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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pollard, Lewis

Date of death 1526 in the ODNB. 1904 Errata appended.
​POLLARD, Sir LEWIS (1465?–1540), judge, born about 1465, was son of Robert Pollard of Roborough, near Torrington, Devon, and a kinsman of Sir John Pollard [q. v.], speaker of the House of Commons. Lewis was called to the bar from the Middle Temple, where he was reader in 1502; in 1505 he was made serjeant-at-law, and on 9 July 1507 king's serjeant, an appointment which was confirmed on the accession of Henry VIII. From this time he frequently served on the commission for the peace in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, and Wiltshire, was justice of assize for the Oxford circuit in 1509, and for the western circuit from 1511 to 1514, when he was appointed justice of common pleas and knighted. He retired from the bench after February 1526, and died in 1540. ‘His knowledge in the laws and other commendable virtues, together with a numerous issue, rendered him famous above most of his age and rank’ (Prince, Worthies of Devon, p. 493). He married Agnes, daughter of Thomas Hext of Kingston, near Totnes, Devon, and had eleven sons and eleven daughters. Of the sons no less than four were knighted, Sir Hugh, Sir John, Sir Richard, and Sir George. Sir Hugh was great-great-grandfather of Sir Hugh Pollard [q. v.]; Sir Richard was father of Sir John Pollard (1528–1575), who must be distinguished from Sir John, speaker of the House of Commons; the former was knighted by the Earl of Warwick on 10 Nov. 1549, sat in parliament as member for Barnstaple, 1553–4, Exeter in 1555, and Grampound, 1562, and died in 1575, leaving no issue. Sir Lewis's son George owed his knighthood to his services in defence of Boulogne in 1548–9.
A. F. P.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.225 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Stewardson, Thomas

​STEWARDSON, THOMAS (1781–1859), portrait-painter, born at Kendal in August 1781, was son of John and Anne Stewardson of Kendal, who belonged to a quaker family at Ullsmoor, near Shap in Westmoreland. After a short apprenticeship with John Fothergill, a painter at Kendal, Stewardson studied for some years under George Romney [q. v.], who painted a portrait of him, which is stated to have been engraved. After this he came to London, and exhibited for the first time at the Royal Academy in 1804. A portrait was painted of Stewardson in that year by John Opie [q. v.], from whom he is also said to have received instruction; this portrait was engraved in mezzotint by W. W. Barney. Stewardson settled at first in Leadenhall Street, where he soon obtained a considerable practice as a portrait-painter, his portraits being well drawn and the colouring good. He painted members of the family of the Duke of Marlborough, the Marquis of Winchester, and others; and among his sitters were Sir Thomas S. Pasley, bart., the Right. Hon. George Canning (engraved for the National Portrait Gallery, i. 75), Lord Skelmersdale, the Earl of Liverpool, and others. Latterly he resided in Adam Street, Adelphi. A portrait, by Stewardson, of George Grote, the historian, is in the National Portrait Gallery. Many of his portraits were engraved. Stewardson sometimes painted fancy subjects, usually with children in them. One of these, ‘The Indian Serpent Charmer,’ exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1818, attracted a good deal of attention. He was prevented by illness from practising his profession for the last thirty years of his life, and died, unmarried, at his lodgings in Pall Mall on 28 Aug. 1859. He was buried in Kensal Green cemetery.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; information from Mr. Thomas Stewardson of Philadelphia, U.S.A.; Gent. Mag. 1859, ii. 538; Rogers's Opie and his Works.]
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Stevenson, William (1719?-1783)

​STEVENSON, WILLIAM (1719?–1783), physician, an Irishman by birth, born about 1719, was first cousin to Andrew Thomas Stewart, sixth baron Stewart of Stewart Castle, co. Tyrone. The Stewarts removed to Scotland in consequence of the troublous times in Ireland at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and it was probably for this reason that Stevenson received his medical education at the university of Edinburgh. Here he studied under Alexander Monro I and Alexander Monro II, John Rutherford (1695–1779) [q. v.], Whytt, and Cullen. He graduated M.D. with the inaugural thesis ‘De Diabete,’ and remained in the city two years longer, partly to study medicine further and partly for instruction in divinity. He was one of the earliest members of the Edinburgh Medical Society, founded in 1737, and he appears to have served for a time in the army, for he says that he ‘was formerly commander of one of his majesty's forts.’ He practised for some time at Coleraine in Ireland, and then moved to Wells in Somerset, where he was practising as a physician in 1779. He lived for a short time at Bath, but moved to Newark at the end of May 1781. Here he died suddenly on 13 April 1783.
A presbyterian in religion and a Jacobite in politics, Stevenson in his later years was constantly at variance with his surroundings. He hated the apothecaries, he despised the College of Physicians, and he abhorred the therapeutic measures adopted by his contemporaries. His pen was venomous, and he spent his life lampooning and being lampooned. He appears to have been a shrewd physician, magnifying his calling, disbelieving in the efficacy of drugs or of bleeding, but with an abiding faith in the curative value of blisters and issues. His contemporaries regarded him as a malignant quack, who endeavoured to destroy their lucrative practice by explaining away the remedial action of the Bath waters in gout.
His works were:
* ‘A Successful Method of treating the Gout by Blistering, with an Introduction consisting of Miscellaneous Matter,’ Bath, 1779, 8vo.
* ‘Cases of Medicine interspersed with Strictures occasioned by some late Medical Transactions in the town of Newark,’ London, 1782, 8vo.
* ‘Dr. Stevenson's Reply to a Letter addressed to Dr. Stevenson of Newark by Ed. Harrison,’ Newark, 1782, 8vo.
* ‘Candid Animadversions on … a Singular Gouty Case, to which are prefixed Strictures on Royal Medical Colleges, likewise a summary Opinion of the late Disorder called the Influenza,’ Newark, 1782, 8vo.
* ‘Considerations on the Dangerous Effects of Promiscuous Blood-letting and the common Preposterous Administration of Drugs, with other Coincident Subjects, Medical and Moral,’ Newark, 1783, 8vo. This work is incomplete, and was published after Stevenson's death.
[Autobiographical details in Stevenson's works; Gent. Mag. 1783, i. 366; Watt's Bibl. Brit.]
D’A. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Steward

​STEWARD. [See also Steuart, Stewart, and Stuart.]
STEWARD, ROBERT the (1316–1390), king of Scotland. [See Robert II.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ross, John Merry

​ROSS, JOHN MERRY (1833–1883), Scottish writer, was the only child of humble parents in Kilmarnock, where he was born on 21 April 1833. He was educated at the academy there, and in 1851 he entered the university of Glasgow, where ‘he devoted more time to English literature than to the Greek and Roman classics,’ and won the prize for the poem in the class of logic and rhetoric. While at the university he wrote an essay on Philip James Bailey's ‘Festus’ for Hogg's ‘Instructor.’ On leaving the university he entered the divinity hall of the united presbyterian church, but at the close of the third session discontinued his theological studies, and in 1859 was appointed sub-editor of Chambers's ‘Encyclopædia.’ He also at the same time assisted his wife in the management of a school for young ladies in Edinburgh, and in 1866 he was appointed by the town council senior English master of the royal high school.
Ross contributed lives of Milton (1856) and of Cowper (1863) to Nimmo's series of English poets, and in 1872 published an annotated edition of selected portions of Milton for use in secondary schools. He contributed a number of lives to the ‘Imperial Dictionary of Biography,’ and also projected and edited the ‘Globe Encyclopædia,’ 1876–9. In 1874 he received the degree of LL.D. from the university of Glasgow, and in 1875 he was chosen a fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He died on 2 Feb. 1883. During the later years of his life he had been engaged in the preparation of a work on ‘Scottish History and Literature to the Period of the Reformation,’ which was published posthumously in 1884, with a biographical sketch of the author by James Brown, D.D. Although not displaying much independent research, it is of value as a summary of the characteristics of the principal Scottish writers, viewed in relation to the history of the nation.
[Biographical sketch appended to his Scottish Hist. and Literature; obituary notices in Scotsman and Academy.]
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ross, John (1763-1837)

​ROSS, JOHN (1763–1837), musician, was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne on 12 Oct. 1763, and studied for seven years with Hawdon, organist of St. Nicholas's Church there. From 1783 to 1836 he was organist of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Aberdeen, and was for several years organist to the Aberdeen musical society. In Aberdeen he was long the only resident musician of any standing. He died on 28 July 1837 at Craigie Park, a suburban residence which he had purchased and improved at a cost of 2,000l. Ross was a prolific composer of pianoforte and vocal music, but, with the exception of one or two songs, such as ‘The Maid of Arranteenie’ and ‘Keen blaws the wind o'er the braes o' Gleniffer,’ his works have not survived. He contributed several airs to R. A. Smith's ‘Scottish Minstrel,’ and was complimented by Robert Tannahill [q. v.] for setting some of his songs to music. He edited ‘Sacred Music, consisting of Chants, Psalms, and Hymns for three Voices,’ London, 1828, the tunes in which are mostly his own. His anthem, ‘When sculptured urns,’ was once very popular.
[Aberdeen Journal, 9 Aug. 1837; Anderson's Precentors and Musical Professors (Aberdeen, 1876); Dict. of Musicians, London, 1824; Love's Scottish Church Music; Baptie's Musical Scotland, where a list of his works is given.]
J. C. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ross, John Wilson

​ROSS, JOHN WILSON (1818–1887), author, born in 1818 at Belmont, St. Vincent, was a son of John Pemberton Ross, solicitor-general and speaker of the House of Assembly of that island, by his wife, only daughter of Alexander Anderson the botanist [q. v.] He was educated in England, at King's College, London. During his early years he lived in British Guiana, where he acted as secretary to the vendue-master of Berbice. On returning to England he engaged in literary work. He edited the second and third series (1860–1863) of the ‘Universal Decorator,’ writing for it memoirs of eminent decorators, and to a similar periodical, entitled ‘Paper and Print,’ contributed a series of lives of French and Flemish printers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In 1871 an article from his pen, under the title ‘The Doctrine of the Chorizontes’ (i.e. those who ‘separate’ the authorship of the ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’), appeared in the ‘Edinburgh Review.’ Its object was to show that the ‘Odyssey’ was composed at least three centuries later than the ‘Iliad.’
Ross's first separate publication was ‘Ninian,’ a poem in three cantos, published at Edinburgh in 1839. In 1846 he produced a translation of Paul Féval's ‘Les Amours de Paris.’ In 1869 he published anonymously a pamphlet full of curious learning, but defective logical power, called ‘The Biblical Prophecy of the Burning of the World: an Attempt to fix [in 6000 A.D.] the date of the coming Fire that is to destroy us all.’ Ross's chief work, ‘Tacitus and Bracciolini: the Annals forged in the Fifteenth Century’ (1878, 8vo), combines considerable acumen with somewhat defective scholarship. Dedicated to the author's brother, Sir Robert Dalrymple Ross [q. v.], the book endeavours to show that Poggio Bracciolini forged the ‘Annales’ of Tacitus for Cosmo de' Medici on the suggestion of Piero Lamberteschi. The theory is based partly upon the long-noticed contrast in style between the ‘Annals’ and ​the ‘Histories’ and upon alleged solecisms in the former, but mainly on forced interpretations of somewhat mysterious episodes in the life of Poggio. In a digressional note Ross elaborately defends the Rowleian authorship of the Chatterton poems. Ross, who wrote also much in popular magazines, died at his house in Holborn on 27 May 1887.
G. Le G. N.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rowan, Arthur Blennerhassett

​ROWAN, ARTHUR BLENNERHASSETT, D.D. (1800–1861), antiquarian writer, born probably in Tralee in October 1800, was only son of William Rowan, ‘formerly of Arbela, co. Kerry, and for many years provost of Tralee,’ by his cousin Letitia, daughter of Sir Barry Denny, bart., of Tralee Castle. He was educated at Dr. King's school, Ennis, and at the age of sixteen entered Trinity College, Dublin, graduating B.A. in 1821, M.A. 1827, B.D. and D.D. 1854. He was ordained in 1824, when he received the curacy of Blennerville in his native county. He held that position for thirty years. In 1840 he went on a visit to Oxford, whence he wrote some lively letters upon the tractarian movement. These he afterwards published under the signature of ‘Ignotus.’ In 1849 he made the tour of the continent, publishing the record of his travels on his return. One of the most diligent antiquaries in the south of Ireland, he projected and edited the ‘Kerry Magazine,’ a periodical which ran for two or three years, and chiefly dealt with local history and antiquities. In 1854 he was appointed rector of Kilgobbin, Clonfert, and on 31 March 1856 was promoted archdeacon of Ardfert. He died at Belmont, near Tralee, 12 Aug. 1861, and was buried in Ballyseedy churchyard. He married Alicia, daughter of Peter Thompson, esq., and had issue one son, William, now of Belmont, co. Kerry (Miscell. Genealog. et Heraldica, new ser. iii. 116).
His published works included: 1. ‘Spare Minutes of a Minister,’ poems (anon.), 12mo, 1837. 2. ‘Letters from Oxford,’ with notes by Ignotus, 8vo, Dublin, 1843. 3. ‘Romanism in the Church, illustrated by the case of the Rev. E. G. Browne,’ 8vo, London, 1847. 4. ‘Newman's Popular Fallacies considered,’ in six letters, with introduction and notes from the ‘Spectator,’ 8vo, Dublin, 1852. 5. ‘Lake Lore, or an Antiquarian Guide to some of the Ruins and Recollections of Killarney,’ 8vo, Dublin, 1853. 6. ‘First Fruits of an Early Gathered Harvest,’ edited by A. B. R., 8vo, 1854. 7. ‘Casuistry and Conscience,’ two discourses, 8vo, Dublin, 1854. 8. ‘Gleanings after Grand Tourists’ (anon.), 8vo, 1856. 9. ‘Brief Memorials of the Case and Conduct of T. C. D., A.D. 1686–1690, compiled from the College Records,’ 4to, Dublin, 1858. 10. ‘Life of the Blessed Franco, extracted and englished from a verie anciente Chronicle,’ 8vo, London, 1858. 11. ‘The Old Countess of Desmond, her identitie, her portraiture, her descente,’ &c., 4to, 1860. He left unfinished at his death a ‘History of the Earl of Strafford’ and a ‘History of Kerry.’
D. J. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rowan, Frederica Maclean

​ROWAN, FREDERICA MACLEAN (1814–1882), author and translator, was born in the West Indies on 22 April 1814. Her father, Frederick Rowan, a brother of Sir Charles Rowan [q. v.] and Sir William Rowan [q. v.], was a brevet major in the 4th West India regiment, and died on 19 Oct. 1814. Her mother, whose maiden name was Prom, came from Bergen in Norway, and after Major Rowan's death, while still a very young widow, went to live in Copenhagen, moving thence, with her two daughters, to Weimar, where Goethe still resided, thence to Paris, and ultimately to London. Miss Rowan thus possessed full mastery of four languages, and acquired a very varied culture. In 1844 she published a ‘History of the French Revolution: its Causes and Consequences,’ and about the same time contributed to Chambers's ‘Tracts for the People.’ In 1847 she published a volume of selections from modern French authors, and in 1851 short popular histories of England and Scotland. After this she mainly restricted herself to translations: ‘The Educational Institutions of the United States’ from the Swedish of Siljeström (1853), ‘The Life of Schleiermacher’ from the German (1860), two or three political pamphlets on German affairs, and a good deal of work for the public departments. But the most noteworthy of her translations were the two volumes of selections from the ‘Stunden der Andacht,’ generally attributed to Zschokke. Zschokke's book had been a favourite with the prince consort, and after his death the queen made a selection from it, commissioning Miss Rowan to translate the selected passages, and herself revising the translation. At first the book was printed for private circulation only, but afterwards the queen authorised its publication, and the first volume, entitled ‘Meditations on Death and Eternity,’ appeared with this prefatory note: ‘The Meditations contained in this volume form part of the well-known German devotional work, “Stunden der Andacht,” published in the beginning of the present century, and generally ascribed to Zschokke. They have been selected for translation by one to whom, in deep and overwhelming sorrow, they have formed a source of comfort and edification.’ This volume appeared in 1862. In the following year appeared a further volume of selections from Zschokke, entitled ‘Meditations on Life and its Religious Duties,’ the selections being again made, in part at least, by the queen.
Miss Rowan acted for some years as secretary to Sir Francis Henry Goldsmid [q. v.], and was of assistance to him in his parliamentary and philanthropic work. She had great social gifts, and her friends were many She was not an advocate of the political emancipation of women. During the later years of her life she became a Swedenborgian. She died at 20 Fulham Place, London, on 23 Oct. 1882.
[Obituary notice signed J. J. G. W. (J. J. Garth Wilkinson) in Morning Light, 25 Nov. 1882, and private information; Athenæum, 1882, ii. 566; Burke's Landed Gentry, 1894, ii. 1750; Mrs. Andrew Crosse's Red Letter Days, 1892, ii. 317.]
F. T. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rowan, William

​ROWAN, Sir WILLIAM (1789–1879), field-marshal, son of Robert Rowan of Mullans, co. Antrim, was born in the Isle of ​Man on 18 June 1789. He received a commission as ensign in the 52nd light infantry 4 Nov. 1803, a regiment in which his uncle, Charles Rowan, and his brothers, Sir Charles Rowan [q. v.] and Robert Rowan, also served. He became lieutenant on 15 June 1804, and served with the 52nd regiment in Sicily in 1806–7, and in Sweden in 1808, and on 19 Oct. 1808 got his company in the second battalion of the regiment, which formed part of the force led by Craufurd to Vigo. In 1809 he served at the capture of Flushing, and returned to the Peninsula in 1811, and on 2 April fought with both battalions of the 52nd in the battle of Sabugal, described by Wellington as one of the most glorious actions British troops ever engaged in. From January 1813 to the end of the war he served in the Peninsula and in France, and fought at Vittoria on 21 June 1813, at the battles of the Pyrenees in July 1813, in the attack on the camp at Vera, in the battles at the Bidassoa on 31 Aug. 1813, of Nivelle on 10 Nov. 1813, and Nive on 9 Dec. 1813, and at Arcanguez on 10 Dec. 1813, and was in the hard fighting in the marsh which decided the battle of Orthez on 27 Feb. 1814, and in the battle of Toulouse on 10 April 1814, besides several intermediate combats. He was made brevet major for his conduct at Orthez. In the affair with General Reille at San Millan in the valley of Boreda he had been in battle for the second time on his birthday, and two years later at Waterloo, as he used to relate in his old age, he was for the third time in a general action on that anniversary. He was with the 52nd regiment and took part in Sir John Colborne's famous charge against the imperial guard [see Colborne, Sir John]. When the army occupied Paris, he was given charge of the first arrondissement. He was gazetted lieutenant-colonel 21 Jan. 1819. From 1823 to 1829 he was civil and military secretary in Canada, and commanded the forces there from 1849 to 1855. He became colonel 10 Jan. 1837, major-general 9 Nov. 1846, lieutenant-general 20 June 1854, general 13 Aug. 1862, and field-marshal 2 June 1877. He was colonel of the 19th foot from 1854 to 1861. He was created G.C.B. in 1856, and had the war medal with six clasps. During the latter part of his life he resided at Bath, and there died 26 Sept. 1879. He was reticent on the subject of his own services, and marked some memoranda which he left on the subject of his campaigns ‘strictly private;’ but he always spoke with admiration of Sir John Moore (1761–1809) [q. v.] and of Sir John Colborne [q. v.], to whom he was at one time military secretary, and who was one of his greatest friends. His field-marshal's bâton is at Mount Davys, co. Antrim, the seat of his great-nephew, Colonel Rowan.
N. M.