OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vernon, Robert

​VERNON, ROBERT (1774–1849), patron of art, born in 1774, was of humble origin, and became, through his own ​exertions, a jobmaster, posting contractor, and dealer in horses in London in a very large way. He amassed a large fortune as contractor for the supply of horses to the British armies during the wars with Napoleon. He turned his attention to pictures, and between 1820 and 1847 he collected some two hundred works by living English masters, as well as a few by continental painters. All these he is said to have bought without the intervention of dealers, and with little guidance beyond that of his own judgment. On 22 Dec. 1847 he presented a selection of 157 pictures from his collection to the nation. This collection was housed at first in Marlborough House. It was afterwards moved to the South Kensington Museum, and in 1876 to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. It is now divided between that building and the National Gallery of British Art at the Tate Gallery, Millbank.
Vernon was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He died at his house in Pall Mall on 22 May 1849, and was buried at Ardington, Berkshire, where he owned property. His portrait, by H. W. Pickersgill, R.A., and a bust in marble, by W. Behnes (the latter given by Queen Victoria, the prince consort, and a committee of subscribers), are in the National Gallery.
W. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vescy, Eustace de

​VESCY or VESCI, EUSTACE de, Baron Vesci (1170?–1216), son of William de Vesci and Burga de Stuteville, paid his relief on coming of age in 2 Richard I (1191–2). He was with the king in Palestine in 1195. On 13 Aug. 1199 he appeared as one of the guarantors of the treaty between John and Renaud, count of Boulogne (Charter Rolls, p. 30 b), and in the same year, probably later, he was sent to William the Lion of Scotland to promise him satisfaction of his rights in England, and witnessed his homage on 22 Nov. 1200 (Rog. Wend.; Rog. Hov. iv. 122). He witnessed charters frequently in the early years of John's reign, in 1209 was one of the guardians of the bishopric of Durham (Charter Rolls, passim; Patent Rolls, p. 91), and on 10 April of the same year he was sent to meet William the Lion on his visit to England (Patent Rolls, p. 91). He was serving the king in Ireland from June to August 1210 (Rotul. de Præstitis, pp. 182, 205, 222). Accused of conspiring against John in 1212, he fled to Scotland (Rog. Wend. ii. 62). The tale of John's attempted seduction of his wife, and the trick played on him, which first appears in Walter of Hemingburgh (i. 247–249), and is copied in Knighton (i. 193–5), is scarcely credible, and bears in some of its main details a close resemblance to the story of Valentinian III and Petronius Maximus (Procopius, Bonn ed., i. 328). His lands were seized, but after John's submission to the pope he was forced to invite Vescy back (27 May 1213; Patent Rolls, p. 99), though orders were sent on the same day to Philip de Ulecot [q. v.] to cripple him by destroying his castle of Alnwick. On 18 July 1213 he was one of the recipients of John's pledge to abide by the decision of the pope concerning the things about which he had been excommunicated (Charter Rolls, p. 193 b), and ​his lands were restored to him the next day (Patent Rolls, p. 101 b). On 5 Nov. 1214 Innocent III warned him not to trouble the king by reason of his previous disputes with the barons (Rymer, i. 126). He was prominent among the barons who wrung the Great Charter from John (Rog. Wend ii. 114), and was one of the twenty-five appointed to see it carried out (Matt. Paris, ii. 605). He was excommunicated by name with others of the barons in 1216 (Rog. Wend ii. 167–9). He accompanied Alexander I of Scotland on his way to do homage to Louis of France. On the way they laid siege to Barnard Castle, belonging to Hugh de Balliol, and, approaching too near, Vesci was shot through the head by an arrow (Rog. Wend ii. 194). His lands were confiscated and given to Simon de Champ Rémy, Philip de Ulecot, and William de Harcourt (Patent Rolls, p. 164 b; Close Rolls, pp. 314 b, 288).
He married Margaret, illegitimate daughter of William the Lion and sister of Alexander II of Scotland, and left a son William (d. 1253), who was father of John de Vescy [q. v.] and of William de Vescy [q. v.]
W. E. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vernon, Thomas (1824?-1872)

​VERNON, THOMAS (1824?–1872), engraver, was born in Staffordshire about 1824, and studied first in Paris and later in England, where he was a pupil of Peter Lightfoot. He worked in pure line, and became one of the best engravers of figure subjects of his day. He engraved for Samuel Carter Hall's ‘Royal Gallery of Art’ Dyce's ‘Virgin Mother,’ Winterhalter's portrait of Princess Helena as an amazon, and two other plates; also several for the ‘Art Journal.’ Vernon's latest and most important work was ‘Christ healing the Paralytic,’ from the picture by Murillo formerly belonging to Colonel Tomline, M.P., who presented the plate to the Newspaper Press Fund. He died on 23 Jan. 1872.
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Taylor, John (1829-1893)

​TAYLOR, JOHN (1829–1893), author and librarian, born on 12 Sept. 1829 at 15 (now 32) Berkeley Place, Clifton, was the eldest son of John Taylor, ironmonger, by his wife Ann Ackland. After leaving school he assisted his father in his business, but found time for much private study. During 1858–9 he contributed to the ‘Bristol Times’ several poetical pieces, chiefly translations from the early Latin poets of the church. His attainments attracted notice, and he was appointed, on 26 March 1860, as assistant librarian to the Bristol Library Society, the largest public library in the west of England. He was elected librarian on 30 March 1863. The Bristol Library and the Bristol Institution having united, he in 1871 became librarian of the Bristol Museum and Library, as the joint association was designated. Between 1876 and 1886 he contributed antiquarian articles to the ‘Saturday Review.’ His connection with the ‘Athenæum,’ which began in 1876, continued till his death. On 16 Oct. 1883 ​Taylor was elected city librarian of Bristol, which then had four free libraries. In June 1885 a branch for Redland and West Clifton was opened, and in January 1888 one for Hotwells. He died at Wordsworth Villa, Redland, on 9 April 1893. He left a widow, three sons, and three daughters. His eldest son, Lancelot Acland Taylor, became librarian of the Museum Reference Library, Bristol.
Taylor combined with efficiency in all the technical parts of a librarian's work a genuine zeal for literary study. He wrote chiefly on the history and antiquities of Bristol and the west country. To his initiative was due the foundation of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archæological Society (Athenæum, 25 July 1896, p. 133). He was author of:
* ‘Tintern Abbey and its Founders,’ Bristol, 1867; 2nd edit. enlarged, 1869.
* ‘Guide to Clifton and its Neighbourhood,’ 1868.
* ‘A Book about Bristol … from original research,’ 1872.
* ‘Bristol and Clifton, Old and New’ [1877].
* ‘Ecclesiastical History’ [of Bristol], 1881, 4to; forms the second volume of ‘Bristol Past and Present.’
* ‘The earliest Free Libraries of England,’ St. Helens, 1886.
* (with F. F. Fox) ‘Some Account of the Guild of Weavers, chiefly from MSS.,’ Bristol (privately printed), 1889, 4to.
* ‘Antiquarian Essays contributed to the “Saturday Review,” with a Memoir and Portrait,’ Bristol (printed for the subscribers only), 1895, 8vo.
[The present writer's Memoir of Taylor, prefixed to his Antiquarian Essays.]
W. G.-ge.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Taylor, John (1771-1843)

​TAYLOR, Sir JOHN (1771–1843), lieutenant-general, born on 29 Sept. 1771, was the son of Walter Taylor of Castle Taylor, co. Galway, by his second wife, Hester, daughter of Richard Trench, and sister of William Power Keating Trench, earl of Clancarty. He entered the army in November 1794 as ensign in the 105th foot, became lieutenant in the 118th on 6 Dec., and captain in the 102nd on 9 Sept. 1795. He was brigade-major and aide-de-camp to Major-general Trench during the Irish rebellion of 1798, and was aide-de-camp to General Hutchinson [see Hely-Hutchinson, John, second Earl of Donoughmore], during the campaign in Holland in 1799, and that of Egypt in 1801. He had been transferred to the 26th foot on 30 Oct. 1799, but was soon afterwards placed on half-pay. He received a brevet majority on 2 Sept. 1801, and a lieutenant-colonelcy on 28 Feb. 1805. On 18 May 1809 he was made lieutenant-colonel in the 88th (Connaught rangers), and went to Cadiz in command of the second battalion in 1810. In the following winter it joined Wellington's army within the lines of Torres Vedras. It was attached to the light division, and after Masséna's retreat it took part in the combat of Sabugal (3 April 1811). A year afterwards it was sent home, having been reduced by a large draft to the 1st battalion to make up for its losses at Badajos. On 4 June 1813 Taylor was made brevet colonel. He returned to Spain soon afterwards, and on 9 Sept. took command of the 1st battalion, which formed part of the third division. He commanded it till the end of the war, and received the gold medal with two clasps for Nivelle, Orthes and Toulouse. At Orthes he was severely wounded. He was made C.B. for his services in the Peninsula, and afterwards K.C.B. (17 Oct. 1834). He was promoted major-general on 12 Aug. 1819, and lieutenant-general on 10 Jan. 1837. On 15 March 1837 he was given the colonelcy of the 80th foot. He died in London on 8 Dec. 1843.
By his wife Albinia Frances, daughter of St. John Jeffreys of Blarney Castle, co. Cork, and widow of Lieutenant-colonel Freemantle, he left two daughters.
[Royal Mil. Calendar, iv. 33; Cannon's Records of the 88th Regiment; Burke's Landed Gentry.]
E. M. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Taylor, John (1739-1838)

​TAYLOR, JOHN (1739–1838), portrait-painter, born in Bishopsgate Street, London, in 1739, was son of an officer in the customs. He studied art at the drawing academy in St. Martin's Lane, and also under Francis Hayman [q. v.] In 1766 he was one of the original members of the Incorporated Society of Artists. Taylor was best known for his highly finished portraits in pencil. From 1779 he was a casual exhibitor at the Royal Academy. Later in life he amassed a competence by teaching, and invested his money in annuities to last him to the age of 100. This he nearly attained, as he died in Cirencester Place, Marylebone, on 21 Nov. 1838, in his ninety-ninth year. He was a friend of the eccentric sculptor, Joseph Nollekens [q. v.], who made a bust of him, and left him a legacy in his will.
Another John Taylor (1745?–1806), landscape-painter, was born in Bath about 1745. He painted marine landscapes with figures and cattle, and was also an etcher. He died at Bath on 8 Nov. 1806 (Redgrave, Dict. of Artists).
[Gent. Mag. 1839, i. 100; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Graves's Dict. of Artists, 1760–1880; Séguier's Dict. of Painters; Smith's Nollekens and his Times.]
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Robinson, John (1617-1681)

​ROBINSON, JOHN (1617–1681), royalist, son of William Robinson of Gwersyllt, Denbighshire, and grandson of Nicholas Robinson (d. 1585) [q. v.], bishop of Bangor, was born in 1617, matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, 26 Sept. 1634, at the age of seventeen (Foster, Alumni Oxon.), and became a student of Gray's Inn, 23 Dec. 1637 (Foster, Gray's Inn Register). He appears to have resided for some time in Dublin previous to the outbreak of the civil war in 1642. He exerted himself with great zeal on behalf of the royal cause in North Wales and the adjoining counties. Although only twenty-six years of age, he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and was made governor of Holt Castle in Denbighshire in November 1643. In the ​following year he commanded a company at the battle of Rowton Heath in Cheshire; on 1 Feb. 1646 he was selected by the royalist commander, Lord Byron, as one of his commissioners to negotiate the surrender of Chester, and acted in a similar capacity when Colonel Richard Bulkeley surrendered Beaumaris, 14 June following.
On the triumph of the parliamentary cause, Robinson, who was marked out for special vengeance, fled from Gwersyllt in the disguise of a labourer, first to the Isle of Man, and then into France. His estates were confiscated. His name appears in the bill for the sale of delinquents' estates (26 Sept. 1650). At the Restoration in 1660 he recovered his estates and received other marks of royal favour. He was nominated a knight of the Royal Oak for Anglesea. He was colonel of the company of foot militia or trained bands in Denbighshire, when that regiment was called out on the apprehension of a rising in July 1666 (Cal. State Papers). Having succeeded Sir Heneage Finch as member for Beaumaris at a by-election in July 1661, he retained his seat until the dissolution of the ‘pensionary’ parliament in January 1679; he is said to have been in receipt of a pension of 400l. a year (‘A Seasonable Argument for a New Parliament,’ 1677, reprinted in Cobbett's Parliamentary History). Robinson succeeded Sir John Owen of Clennennau in the post of vice-admiral of North Wales in 1666, and held the office till his death in March 1681. He was buried in Gresford church. He left two sons, John and William. His grandson, William Robinson, M.P. for Denbigh from 1705 to 1708, assumed the surname of Lytton on inheriting from his cousin in 1710 the estate of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, and was ancestor of Earl Lytton.
W. R. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Robinson, John (1715-1745)

​ROBINSON, JOHN (1715–1745), portrait-painter, was born at Bath in 1715. He studied under John Vanderbank [q. v.], and attained some success as a portrait-painter. Having married a wife with a fortune, he, on the death of Charles Jervas [q. v.], purchased that painter's house in Cleveland Court. He thus inherited a fashionable practice; but he had not skill enough to keep it up. He dressed many of his sitters in the costume of portraits by Vandyck. Robinson died in 1745, before completing his thirtieth year. A portrait of Lady Charlotte Finch by Robinson was engraved in mezzotint by John Faber, jun., and the title of the print subsequently altered to ‘The Amorous Beauty.’
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting; Chaloner Smith's British Mezzotinto Portraits.]
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Robinson, John (1774-1840)

1904 Errata appended.
​ROBINSON, JOHN, D.D. (1774–1840), scholar, born of humble parentage at Temple Sowerby, Westmoreland, on 4 Jan. 1774, was educated at the grammar school, Penrith, and at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was admitted a sizar 1 Jan. 1807. He was master of the grammar school, Ravenstonedale, Westmoreland, from 1795 to 1818, perpetual curate of Ravenstonedale from 25 June 1813 to 1833, and rector from 31 July 1818 of Clifton, and from 12 Aug. 1833 of Cliburn, both in Westmoreland, until his death on 4 Dec. 1840. He was author of several scholastic works, and is described on the title-pages, from 1807 as of Christ's College, Cambridge, of which, however, he was not a graduate, and from 1815 as D.D. His works, all of which were published at London, are as follows: 1. ‘An Easy Grammar of History, Ancient and Modern,’ 1806, 12mo; new edition, enlarged by John Tillotson, with the title ‘A Grammar of History, Ancient and Modern,’ 1855, 12mo. 2. ‘Modern History, for the use of Schools,’ 1807, 8vo. 3. ‘Archæologia Græca,’ 1807, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1827. 4. ‘A Theological, Biblical, Ecclesiastical Dictionary,’ 1815, 8vo; 3rd edit. 1835. 5. ‘Ancient History: exhibiting a Summary View of the Rise, Progress, Revolutions, Decline, and Fall of the States and Nations of Antiquity,’ 1831, 8vo (expanded from the ‘Easy Grammar’). 6. ‘Universal Modern History: exhibiting the Rise, Progress, and Revolutions of various Nations from the Age of Mahomet to the Present Time,’ 1839, 8vo (expanded from the ‘Modern History for the use of Schools’).
Robinson also compiled a ‘Guide to the Lakes in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, illustrated with Twenty Views of Local Scenery and a Travelling Map of the Adjacent Country,’ 1819, 8vo; and contributed the letterpress to an unfinished series of ‘Views of the Lakes in the North of England, from Original Paintings by the most Eminent Artists,’ 1833, 4to. His ‘Ancient History’ forms the basis of Francis Young's ‘Ancient History: a Synopsis of the Rise, Progress, Decline, and Fall of the States and Nations of Antiquity,’ London, 1873, 4 vols. 8vo.
J. M. R.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.237 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Robinson, John (1682-1762)

​ROBINSON, JOHN (1682–1762), organist, born in 1682, was in 1700 a child of the chapel royal under Dr. Blow. In 1710 he was appointed organist to St. Lawrence Jewry; in 1713 to St. Magnus, London Bridge (Bumpus). He enjoyed popularity both as a performer on the organ and as professor of the harpsichord, while as a composer there is extant by him the double chant in E flat at the end of vol. i. of Boyce's ‘Cathedral Music.’ On 20 Sept. 1727 Robinson succeeded as organist of Westminster Abbey Dr. William Croft [q. v.], whose assistant he had been for many years. Benjamin Cooke in 1746 became Robinson's assistant. Robinson died on 30 April 1762, aged 80, and was buried on 13 May in the same grave with Croft. A portrait by T. Johnson, engraved by Vertue, shows Robinson seated at a harpsichord.
Robinson married, on 6 Sept. 1716, Ann, daughter of Dr. William Turner (1651–1740) [q. v.] She was a vocalist, and appeared as Mrs. Turner Robinson in 1720 as Echo in Scarlatti's ‘Narcissus.’ On 5 Jan. 1741 she died, and on the 8th was buried in the west cloister of Westminster Abbey. Several daughters died young; one became a singer, often heard in Handel's oratorios. Robinson married a second wife, who survived him, and had by her a son, John Daniel.
[Hawkins's History of Music, p. 827; Bumpus's Organists; Grove's Dict. iii. 139; Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. x. 181; Boyce's Cathedral Harmony, i. 2, iii. 18; Chamberlayne's Angliæ Notitia; Chester's Westminster Abbey Reg. pp. 43, 308, 313, 357, 400; P. C. C. Administration Acts, June 1762.]
L. M. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Robinson, John (d.1598)

1904 Errata appended.
​ROBINSON, JOHN (d. 1598), president of St. John's College, Oxford, was matriculated as sizar of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, May 1550, from Richmondshire. He graduated B.A. in January 1553–4, was elected fellow of his hall, 1554, and proceeded M.A. 1557. He was recommended by the master of Trinity, Robert Beaumont (d. 1567) [q. v.], to Cecil, with Matthew Hutton, as a fit person to be made master of Pembroke Hall, but Hutton was chosen. On 19 May 1563 he was incorporated at Oxford. He was nominated by Sir Thomas White, the founder, to be president of St. John's College, Oxford, on the resignation of William Stocke, and was elected by the fellows, 4 Sept. 1564. He resigned 10 July 1572. He supplicated for the degree of B.D. 22 March 1566–7, and was made D.D. at Cambridge, 11 June 1583.
Robinson was a popular preacher, and held many preferments. He was rector of East Treswell, Nottinghamshire, 1556; of Fulbeck, Lincolnshire, 1560; of Thornton, Yorkshire, 1560; of Great Easton, Essex, 1566–76; of Kingston Bagpuze, Berkshire, 1568; of Brant Broughton, Lincolnshire, 1575; of Fishtoft, Lincolnshire, 1576; of Caistor, Lincolnshire, 1576; of Gransden, Cambridgeshire, 1587, and of Somersham, Huntingdonshire, 1589.
On 3 Aug. 1572 he was installed precentor of Lincoln Cathedral. On 14 July 1573 he was collated to the prebend of Welton Beckhall, in which he was installed 7 Sept. He resigned this prebend on being collated to the prebend of Caistor (installed 9 Oct. 1574); and in 1581 he became prebendary of Leicester St. Margaret (collated 29 March, installed 9 July). On 31 May 1584 he was installed archdeacon of Bedford, and in 1580 he held the archdeaconry of Lincoln. In 1584, during the vacancy of the see of Lincoln, he was appointed commissary to exercise episcopal jurisdiction in the diocese, by Whitgift, archbishop of Canterbury. In 1594 he received a canonry of Gloucester. He died in March 1597–8, and was buried at Somersham, Huntingdonshire. John Robinson [q. v.], pastor of the pilgrim fathers, has been very doubtfully claimed as his son.
[St. John's College MSS.; Rawlinson MSS.; Cooper's Alumni Cantabrigienses, ii. 235; Wood's Athenæ Oxon. and Fasti; Registrum Academ, Cantabrig.; Foster's Alumni Oxon.; Register of University of Oxford, ed. Boase (Oxford Historical Society); Le Neve's Fasti; Wilson's History of Merchant Taylors' School; Willis's Cathedrals.]
W. H. H.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.237 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Paschal, John

​PASCHAL, JOHN (d. 1361), bishop of Llandaff, was a native of Suffolk who became a Carmelite friar at Ipswich. He was sent to study at Cambridge, where he was said to have graduated D.D. in 1333 (Harl. MS. 3838, f. 74 a). Afterwards he returned to Ipswich; there he attracted the attention of William Bateman [q. v.] who, after his elevation to the see of Norwich, procured from the pope in 1344 the consecration of Paschal as bishop of Scutari. He consecrated the churchyard of the Carmelites at Norwich in 1344 (Blomefield, Hist. of Norfolk, iv. 422), and acted as Bateman's suffragan till 3 June 1347, when he was designated bishop of Llandaff. He received the temporalities on 4 July. In 1348 Paschal dedicated the church of Cliffe at Hoo, Kent (Archæologia Cantiana, xv. 227). He died on 11 Oct. 1361, according to some accounts at Biston, or according to others at Llandaff, and was buried in his cathedral. There is some uncertainty as to the identity of the bishops of Scutari and Llandaff; the former is sometimes called Thomas, but Birchington (Wharton, Anglia Sacra, i. 45) calls the Bishop of Llandaff by this name. Paschal is said to have written: 1. ‘Homeliæ lxviii de Sanctis’ (in MS. Reg. 7 B. 1 in the British Museum, a copy written by Arnold de Zutphen in the fifteenth century). 2. ‘Homeliæ lxvii de Tempore.’ 3. ‘Conciones.’ 4. ‘De Christi Passione.’ 5. ‘Lecturæ Scripturarum.’ 6. ‘Disputationes.’
C. L. K.