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

​TAILOR, ROBERT (fl. 1614), dramatist, was author of ‘The Hog hath lost his Pearle. A Comedy divers times publikely acted by certaine London Prentices. By Robert Tailor, London. Printed for Richard Redmer, and are to be solde at the Westdore of Paules at the signe of the Starre,’ 1614, 4to. It appears from a letter written by Sir Henry Wotton to Sir Edmund Bacon that this play was acted without license by ‘some sixteen apprentices’ at the Whitefriars theatre. The sheriffs before the end of the performance carried off six or seven of the actors ‘to perform the last Act in Bridewell.’ This was because the character of the usurer Hog was supposed to allude to Sir John Swinnerton, the lord mayor. This occurred probably on 14 Feb. 1613 (Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, ed. 1685, p. 402). It would appear from the prologue to the play that, after being ‘tossed from one house to another,’ it finally obtained ‘a knight’s license.’ The prologue earnestly denies any seditious or political intent. Otway’s ‘Orphan’ has a similar plot. The play is a valuable storehouse of dramatic allusions. In the prologue occurs a mention of Shakespeare’s ‘Pericles.’ The few scenes possessing merit were extracted by Charles Lamb in his ‘Specimens’ (ed. Gollancz, 1893, ii. 143, 342). The play has been reprinted in all the editions of Dodsley’s ‘Old Plays’ (ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1875, vol. xi.), and in the ‘Ancient British Drama,’ 1810, vol. iii. There has also been attributed to Tailor: ‘Sacred Hymns, consisting of Fifti Select Psalms of David and others, paraphrastically turned In English Verse. And by Robert Tailour set to be sung in five parts, as also to the Viole and the Lute or Orph-arion. Published for the use of such as delight in the exercise of Music in hir original honour. London. Printed by Thomas Snodham by the assignment of the company of Stationers,’ 1615, 4to. The fifty psalms are set to twelve tunes. A ‘Hymn to God’ is prefixed to the volume. The paraphrases have considerable merit. The piety of the serious parts of the play favours the identification of its writer with the paraphraser of the psalms. Some complimentary verses by R. Tailor, dated December 1613, are prefixed to John Taylor's ‘The Nipping or Snipping of Abuses,’ 1614.
[Fleay’s Chronicle of the English Drama, ii. 256–7; Collier’s History of Dramatic Poetry, i. 369–70; Ward’s English Dramatic Literature, ii. 357, and the notes to the play in the reprints.]
R. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Taaffe, William

​TAAFFE, Sir WILLIAM (d. 1627), sheriff of Sligo, was second son of John Taaffe of Harristown and Ballybragan, Ireland. His ancestors, said to have descended from a Welsh immigrant under Strongbow, had for more than two centuries been landowners in co. Louth, and had received some of the confiscated monastic property. They belonged to the Pale, and William was apparently a protestant. In 1588 he was sheriff of co. Sligo, and complaints of oppression were preferred against him. In 1596 he was employed by Henry Norris [see under Norris, Sir Henry, Baron Norris of Rycote]; in 1597 he was appointed constable of St. Leger’s Castle, and in the following year he served as a lieutenant in the operations against Tyrone. Promoted to a captaincy, he distinguished himself on the landing of the Spaniards at Kinsale in 1601. In January 1603, with his troop of horse, he was sent to attack the MacCarthys at Carbery, entered their stronghold in their absence, and seized their herds. They pursued and charged him at Cladach. Owen MacEgan [q. v.], the vicar-apostolic, who was with them, was shot, and 120 rebels were either killed or drowned in the Bandon. By this exploit Carbery was reduced to subjection, and Taaffe on 25 March 1604–5 was knighted. In 1606 he was nominated constable of Ardee, which post he resigned in 1611. He received various grants of confiscated lands between 1592 and 1620. He died on 9 Feb. 1627, and was buried at Ardee.
By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Brett of Tulloch in Fingal, Taaffe had no issue; by his second wife, Ismay, daughter of Sir Christopher Bellew, he had a son John, who was knighted, was created in 1628 Viscount Taaffe and Baron Ballymote, married Anne, daughter of the first Viscount Dillon, and died on 9 Jan. 1642, being buried at Ballymote; his son Theobald, second viscount, is noticed separately.
[Stafford's Pacata Hibernia, pp. 205, 366; Lodge’s Irish Peerage; Cal. State Papers, Ireland, 1596–1625, and Carew Papers, 1601–3; Mem. of Family of Taaffe, privately printed, Vienna, 1856.]
J. G. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Tabor, Robert

​TABOR or TALBOR, Sir ROBERT (1642?–1681), physician, born in Cambridgeshire in 1642 or 1643, was the son of John Tabor, registrar to the bishop of Ely and grandson of James Tabor, registrar of Cambridge University. In early life he was apprenticed to a Cambridge apothecary named Dent. In this position he devoted his attention to improving the methods of administering quinine or jesuits’ bark as a cure for fever. At that time the after-effects of the drug rendered it an extremely dangerous remedy. To study its operation better Tabor removed to a marshy district in Essex, where fevers were prevalent. There he perfected his method of cure. Though he shrouded his remedy in considerable mystery, and disguised its nature by mixing it with other drugs, the merit of his system lay in the fact that he administered the quinine in smaller quantities and at more frequent intervals than had been customary. He published the results of his researches in a work entitled ‘Πυρετολογία, a Rational Account of the Cause and Cure of Agues; whereunto is added a Short Account of the Cause and Cure of Feavers,’ London, 1672, 8vo. Notwithstanding opposition from rival practitioners, his remedy soon became famous. According to Edward Sheffield, marquis of Normanby, Tabor was happy enough to save Charles II’s life when it was threatened by a dangerous ague. Richard Lower (1631–1691) [q.v.] refused to sanction the trial of the remedy, but, on the intervention of Thomas Short (1635-1685) [q. v.], Tabor was permitted to make the experiment, and was completely successful (Evelyn, Diary, 29 Nov. 1695). In consequence he was appointed one of the king’s physicians in ordinary, and was knighted at Whitehall on 27 July 1678. About this time he proceeded to France by order of Charles and cured the dauphin of an ague. His remedy was known there as ‘the Englishman’s cure.’ Louis XIV treated him with great consideration, invited him to settle in France, and, when he declined, purchased the secret of his treatment from him. In 1679 he proceeded to Spain to attend the queen, Louisa Maria (Lettres de Mme. de Sevigné, 1738, iv. 272). He died in November 1681, and was buried on the 17th in Trinity Church, Cambridge, in the north chapel, where a monument was erected to him. On 17 Feb. 1678–9 he married Elizabeth Aylet of Rivenhall, Essex, at St. Matthew’s, Friday Street, London. By her he had a son, an officer in the army, known as ‘Handsome Tabor.’
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wakefeld, Thomas

​WAKEFELD, THOMAS (d. 1575), first regius professor of Hebrew at Cambridge, was born at Pontefract in Yorkshire. Robert Wakefeld [q. v.] was a brother, and so probably was John Wakefeld, gentleman, controller of the household of Archbishop Cranmer (Maitland, Early Printed Books, 354; Remains of Thomas Cranmer, ed. Jenkyns, i. 233). He was educated at Cambridge, but in what hall or college is not known (Cooper, Athenae Cantabr. i. 337). On 9 Nov. 1540, being then master of arts, he was appointed by Henry VIII to the newly established professorship of Hebrew at Cambridge (Lansdowne MS. 980, f. 1; Ascham, Epist. 1590, p. 106). This carried with it membership of Trinity College. Between 1549 and 1553, and again between 1569 and 1575, the office of reading the Hebrew lecture was discharged by others (Lamb, History of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, p. 233; cf. arts. Fagius, Paul, and Tremellius, John Immanuel); whence it has been inferred that Wakefeld was disqualified by his adherence to the old religion, his learning and capacity being unquestioned (Mullinger, University of Cambridge, ii. 416-17).
Wakefeld was twice married: first at the age of forty. He had nine children, three sons and six daughters. These particulars he has himself recorded in a marginal note on a passage of 'Philo' (Maitland, Early Printed Books, p. 357). He died in 1575, and was buried on 24 April at Chesterton, near Cambridge, where one wife was buried on 26 Dec. 1570 (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1547-80, p. 255). A Thomas Wakefeld of Cambridge, possibly a son, was admitted of Brasenose College, Oxford, and matriculated on 20 July 1578, at the age of sixteen (Foster, Alumni Oxon. iv. 1553). A Thomas Wakefeld was also servant to Archbishop Cranmer in 1537 (Remains of Cranmer, ed. Jenkyns, i. 205).
Wakefeld wrote 'Locutiones seu Phrases in Novo Testamento, quae videntur secundum proprietates linguae Hebraeae;' but the work, so far as can be ascertained, has never been printed. Many rare books bearing annotations by him are now in the library of Lambeth Palace.
[Authorities quoted in text. Most of them are referred to by Cooper.]
J. H. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wait, Daniel Guilford

​WAIT, DANIEL GUILFORD (1789–1850), Hebrew scholar, born in 1789, was the son of Daniel Wait of Bristol. He matriculated from University College, Oxford, on 20 Oct. 1809, and removed to St. John's College, Cambridge, whence he graduated LL.B. in 1819 and LL.D. in 1824. He was ordained as curate in Pucklechurch, near Bristol, and on 12 March 1819 was presented to the rectory of Blagdon in Somerset. Wait was an orientalist of some learning. His first publication in 1811 was 'A Defence of a Critique of the Hebrew Word Nachash,' London, 8vo, in which he supported the conclusion that Eve was deceived by a serpent and not by an ape, as Adam Clarke [q. v.] had urged in the 'Classical, Biblical, and Oriental Journal.' His chief work, 'Jewish, Oriental, and Classical Antiquities' (Cambridge, 8vo), which appeared in 1823, was compiled with much labour and research. Wait died at Blagdon, unmarried, on 30 Sept. 1850.
Besides the works mentioned, he was the author of:
* 'An Inquiry into the Religious Knowledge which the Heathen Philosophers derived from the Jewish Scriptures,' Cambridge, 1813, 8vo.
* 'A Comparison of certain Traditions found in the Thalmud, Targumiy and Rabbinical Writers, with circumstances in the Life of our Saviour,' Cambridge, 1814, 8vo.
* 'A Critical Examination of some few Scripture Texts, which maintain the Doctrine of a Trinity in Unity,' London, 1819, 8vo.
* 'A Course of Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge,' London, 1826, 8vo.
* 'A Selection from the Psalms,' London, 1848, 12mo.
He translated 'An Introduction to the Writings of the New Testament,' London, 1827, 8vo, from the German of Johann Leonhard von Hug; but his translation was superseded by that of Moses Stuart (Andover, 1836, 8vo). He also edited the 'Repertorium Theologicum,' London, 1829, 8vo, of which only one number appeared.
[Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1715-1886; Foster's Index Ecclesiasticus, 1800-40; Biogr. Dictionary of Living Authors, 1816; Gent. Mag. 1860, ii. 669.]
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wake, Hereward

​WAKE, HEREWARD the (fl. 1070–1071). [See Hereward.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Williams, Robert (1787?-1845)

​WILLIAMS, ROBERT (1787?–1845), physician, born in London about 1787, was admitted a pensioner of Trinity College, Cambridge, on 27 June 1804, graduating in 1810 as M.B. and in 1816 as M.D. At the College of Physicians he was admitted an inceptor candidate on 12 July 1816, a candidate on 23 Dec. 1816, and a fellow on 22 Dec. 1817. He served the office of censor in 1831, and he was declared an elect on 20 March 1844. He was elected assistant-physician to St. Thomas's Hospital on 11 Dec. 1816, and on 1 Oct. 1817 he was elected physician to the charity in the room of William Lister, an office he retained until his death.
Williams died at his house in Lower Bedford Place on 24 Nov. 1845. He occupied himself for many years in an attempt to ascertain the virtues and properties of the drugs then in common use, for he was engaged throughout his life in seeking for specific remedies to cure disease. In the course of these inquiries he discovered the curative power of iodide of potassium in the later stages of syphilis. He also introduced bromide of potassium into English practice, though he did not employ it in the treatment of epilepsy. He was the author of ‘Elements of Medicine,’ London, 1836–41, 2 vols. 8vo.
D’A. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Williams, Robert (fl.1690)

​WILLIAMS, ROBERT or ROGER (fl. 1690), mezzotint-engraver, was a Welshman who resided in London, and is said to have been a pupil of the Dutch artist Theodore Freres. He practised exclusively in mezzotint, and his plates, which number about sixty, are brilliant and masterly; they are chiefly portraits of royal and other notable persons of the time, from pictures by Lely, Kneller, Closterman, Riley, Dahl, and especially Wissing. Williams's prints were published between 1680 and 1704, mostly by J. Savage and E. Cooper, and some were reissued by John Smith (1652?–1742) [q. v.], who retouched them and substituted his own name for that of Williams.
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Williams, Robert (1767-1850)

​WILLIAMS, ROBERT (1767–1850), Welsh bard, son of William Williams, was born at Betws Fawr in the parish of Llan Ystumdwy, Carnarvonshire, in 1767. His father was a small freeholder, and he succeeded him in the occupation of Betws Fawr, moving, however, towards the end of his life to Mynachty in the same district. ‘Robert ap Gwilym Ddu,’ as he was styled in bardic circles, became first known as the winner in 1792 of the Gwyneddigion Society's medal for the best ode on the ‘Massacre of the Bards.’ This was, however, his only success of the kind; a home-keeping farmer, he devoted himself henceforth to the writing of religious verse and eschewed eisteddfodau. He was the close friend and bardic tutor of his neighbour, David Owen (1784–1841) [q. v.] (‘Dewi Wyn’), and shared Owen's mistrust of the eisteddfod authorities of the day. His poems, almost entirely religious or commemorative, were published at Dolgelly in 1841 under the title ‘Gardd Eifion.’ They show a remarkable power of vigorous, clear expression, and include some of the best known stanzas in the language. Williams died on 11 June 1850, and was buried at Aber Erch. He married late in life; his only child, a daughter, Jane Elizabeth, died in 1834, at the age of seventeen, and ‘Gardd Eifion’ contains a touching elegy upon her.
J. E. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Williams, Robert (1765-1827)

​WILLIAMS, ROBERT (1765–1827), rear-admiral, born in 1765, entered the navy in January 1777 on board the Ardent, then commanded by Lord Mulgrave. Early in 1778 he was moved to the America of 64 guns, with Lord Longford, and in her was present in the action off Ushant on 27 July 1778. In 1780 he went out to North America in the London, flagship of Rear-admiral Thomas Graves (afterwards Lord Graves) [q. v.], and in her was present in the action off the Chesapeake on 16 March 1781. In August he ​was appointed to the Royal Oak as acting-lieutenant; on 5 Sept. took part in the action off the Chesapeake, and on 12 April 1782 in the action near Dominica. On 12 April 1783 he was promoted to be lieutenant of the Argo, in which he returned to England in 1784. In 1790 he was with Captain (afterwards Sir Charles) Thompson [q. v.] in the Elephant; in 1793 in the Centurion in the Channel, and in 1794 again with Thompson in the Vengeance in the West Indies. After the capture of Martinique he followed Thompson to the Vanguard. In 1796 he came home in the Minotaur, and was immediately appointed first lieutenant of the Prince George, the flagship of Rear-admiral (Sir William) Parker in the battle of Cape St. Vincent. For his service on this occasion Williams was promoted to the rank of commander and appointed acting captain of the Blenheim, in which Parker had hoisted his flag. He afterwards commanded the Dolphin storeship, and the San Ysidro as acting-captain. On bringing this ship to England his promotion was confirmed, to date 10 Nov. 1797, and for a few months he was flag-captain to Sir Charles Thompson in the Formidable, but in January 1798 he was put on half-pay. In 1803 he went out to the East Indies in the Russell. He returned in 1805 in the Ruby, his health having broken down. In 1810–12 he commanded the Dictator in the Baltic with Sir James (Lord de) Saumarez [q. v.]; and from 1812 to 1814 the Gloucester in the North Sea, Baltic, and West Indies. He had no further service, but became a rear-admiral on 9 April 1823, and died at his house in Queen's Square, Bath, on 1 March 1827. His wife predeceased him in 1825.
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Williams, Penry

​WILLIAMS, PENRY (1800?–1885), artist, was born about 1800 at Merthyr Tydvil, the son of a house-painter. Being sent to London by Sir John Guest and other gentlemen, he studied in the schools of the Royal Academy under Fuseli, and in 1821 gained a silver medal from the Society of Arts for a drawing from the antique. Commencing in 1822, he was a frequent exhibitor of portraits and views at the Royal Academy, British Institution, and Society of British Artists until 1827, when he settled at Rome. Thenceforward he devoted himself mainly to depicting Italian views and scenes of Roman life, and the pictures which he contributed to the Royal Academy down to 1869, painted in an attractive though conventional style, were much admired, and brought him many distinguished patrons. Among his best works were ‘The Festa of the Madonna dell' Arco,’ ‘Ferry on the River Ninfa,’ ‘Il Voto, or the Convalescent,’ ‘The Fountain: a Scene at Mola di Gaeta,’ ‘Italian Girls preparing for a Festa’ (engraved by D. ​Lucas, 1830), and ‘Procession to the Christening’ (engraved by L. Stocks for Finden's ‘British Gallery of Art’). The National Gallery possesses his ‘Neapolitan Peasants at a Fountain,’ ‘Wayside in Italy,’ and ‘The Tambourine,’ and the last two, which form part of the Vernon collection, were engraved by C. Rolls for the ‘Art Journal.’ Some of Williams's designs were engraved for the ‘Amulet’ (1827–30) and the ‘Literary Souvenir’ (1836). In April 1828 he was elected an associate of the Society of Painters in Watercolours, exhibiting annually until 1833, when he resigned. Williams was much esteemed by the residents in Rome, where he was a familiar figure for nearly sixty years, and his studio was one of the recognised attractions for English visitors. He died in Rome on 27 July 1885 in his eighty-sixth year, and his remaining works were sold at Christie's in the following year.
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wigner, George William

​WIGNER, GEORGE WILLIAM (1842–1884), chemist, was eldest son of John Thomas Wigner (d. 1857), pastor of the baptist church at King's Lynn, of which he wrote a ‘Brief History’ from its foundation in 1687 down to 1849. Born in the London Road, Lynn, on 19 Oct. 1842, George was educated at Lynn grammar school. He early showed a liking for chemistry and science generally. At the age of seventeen he became clerk to a private banking firm in London, where he remained for five years, giving, however, all his leisure to scientific work. After hearing him give a scientific lecture Mr. Frank Hills of Deptford offered him a post in his chemical works, where he remained for four years. During the latter part of the time he took out several patents for sewage treatment, which led to a connection with the Native Guano Company. In 1872 he began business on his own account as an analyst in Great Tower Street. He took an active part in promoting the Sale of Food and Drugs Act of 1875. He was the founder of the Society of Public Analysts in 1875; was honorary secretary of the society from the commencement till 1883, when he was elected president; and edited the ‘Proceedings’ in 1875, and, in conjunction with Dr. John Muter, the ‘Analyst,’ the official organ of the society, from its origin in 1876 till his death in 1884. In 1880 he was awarded a prize of five hundred dollars by the national board of trade of the United States for the draft of an act to prevent adulteration of food and drugs without hampering commerce unnecessarily, and an essay on this subject. In 1884 he acted as juror at the International Health Exhibition, South Kensington, and undertook the analysis of some hundreds of food samples exhibited. His wife died in January 1884, and from that time his health gave way; he died of stricture of the œsophagus on 17 Oct. 1884, leaving a son and a daughter.
Wigner was one of the earliest public analysts. He acted as analyst for Plumstead, Greenwich, and Deptford; he was also consulting chemist to the Thames conservancy board, and in these capacities he frequently gave evidence as an expert witness. He was a fellow of the Chemical Society and of the Institute of Chemistry. In 1868 he published, in conjunction with William Cameron Sillar and Robert George Sillar, a book on the ‘A.B.C. Sewage Process;’ and in 1878 ‘Seaside Water,’ an abstract of a series of reports upon the water-supply of coast resorts, previously published in the ‘Sanitary Record.’ The Royal Society's ‘Catalogue’ (down to 1884) contains a list of twenty-one papers published by Wigner alone, one published in conjunction with Professor Arthur Herbert Church, F.R.S., ​and three with Robert Harland. Nearly all of these papers deal with various points of analytical chemistry.
[Journ. Chemical Society, 1885, xlvii. 344 (obituary); Analyst, 1884, ix. 193 (obituary), x. 42 (presidential address of Dr. Alfred Hill); Brit. Mus. Cat.]
P. J. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wightman, William

​WIGHTMAN, Sir WILLIAM (1784–1863), judge, came of an old Dumfriesshire family. He was the son of William Wightman, gentleman, of St. Clement's, London, and was born in 1784. He was an undergraduate of University College, Oxford, where he matriculated on 23 March 1801, and on 21 June was elected to a Michel exhibition at Queen's College, graduating B.A. on 30 May 1805, and M.A. on 23 Oct. 1809; from 1859 to 1863 he was an honorary fellow of his college. On 31 Jan. 1804 he entered Lincoln's Inn, and, after some years of practice as a special pleader, he was called to the bar in 1821. In 1830 he transferred himself to the Inner Temple and joined the northern circuit. He was known as an exceptionally sound and clear-headed lawyer, and for several years held the important post of junior counsel to the treasury. He was appointed a member of the commission of 1830 upon the practice of the common-law courts, and of that of 1833 upon the proposal for a criminal law digest. He was engaged in many celebrated cases, particularly the prosecutions arising out of the Bristol riots; but, owing to an almost excessive modesty, was little known except to his profession. In February 1841 he was promoted to a judgeship of the queen's bench, on the resignation of Mr. Justice Littledale, and was knighted on 28 April, and here he served as a judge for nearly twenty-three years. While on circuit at York, on 9 Dec. 1863, he was seized with an attack of apoplexy, and died next day. He married in 1819, a daughter of James Baird of Lasswade, near Edinburgh.
Wightman's pre-eminent qualities as a lawyer were accuracy and caution. As a judge he had deep learning, a faculty of lucid reasoning, and abundance of good sense. He was courteous, firm, and dignified, and added greatly to the strength of the court of which he was a member. He had also great humour, considerable literary gifts, and was widely read in English letters (Campbell, Autobiography, ii. 310; Croker Papers, iii. 240).
J. A. H.