1842 he was admitted to Gray's Inn, but he does not appear to have practised law. In 1844 he was one of the traversers charged, with O'Connell, with exciting disaffection in Ireland, and was condemned to imprisonment. But the decision was reversed on appeal to the House of Lords in September. On the dissolution of the association, Ray obtained the post of assistant registrar of deeds in Ireland, and held the office for many years. He died at 5 Leinster Road, Rathmines, Dublin, on 5 Jan. 1881, and was buried in Glasnevin.
He published ‘A List of the Constituency of the City of Dublin, arranged in dictionary order,’ 8vo, Dublin, 1835?
D. J. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ray, Benjamin

​RAY, BENJAMIN (1704–1760), antiquary, son of Joseph Ray, merchant, and a kinsman of Maurice Johnson [q. v.], was born in 1704 at Spalding, Lincolnshire, where he was educated under Timothy Neve (1694–1757) [q. v.] He afterwards proceeded to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was admitted a pensioner on 10 Oct. 1721, being then ‘aged 17,’ and graduated B.A. in 1725 and M.A. in 1730. After leaving the university he took orders, and became perpetual curate of Cowbit and Surfleet, Lincolnshire. From 1723 to 1736 he was master of the grammar school at Sleaford, where he also held a curacy. Ray was a member of the well-known ‘Gentlemen's Society’ of Spalding, to which Newton, Pope, Bentley, and Gay sometime belonged [see Johnson, Maurice]. He was secretary in 1735, and afterwards vice-president, and exhibited at meetings of the society many antiquities of great value and interest (Stukeley, Diaries and Letters, Surtees Soc. iii. 125, 126, ii. 306). He communicated a paper by himself on ‘The Truth of the Christian Religion demonstrated from the Report propagated throughout the Gentile world about the birth of Christ, that a Messiah was expected, and from the authority of Heathen Writers, and from the Coins of the Roman Emperors.’ It was not printed. To the Royal Society Ray sent ‘Account of a Waterspout raised upon Land in Lincolnshire’ (Phil. Trans. Abr. 1751, x. 271), which Maurice Johnson described to Dr. Birch as ‘the most remarkable phenomenon communicated to us since Newton's time.’ Ray was also an authority upon coins (Gent. Mag. 1757, p. 499). He died unmarried at Spalding on 26 Aug. 1760. He is described as a ‘most ingenious and worthy man, possessed of good learning, but ignorant of the world, indolent and thoughtless, and often very absent.’ Some amusing instances of his absence of mind were communicated to Nichols by his friend, Samuel Pegge (Illustr. of Lit. viii. 548).
G. Le G. N.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Savage, Thomas (d.1507)

​SAVAGE, THOMAS (d. 1507), archbishop of York, was second son of Sir John Savage of Clifton, Cheshire, by Katherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Stanley (afterwards Lord Stanley) [q. v.] (cf. Notes and Queries, 7th ser. ii. 508, iii. 57, 252). Sir John Savage (d. 1492) [q. v.] was his brother. He was educated at Cambridge, where he proceeded LL.D. A Lancastrian in politics, he was much trusted and employed by Henry VII. On 21 Sept. 1485 he is spoken of as the king's chaplain, and received a grant of the chancellorship of the earldom of March; in the following February he was employed on a commission dealing with the tenants of the earldom. On 17 Dec. 1487 Henry entrusted the letting of the royal lands to him among others. He soon had more important employment. On 11 Dec. 1488 he was sent with Richard Nanfan [q. v.] to Spain and Portugal, and the treaty of Medina del Campo was the result. Roger Machado [q. v.] has left an account of the incidents of the outward journey; the significance of the treaty has been fully explained by Professor Busch. In 1490 he took part as a representative of England in the unsuccessful conference at Boulogne.
Savage was amply rewarded for his exertions. On 8 Dec. 1490 he received an annuity of six marks. In 1492 he became bishop of Rochester; in 1496 he was translated to London, and in 1501 to York. There is a story that he offended the people of his province by being enthroned by deputy, and sending down his fool to amuse his household. He was a courtier by nature, and took part in the great ceremonies of his time: the creation of Prince Henry as Duke of York, the meeting with the Archduke Philip, and the reception of Catherine of Aragon. He died at Cawood on 3 Sept. 1507, and was buried under a fine tomb in York Minster. His heart, however, was taken to Macclesfield, where he had intended to found a college. He is said to have been passionately fond of hunting. Accounts connected with his property, but not his will, are printed in ‘Testamenta Eboracensia’ (Surtees Soc., iv. 308, &c.; cf. Hist. of the Church of York and its Archbishops, Rolls Ser. iii. 354, &c.).
W. A. J. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Savage, William (1770-1843)

​SAVAGE, WILLIAM (1770–1843), printer and engraver, born in 1770 at Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire, was the younger son of James Savage, a clockmaker, descended from a younger branch of the family of Savage of Rock Savage in Cheshire. William was educated at the church school at Howden, and acquired considerable proficiency in geometry and mathematics. In 1790 he commenced business as a printer and bookseller in his native town, in partnership with his elder brother, James (1767–1845) [q. v.] In 1797 he removed to London, and about two years later, on the recommendation of Dr. Barrington, bishop of Durham, and of Count Rumford, he was appointed printer to the Royal Institution in Albemarle Street, London. For ten years he was assistant secretary to the board of managers, and also secretary to the library committee, secretary to the committee of chemistry, and superintendent of the printing office.
About 1803 Savage, while retaining his appointments, commenced business as a printer in London on his own account. In 1807 he was commissioned to print Forster's ‘British Gallery of Engravings,’ and his mode of executing this work at once established his fame. At that time printing ink in England was of inferior quality, and, realising the importance of his undertaking, Savage set himself to improve it by various experiments. He was finally able to make printing ink without any oil in its composition, which rendered it at once easier to manufacture and more serviceable for artistic purposes. He made known the results of his labours to the public in a work entitled ‘Preparations in Printing Ink in various Colours’ (London, 1832, 8vo). In recognition of his services, the Society for the Encouragement of Arts awarded him their large medal and a sum of money ‘for his imitations of drawings, printed from engravings on wood, with inks of his own preparing.’
From 1822 to 1832 Savage was occupied in arranging the materials which he had been collecting for nearly forty years for his ‘Dictionary of the Art of Printing’ (London, 1840–1, 8vo, in 16 numbers), a work of considerable authority on the practical parts of the craft.
Savage died at his residence at Dodington Grove, Kensington, on 25 July 1843, leaving three daughters. Besides the works mentioned, he was the author of: 1. ‘Observations on Emigration to the United States,’ London, 1819, 8vo. 2. ‘Practical Thoughts on Decorative Printing,’ London, 1822, fol. This work was illustrated by engravings from Callcott, Varley, Thurston, Willement, and Brooke. The edition was limited, and Savage roused some indignation by promising to destroy the blocks of his engravings for the benefit of his subscribers (Gent. Mag. 1815, ii. 303). Savage was also a good draughtsman, and there are four engravings from drawings by him in the part of Britton's ‘Beauties of England and Wales’ which relates to Yorkshire.
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Savile, Jeremiah

​SAVILE, JEREMIAH (fl. 1651), musician, is named by Playford among the eighteen principal London teachers ‘for the voyce or viol’ during the Commonwealth (Directions prefixed to Playford's Musical Banquet, 1651). He was the composer of the little part-song called ‘The Waits;’ this consists only of the syllables ‘fa la la,’ but the music is so tuneful and inspiriting that it even now forms the traditional and accepted conclusion of all madrigal societies' programmes. The piece was first published in Playford's ‘Musical Companion’ (1667). It was formerly sung four times through, at present only three; and words were set to it by Thomas Oliphant. Sir H. R. Bishop used it in the arrangement of ‘Twelfth Night,’ produced at Covent Garden in 1820; and reset it for five voices, to be sung by Viola, a Page, Curio, Valentine, and ‘Benvolio.’ There are many modern editions. Three other pieces by Savile were printed in ‘The Musical Companion;’ one of these, the song, ‘Here's a health unto His Majesty,’ is still familiar. Three solo songs by him are in Playford's ‘Select Musicall Ayres and Dialogues,’ 1653.
H. D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sillery, Charles Doyne

​SILLERY, CHARLES DOYNE (1807–1837), poet, born at Athlone on 2 March 1807, was the son of an Irish artillery officer, Charles Doyne Sillery, a native of Drogheda, who died of wounds received at Talavera. The son entered the navy at an early age, serving as a midshipman on a voyage to China and India. Delicate health prevented him from following a naval career, and in 1828 he settled in Edinburgh, in order to study surgery at the university there. The university records make no mention of him after 1829. He died at Edinburgh on 16 May 1837. Besides three small volumes of a deeply religious tendency, entitled respectively ‘A Discourse on the Sufferings of Our Saviour’ (1833), ‘An Essay on the Creation of the Universe’ (1833), and ‘The Man of Sorrows,’ published posthumously, he published the following volumes of verse: 1. ‘Vallery, or the Citadel of the Lake,’ 2 vols. 12mo, Edinburgh, 1829. 2. ‘Eldred of Erin,’ a poem in Spenserian stanza, 12mo, Edinburgh, 1833. 3. ‘The Royal Marines and other Poems,’ 8vo, London, 1833. 4. ‘The Exiles of Chamouni,’ a dramatic poem, 1834. Several of his poems have obtained a permanent place in Scottish anthologies.
[Allibone's Dict. of English Lit.; O'Donoghue's Poets of Ireland; Rev. C. Rogers's Scottish Poets; information kindly given by H. A. Webster, esq., librarian of Edinburgh University.]
D. J. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sillett, James

​SILLETT, JAMES (1764–1840), painter, son of James Sillett of Eye, Suffolk, was born at Norwich in 1764, and, after working there for a time as an heraldic painter, came to London, where he was employed as a copyist by the Polygraphic Society. From 1787 to 1790 he studied in the schools of the Royal Academy. He became a good miniaturist, and also painted game, fruit, and flowers with considerable skill; he was an exhibitor of works of this class at the Royal Academy from 1796 to 1837. About 1804 Sillett went to reside at Lynn, where he taught drawing and made the illustrations for Richards's ‘History of Lynn,’ published in 1812. In 1810 he removed to Norwich, where he passed the remainder of his life in the constant practice of his art. He was president of the Norwich Society of Artists in 1815, but was one of the seceders from the original body. He published in 1826 ‘A Grammar of Flower Painting,’ and in 1828 a set of fifty-nine views of public edifices in Norwich. He died at Norwich on 6 May 1840. He had married in 1801 Ann Banyard of East Dereham, through whom he became possessed of some property. Sillett left a daughter Emma, who was well known as a flower-painter, and a son, James Banyard Sillett, who survives.
[Art Union, 1840, p. 91; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Graves's Dict. of Artists, 1760–1893; Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. i. 39, 135, 194, 358; information from James Reeve, esq., of Norwich.]
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sigillo, Nicholas de

​SIGILLO, NICHOLAS de (fl. 1170), judge, was a royal clerk in the exchequer, where he held the office of Clericus de Sigillo, or Magister Scriptorii, in which capacity he ranked next to the chancellor. From his office he was called ‘De Sigillo,’ like Robert de Sigillo, the bishop of London, who held the same position in the reign of Henry I. Nicholas is said to have been archdeacon of Huntingdon in 1155, and in 1156 he accounted for two hawks in Lincolnshire, probably as a fine for his archdeaconry. Between 1157 and 1159 he appears as a witness to royal charters (Eyton, pp. 27–57), and in September 1173 he was one of the persons who held an assize on the king's demesnes (ib. p. 176). It does not seem certain whether Nicholas de Sigillo is distinct from Nicholas ‘capellanus regis,’ who was sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire from Michaelmas 1164 to Easter 1169, and dean of Tilbury in September 1169 (ib. p. 131). Mr. Eyton distinguishes them, but Foss treats them as one person. Nicholas, the king's chaplain, attended the council of Cashel, on the king's behalf, in November 1171, and was one of the witnesses to the treaty with Roderic of Connaught in October 1175 (Rog. Hov. ii. 31, 85). Nicholas ‘capellanus’ occurs as a witness to royal charters in July and October 1175 and September 1177. He was one of the itinerant justices appointed in March 1179, and about the same time was made archdeacon of Coventry (Eyton, pp. 192, 195, 219, 226). As Nicholas ‘capellanus’ he occurs as a witness to royal charters in June 1180 and in July and September 1186.
C. L. K.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sihtric (d.1042)

​SIHTRIC or SIGTRYGGR (d. 1042), surnamed Silki-skegg [Silk-beard], was son of Olaf Sitricson (d. 981) [q. v.], known as Olaf or Anlaf Cuaran. His mother was Gormflaith or Kormlada (d. 1030), daughter of Murchadh, and sister of Maelmordha, king of Leinster. Sihtric (d. 927) [q. v.] was his grandfather. Driven from Dublin in 995 by Imhar of Waterford, he was restored in 996 (Four Masters). In that year he and his ally and kinsman, Mael-mordha, took prisoner Donchadh, son of the king of Leinster; but in 1000, in alliance with the men of Leinster, he was heavily defeated by Brian Boroimhe [q. v.] at Glen-Mama, losing his brother Harold, so that, after vainly endeavouring to get help in Ulster, he was forced to come to terms with his conqueror. The treaty was clenched by the marriage of his sister Maelmuire to Maelsechlain II [q. v.], and his own marriage to Brian's daughter.
In 1014 Sihtric held Dublin, though he had been active in getting troops for the alliance against Brian, and it is owing to him that Brodor and Sigurd Hlodwersson were present at the battle of Clontarf, though he himself did not stand in arms that day (Nial's Saga, citing the Saga of Brian). In 1015 Maelsechlain attacked Dublin, burnt the faubourg, and laid waste Kinsale. In 1018 Sihtric took and blinded his cousin Braen, son of Mael-mordha, who went abroad, being shut out from the succession, and died in a monastery at Cologne in 1052 (Ann. Ult.; Four Masters). In 1019 Sihtric plundered Kells, but the year after was defeated with great loss at Dergne Mogorog (Delgany, Wicklow) by Uagaire, son of the king of Leinster, a check followed by defeats on land by king Maelsechlain, and at sea by Niall (d. 1062) [q. v.] of Ulster in 1022 (Four Masters). With Donnchadh, king of Bray, he made an unsuccessful foray into Meath in 1027, and in 1028 (following the custom of the day) he went on a pilgrimage to Rome (Ann. Tigernach; Four Masters). In 1031 Ragnal, grandson of Imhar of Waterford, was slain at Dublin by treachery (possibly at Sihtric's instigation), and the Dublin king plundered Ardbreccan (Ann. Tigernach). In 1032 he defeated the Conaille of Louth, the Ui Tortain of Meath, the Ui Meith of Monaghan, at the Boyne mouth (Four Masters). In 1035 he left his kingdom (probably to go into religious retirement), and passed over sea, leaving his nephew, Eachmarcach Ragnallsson, to rule in his place, and died in 1042 (Ann. Tigernach; Four Masters). The ‘Annals of Loch Cé’ ascribe his death to the Saxons ‘as he went to Rome’ for a second time. He was a patron of the Icelander Gunnlaug Snakestongue, rewarding the poet handsomely for an encomium, of which a fragment only has reached us (Gunnlaug's Saga. c. viii.). He is, upon later tradition, reported the founder of Holy Trinity Church, Dublin (now Christ Church), and patron of Donatus, first bishop of Dublin. His son predeceased him, and his daughter Finen, the nun, died in the same year as her father.
F. Y. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sikes, Charles William

​SIKES, Sir CHARLES WILLIAM (1818–1889), projector of post-office savings banks, second son of Shakespear Garrick Sikes, banker, and Hannah, daughter of John Hurst of Huddersfield, was born in Huddersfield in 1818. In 1833 he entered the office of the Huddersfield Banking Company, in 1837 became cashier, and in 1881 managing director. He took considerable interest in the schemes for social amelioration which were common towards the end of the first half of the century, and in 1850 wrote an anonymous letter to the ‘Leeds Mercury’ advocating the establishment of savings banks in connection with working-class organisations of all kinds. The Yorkshire Union of Mechanics' Institutes took up the matter, and started banks wherever it could. The interest aroused by the scheme led Sikes to consider an extension of it, and in 1854 he published a pamphlet, entitled ‘Good Times, or the Savings Bank and the Fireside,’ and shortly afterwards addressed an open letter to Sir George Cornewall Lewis [q. v.], then ​chancellor of the exchequer, urging that the government should secure the savings of the working classes. This was the origin of the scheme for post-office savings banks. Sir Rowland Hill [q. v.], Frank Ives Scudamore [q. v.], and others connected with the post office were induced to patronise the project, and in 1860 Mr. Gladstone carried it into effect. ‘In recognition of the important part taken by him in introducing the system of post-office savings banks now so widely and so beneficially in operation,’ Sikes was knighted in 1881. He died unmarried on 15 Oct. 1889 at Birkby Lodge, Huddersfield. His portrait hangs in the Huddersfield council-chamber.
[Men of the Time, 11th edit. p. 992; Huddersfield Chronicle, 16 Oct. 1889.]
J. R. M.