OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Allardyce, Alexander

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​ALLARDYCE, ALEXANDER (1841–1896)
Educated at Aberdeen University : for years connected with Blackwood, and his chief adviser in the management of the magazine : went to India as a journal-st on the staff of the Indian Statesman : declined a civil appointment offered him : went to Ceylon : was special correspondent there in connexion with H.R.H. the Prince of Wales' visit to the East : on returning to England, wrote for Reviews and Magazines : wrote novels with success, such as The City of Sunshine, Earl's Court, a biography of Admiral Keith, and other similar works : died April 22, 1896.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Alexander, Sir James Edward

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​ALEXANDER, SIR JAMES EDWARD (1803–1885)
Born Oct. 16, 1803 : son of Edward Alexander, of Powis : educated at Edinburgh, Glasgow and the R.M.C., Sand-hurst : to Madras as a cadet in 1820 : Adjutant of the bodyguard to Sir Thomas Munro, and served in the Burmese war of 1824 : left the E. I. Co.'s army in 1825, but saw much active service, with the Persian army, in the Balkans, Portugal, S. Africa, Canada, the Crimea, New Zealand : employed on Government expeditions in exploring and surveying in Central Africa and New Brunswick, for which he was knighted : took a leading part in the removal of 'Cleopatra's Needle' to England, 1867–77 : made C.B. in 1873, retired as Lt-General, and became General in 1881 : died April 2, 1885 : wrote Travels from India to England by way of Burma, Persia, Turkey, etc., 1827, and other works : was Knight Commander of the Lion and Sun : F.R.S. Edinburgh : F.R.G.S. : F.R.A.S. : F.S.S.A.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Allard, Jean Francois

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​ALLARD, JEAN FRANCOIS (1785–1839)
General : born in France, March 8, 1785 : served in the French Cavalry from 1803 : in Italy : A.D.C. to Marshal Brune : after Waterloo, went to Persia; thence through Kandahar and Kabul to Lahore : entered Ranjit Singh's service in March, 1822, and drilled Sikh cavalry for him on the European model : engaged in numerous campaigns : of high character and much liked and respected by Europeans : was General in the French Army, and Political Agent of the French Government at Lahore : died at Peshawar, Jan.23. 1839, and buried at Lahore.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Erskine, James (d.1640)

​ERSKINE, JAMES, sixth Earl of Buchan (d. 1640), was the eldest son of John, second or seventh earl of Mar [q. v.], by his second wife, Lady Margaret Stuart, daughter of Esme, duke of Lennox. He married Mary Douglas, countess of Buchan, daughter and heiress of James, fifth earl of Buchan, and ​assumed the title of Earl of Buchan. This title was confirmed to him by a royal charter, dated 22 March 1617, the countess resigning her rights in his favour, and he was allowed the possession and exercise of all honours, dignities, and precedence of former earls of Buchan. A decree of the court of sessions, 25 July 1628, restored to Buchan and his wife the precedency over the earls of Eglinton, Montrose, Cassilis, Caithness, and Glencairn, which had been claimed by them, and granted by a former decree in 1606. On the accession of Charles I, Buchan became one of the lords of the bedchamber. He lived chiefly in London, where he died in 1640. He was buried at Auchterhouse, Forfarshire. His wife died before him in 1628. They left six children, two sons, James, who succeeded to the title, and John, and four daughters.
A. V.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Campbell, Donald

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​CAMPBELL, DONALD (1751–1804)
Captain of a Cavalry regt. in the service of the Nawab of the Carnatic : at the age of 30 he made a journey to India and published an account of it, 1795 : travelled via Venice, Trieste, Zante, Alexandria, Cyprus, Aleppo, Badgad, Russia and Bushire : by sea to Bombay and Goa : shipwrecked on the coast on his way to Madras : captured by Hyder All's soldiers and imprisoned at Hydernagar, in company with one Hall, to whom he was chained. Hall died in prison, and his gaoler refused to remove the corpse for several days : eventually, on General Matthew's approach, he was released in order to negotiate with him on behalf of Hyat Singh, Hyder's General : with despatches for the Governments of Bombay and Madras, he proceeded by sea to Anjengo, travelled by land through Travancore, Tinnevelly, Madura, Trichinopoly, Tanjore to Negapatam, and Madras : with Lord Macartney's permission, went on to Calcutta and, on behalf of Hyat Singh, negotiated with Warren Hastings : returned overland to Madras and Anjengo : thence by sea to Bombay : again visited Madras and China, and returned to England in 1785, after four years' absence : died June 5, 1804.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Campbell, John (1753-1784)

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​CAMPBELL, JOHN (1753–1784)
Son of John Campbell, Lord Stonefield : born Dec. 7, 1753 : entered the Army in 1771 : served in America : went as Lt-Colonel to India in 1782 : was engaged against Hyder Ali : was at Bednore and Anantapur : the British force being driven into Mangalore by Tippoo, Campbell was left in command and made the famous defence of that town from May, 1783, to Jan.,1784, when he was compelled to surrender : he died, from his exertions, Feb. 23, 1784.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Campbell, John (1817- )

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​CAMPBELL, JOHN (1817–)
Surgeon-major : born April 27, 1817 : son of Capt. Thomas Campbell R.N. : educated at St. George's.London, Aberdeen University, and King's College : entered the Bengal Medical Service in 1840 : served in the Afghan war, 1842, on the line of the Khyber, and with Pollock's force : with Sir Charles Napier in Sind : in the Indian mutiny was at Chinhut and the siege of Lucknow, for which he received his C.B.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Campbell, Lorn Robert Henry Dick

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​CAMPBELL, LORN ROBERT HENRY DICK (1846–)
Entered the Army, 1863 : served in the Hazara expedition, 1868; Dour Valley expedition, 1872; Afghanistan, 1878–9; Mahsud-Waziri expedition, 1881; China, 1900–01, where he commanded the lines of communication : commands the Bundelkund District, India, since 1901 : Maj-General.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Duff (d.967)

​DUFF (Dubh, the Black) (d. 967), king of Celtic Alban (Scotland), son of Malcolm, succeeded, in 962, Constantine, son of Indulph, in whose reign Edinburgh (Dun Eden) was relinquished by the Angles, who had held it since Edwin of Deira (617–632) gave it its name. It now became a Celtic fort. In 965 Duff defeated Colin, the son of Indulph, supported by the abbot of Dunkeld and the chief of Athole at Drumcrub in Strathearn. Two years later Colin reversed this victory and expelled Duff, who, according to a later chronicle, was afterwards, when attempting to recover his kingdom, slain at Forres. His body was hidden under the bridge of Kinloss, and the sun did not shine till it was found and buried. An eclipse on 10 July 967 may have originated or confirmed this story.
Æ. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Dufief, Nicolas Gouïn

​DUFIEF, NICOLAS GOUÏN (1776?–1834), French teacher, a native of Nantes, was born in or about 1776. His father, a knight of the order of St. Louis, served during the revolution as a volunteer under the French princes in Germany; his mother, the Countess ​Victoire Aimée Libault Gouïn Dufief, was personally engaged in the many battles fought by her relative, General Charette, against the revolutionists, for which she was afterwards known as ‘the heroine of La Vendée.’ Dufief, though a stripling of fifteen, joined in 1792 the royal naval corps assembled under the Count d'Hector at Enghien, and went through the campaign with his regiment in the army of the brothers of Louis XVIII until its disbandment. The same year he sought refuge in England, but soon afterwards sailed for the West Indies, and was attracted thence to Philadelphia, which he reached in July 1793. During his sojourn in America he became acquainted with Dr. Priestley, Thomas Jefferson, and other eminent men. Here, too, he published an essay on ‘The Philosophy of Language,’ in which he first explained to the world how he was led to make those discoveries ‘from which my system of universal and economical instruction derives such peculiar and manifold advantages.’ For nearly twenty-five years he taught French with success in America and in England, to which he returned about 1818. He died at Pentonville 12 April 1834. His chief work is ‘Nature displayed in her mode of teaching Language to Man; being a new and infallible Method of acquiring Languages with unparalleled rapidity; deduced from the analysis of the human mind, and consequently suited to every capacity: adapted to the French. To which is prefixed a development of the author's plan of tuition,’ 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1818, which despite its size and costliness reached a twelfth edition in the author's lifetime. Shortly before his death he completed ‘A Universal, Pronouncing, and Critical French-English Dictionary,’ 8vo, London, 1833. He was author, too, of ‘The French Self-interpreter, or Pronouncing Grammar,’ 12mo, Exeter (1820?).
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Duff, Robert

​DUFF, ROBERT (d. 1787), vice-admiral, cousin of William Duff, first earl of Fife, was promoted to commander's rank on 4 Dec. 1744, and in 1746 had command of the Terror bomb on the coast of Scotland. On 23 Oct. he was posted to the Anglesea, a new ship of 44 guns, which he commanded on the coast of Ireland and the home station till the peace in 1748. In 1755 he was appointed to the Rochester of 50 guns, which was employed during the following years on the coast of France either in independent cruising or as part of the grand fleet. In 1758 Duff was with Commodore Howe in the squadron covering the expeditions against St. Malo, Cherbourg, and St. Cas; and in 1759 was senior officer of the little squadron stationed on the south coast of Bretagne to keep watch over the movements of the French in Morbihan, while Hawke with the fleet blockaded Brest. He was lying at anchor in Quiberon Bay, his squadron consisting of four 50-gun ships and four frigates, when, on the morning of 20 Nov., his outlook gave him intelligence of the French fleet to the southward of Belle Isle. He hastily put to sea and stood to the southward, chased by the French. Suddenly the English ships tacked to the eastward, their men manning the rigging, cheering and throwing their hats into the sea. They had just made out the English fleet in hot pursuit of the French, which, partly owing to its turning aside to chase Duff's squadron, was overtaken before it could get into a safe anchorage [see Hawke, Edward, Lord]. Duff had no actual share in the battle which followed, but by reason of the prominent part he took in the overture his name is closely connected with the glories of that great day. He was afterwards appointed to the Foudroyant, a crack ship of 80 guns, in which he accompanied Rear-admiral Rodney to the West Indies, and took part in the reduction of Martinique, January and February 1762. On 31 March 1775 he was promoted to be rear-admiral, and in April was sent out as commander-in-chief at Newfoundland. In September 1777 he was appointed to the command of the Mediterranean, with his flag in the Panther. When the siege of Gibraltar was begun in 1779, Duff co-operated with the garrison so far as the very limited force at his disposal permitted; but the government, not being able to strengthen his command, recalled him early in the following year. He had been promoted to be vice-admiral on 29 Jan. 1778, but held no further command after his return to England in 1780. During his later years he was grievously afflicted with gout, an attack of which in the stomach caused his death at Queensferry on 6 June 1787.
He married in 1764 Helen, the daughter of his cousin the Earl of Fife. By her he had several children, whose descendants are now numerous. It may be noted as a curious coincidence that his grand-nephew, George Duff, who was slain at Trafalgar in command of the Mars, had before the battle the command of the inshore squadron, watching the motions of the enemy in Cadiz.
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Duff, William

​DUFF, WILLIAM (1732–1815), miscellaneous writer, a Scotch minister and M.A., was licensed by the presbytery 25 June 1755, called 18 Sept., and ordained 8 Oct., when he was appointed to the parish of Glenbucket, Aberdeenshire. Thence he was transferred to Peterculter in the same county, 24 Oct. 1766, being admitted 4 March 1767. He was nominated minister of Foveran, also in Aberdeenshire, in February 1774, and took up his residence a twelvemonth later. There he got a new church built in 1794, and died father of the synod, 23 Feb. 1815, in the eighty-third year of his age, and sixtieth of his ministry (Scots Mag. lxxvii. 319). On 4 Sept. 1778 he married Ann Mitchell, by whom he had two sons and four daughters. Duff is author of: 1. ‘An Essay on Original Genius and its Various Modes of Exertion in Philosophy and the Fine Arts, particularly in Poetry’ (anon.), 8vo, London, 1767, a work which exhibits considerable acquaintance with classical authors. A sequel is 2. ‘Critical Observations on the Writings of the most celebrated Original Geniuses in Poetry,’ 8vo, London, 1770. 3. ‘The History of Rhedi, the Hermit of Mount Ararat. An Oriental Tale’ (anon.), 12mo, London, 1773. 4. ‘Sermons on Several Occasions,’ 2 vols. 12mo, Aberdeen, 1786. 5. ‘Letters on the Intellectual and Moral Character of Women,’ 8vo, Aberdeen, 1807. 6. ‘The Last Address of a Clergyman in the Decline of Life,’ 8vo, Aberdeen, 1814. Duff also furnished an account of Foveran to Sir J. Sinclair's ‘Statistical Account of Scotland’ (ed. 1791–9, vi. 62–70, xxi. Appendix, pp. 135–7).
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Duffy, Edward

​DUFFY, EDWARD (1840–1868), Fenian leader, was born at Ballaghaderreen, county of Mayo, in 1840. In 1863 he gave up a situation and devoted himself to spreading Fenian principles in Connaught, becoming in fact ‘ the life and soul of the Fenian movement west of the Shannon.’ He was arrested 11 Nov. 1865, with James Stephens, Charles J. Kickham, and Hugh Brophy, at Fairfield House, Sandymount, but after a brief imprisonment was released on bail in January 1866, in the belief that he was dying of consumption. He again applied himself to the organisation, was rearrested at Boyle on 11 March, tried 21 May 1867, and sentenced to fifteen years' penal servitude. He was found dead in his cell at Millbank prison, 17 Jan. 1868. The concluding sentences of his speech delivered in the dock before conviction have been inscribed on his tomb in Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin.
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Duffield, William

​DUFFIELD, WILLIAM (1816–1863), still-life painter, born at Bath in 1816, and educated in that city, was the second son of Charles Duffield, at one time proprietor of the Royal Union Library. At an early age he displayed a decided predilection and talent for drawing. Mr. George Doo, the engraver, having been struck by Duffield's highly elaborated pen-and-ink sketches and faithful copies of his engravings, offered to take him as his pupil without a premium. A few years later he placed himself under Lance, and was noted for his unremitting attention and assiduity as a student of the Royal Academy. After completing the usual course of study in London, he returned to Bath, and later on proceeded to Antwerp, where, under Baron Wappers, he worked for two years. In 1857 he resided at Bayswater, and died on 3 Sept. 1863. In 1850 he was married to Mary Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Mr. T. E. Rosenberg of Bath, and a painter of fruit and flowers; she was a member of the Institute of Painters in Water-Colours.
L. F.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Dugard, Samuel

​DUGARD, SAMUEL (1645?–1697), divine, son of Thomas Dugard, M.A., rector of Barford, Warwickshire, by Anne his wife, was born at Warwick in or about 1645, his father being at the time head-master of the grammar school of that town. At the beginning of 1661, when about sixteen years of age, he entered Trinity College, Oxford, as a commoner, but was admitted a scholar on 30 May 1662, and graduated B.A. on 20 Oct. 1664. Then taking orders, he was elected to a fellowship in June 1667, proceeding M.A. on the following 31 Oct. He subsequently became rector of Forton, Staffordshire, and on 2 Jan. 1696–7 was collated to the prebend of Pipa Minor alias Prees in Lichfield. He died at Forton in the spring of the same year. He left a family of five sons and five daughters. He published: 1. ‘The True Nature of the Divine Law, and of Disobedience thereunto; in Nine Discourses, tending to show, in the one a Loveliness, in the other a Deformity, by way of Dialogue between Theophilus and Eubulus,’ 8vo, London, 1687. 2. ‘A Discourse concerning many Children, in which the Prejudices against a numerous Offspring are removed, and the Objections answered, in a Letter to a Friend,’ 8vo, London, 1695. Wood also ascribes to him ‘The Marriages of Cousin Germans vindicated from the Censures of Unlawfulnesse and Inexpediency. Being a Letter written to his much Honour'd T. D.’ [without author's name], 8vo, Oxford, 1673, ‘mostly taken, as 'tis said, from Dr. Jer. Taylor's book called Ductor Dubitantium, &c.’ In November 1674 Dugard sent to Dr. Ralph Bathurst, vice-chancellor of Oxford, a ‘Relation concerning a strange Kind of Bleeding in a Little Child at Lilleshall in Shropshire,’ which was printed in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ (ix. 193).
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Duffet, Thomas

​DUFFET, THOMAS (fl. 1678), dramatist, was originally a milliner in the New Exchange, London, who unfortunately took to play-writing. He obtained some notoriety by burlesquing the rhymed tragedies with which Dryden, Shadwell, and Settle entertained the town. As literature, his productions are beneath criticism. He is best remembered by ‘The Mock Tempest,’ acted at the Theatre Royal in 1675, and written in opposition to Dryden and Davenant's alteration of Shakespeare's ‘Tempest,’ which was then in its full run at Dorset Gardens. of this travesty Sir William Soames, in his version of ‘Boyleau's Art of Poetry,’ 1683 (reissued as ‘revised by Dryden,’ 1710), wrote:
The dullest scribblers some admirers found, And the Mock Tempest was a while renown'd: But this low stuff the town at last despis'd, And scorn'd the folly that they once had priz'd.
Duffet wrote also: 1. ‘The Empress of Morocco, a farce’ (anon.), 4to, London, 1674, satirising Settle's tragedy of that name; followed by ‘An Epilogue spoken by Witches after the mode of Macbeth,’ ‘perform'd with new and costly machines.’ 2. ‘The Spanish Rogue,’ a comedy in verse, 4to, London, 1674. This, the most indecent of his plays, is appropriately dedicated to ‘Madam Ellen Gwyn.’ 3. ‘Beauties Triumph, a masque [in verse]. Presented by the Scholars of Mr. Jeffery Banister and Mr. James Hart, at their new Boarding School for Young Ladies and Gentlewomen, kept in that House which was formerly Sir Arthur Gorges, at Chelsey,’ 4to, London, 1676, a curious lesson in what was then considered high moral culture. 4. ‘Psyche Debauch'd, a comedy,’ 4to, London, 1678, a travesty of Shadwell's tragedy. To Duffet is ascribed the authorship of the anonymous comedy entitled ‘The Amorous Old Woman. … Written by a Person of Honour,’ 4to, London, 1674 (afterwards reissued with a new title-page, ‘The Fond Lady,’ 4to, London, 1684). He also wrote a paltry volume of ‘New Poems, Songs, Prologues and Epilogues … set by the most eminent Musicians about the Town,’ 8vo, London, 1676, and a broadsheet ballad, undated, called ‘Amintor's Lamentation for Celia's Unkindness.’
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Etkins, James

​ETKINS, JAMES (1613?–1687). [See Atkine, James.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Etheridge, John Wesley

​ETHERIDGE, JOHN WESLEY (1804–1866), Wesleyan minister, was born at Youngwoods, a farmhouse four miles from Newport, Isle of Wight, on 24 Feb. 1804. His father was a lay preacher among the methodists, and had been urged by Wesley to enter the regular ministry, but refused. His mother was Alley Gray, daughter of an old naval officer. As a youth Etheridge was thoughtful and studious. He was privately educated and began to preach in 1826. Towards the end of 1827 the president of the conference sent him to Hull to assist the Rev. Dr. Beaumont, whose health had broken down. At the Bristol conference in August 1831 Etheridge was received into full connexion, being then second minister in the Brighton circuit. During that year he married Eliza Middleton, by whom he had one child, a daughter, who under her father's teaching became a remarkable Hebrew scholar and linguist. He took peculiar delight in the sacred literature and languages of the East, and most of his works related to these subjects. During several years of feeble health he lived at Caen and Paris, and availed himself of their libraries for carrying on his favourite studies. The university of Heidelberg in 1847 conferred upon him the degree of Ph.D. as a recognition of his exact scholarship and contributions to learning. Etheridge resumed circuit work on his recovery to health, and laboured successfully in Bristol, Leeds, and London. From 1853 he lived in Cornwall, and discharged ministerial duties at Penzance, Truro, Falmouth, St. Austell, and Camborne. Two volumes of biography were written by him for the Wesleyan conference, ‘Life of Dr. Adam Clarke’ in 1858, and ‘Life of Dr. Thomas Coke’ in 1860. Etheridge had an intense love of work, and was patient, modest, and gentle. He died at Camborne on 24 May 1866, aged 62. His principal works are:
* ‘The Apostolic Ministry and the Question of its Restoration considered,’ 1836.
* ‘Horæ Aramaicæ: Outlines of the Shemitic Language,’ 1843.
* ‘History, Liturgies, and Literature of the Syrian Churches,’ 1846.
* ‘The Apostolical Acts and Epistles, from the Peschito, or Ancient Syriac,’ &c., 1849.
* ‘Jerusalem and Tiberias; a Survey of the Religious and Scholastic Learning of the Jews,’ &c., 1856.
* ‘The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch, &c.; from the Chaldee,’ in 2 vols., vol. i. 1862, vol. ii. 1865.
[Smith's Memoirs, &c., 1871; Minutes of the Methodist Conference, 1866.]
W. B. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Benson, John

​BENSON, Sir JOHN (1812–1874), architect and engineer, was the only son of John Benson, of Collooney, in the county of Sligo. Having chosen the profession of architect, he at an early age gave proof of his ability in the restoration of Markree Castle, the seat of Mr. E. J. Cooper. In 1846 he was appointed county surveyor for the East Riding of Cork, in which capacity he carried out most satisfactorily the difficult task of superintending the relief works during the famine of 1847. In 1850 he was appointed engineer to the Cork harbour commissioners, and he was also architect to the Cork corporation. St. Patrick's bridge, the waterworks, and several piers and quays were constructed by him, besides churches and other public buildings in the city of Cork. But the work with which his name is most widely associated was the Great Industrial Exhibition building in Dublin, at the opening of which, in May 1853, he received the honour of knighthood from the lord-lieutenant of Ireland. Sir John was a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. His death, which occurred on 17 Oct. 1874, was accelerated by overwork. His genial character made him as much beloved by his friends as his ability made him respected by the public. Sir John married, in 1849, Mary Clementina Pyne, daughter of John Smith, of the 56th regiment. There was no issue of the marriage.
[Times, 21 Oct. 1874; Illustrated London News, 31 Oct. 1874; Annual Register for 1874; Sproule's Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1853.]
G. V. B.