OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leeds, Edward (d.1590)

​LEEDS, EDWARD (d. 1590), civilian, second son of William Leeds, by Elizabeth Vinall, was born at Benenden in Kent. He was educated at Cambridge, graduated B.A. 1542–3, proceeded M.A. 1545, and in 1509 was created LL.D. The date of his first degree sufficiently disproves the statement that he was a monk of Ely. On 20 June 1548 Bishop Goodrich collated him to the rectory of Little Gransden in Cambridgeshire, and in the same year he became prebendary of Ely. In 1550 he was commissary and vicar-general to the bishop, and was engaged in destroying altars and other things deemed superstitious in the diocese. In 1551 he was made rector of Newton, Ely, and served the chapelry of St. Mary-by-the-Sea; and on 12 Feb. 1551–2 he obtained the rectory of Elm in the Isle of Ely-cum-Emneth, Norfolk. He was also chancellor to Bishop Goodrich. In 1553 he resigned Little Gransden and Newton. When Bishop Goodrich died in 1554 Leeds was one of his executors. Probably he lost his prebend during Mary's reign. On 28 Feb, 1558–9 he was appointed to the eighth stall in Ely Cathedral. About the same time he was requested by Cecil to join with Pory and Parker in settling a dispute between the president and fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge. In 1559 he was one of Parker's chaplains, and at Parker's appointment to the archbishopric his name was appended to an opinion by certain civilians, added to what was known as the supplentes clause of the letters patent, affirming the validity of the confirmation and consecration. At various times he visited the dioceses of Canterbury, Rochester, Peterborough, and Ely. In 1560 he became an advocate of Doctors' Commons, and afterwards was made a master in chancery. In 1560 also he became precentor of Canterbury and master of Clare Hall, Cambridge. On 20 June 1560 he was made precentor of Lichfield, but he resigned this appointment before 16 May in the following year. He also appears to have been rector of Cottenham, Snailwell, and Littleport in Cambridgeshire, and master of St. John's Hospital, Ely. Parker employed him with Dr. Perne in 1568 to compose the differences which had arisen in Corpus Christi College. In 1570 Leeds, who had probably acquired a fortune by his practice in Doctors' Commons, purchased from Sir Richard Sackville the manor of Croxton in Cumberland. He rebuilt the manor-house, and in 1571 ceased to be master of Clare. On 14 July 1573 he became rector of Croxton. In 1580 he resigned his prebend at Ely. He died 17 Feb. 1589–90, and was buried at Croxton, where a little figure of him in brass was placed in the church with an epitaph. He founded ten scholarships at Clare, and gave one thousand marks towards the building of Emmanuel College. Edward Leeds must be distinguished from the 'Mr. Leeds' the 'pious minister' of King's Lynn, whom two men of the name of Pell libelled and otherwise annoyed in 1581.
[Cooper's Athenæ Cantabr, ii. 64; Parker's Works (Parker Soc.), pp. 63–4; Cat of State Papers, Dom. 1581–90, pp. 34, 47.]
W. A. J. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lees, Edwin

​LEES, EDWIN (1800–1887), botanist, born at Worcester in 1800, was educated at Birmingham. He began his career as a printer and stationer at 87 High Street, Worcester, and in 1828 he published, under the pseudonym of 'Ambrose Florence,' a guide to the city and cathedral, which contained a catalogue of the plants in the vicinity. He also contributed lists to Loudon's 'Magazine' and to Sir C. Hastings's 'Natural History of Worcestershire.' In 1829 he began to publish 'The Worcestershire Miscellany,' of which, only five numbers and a supplement appeared. It was issued in book form in 1831. On 12 Jan. 1829 he founded the Worcester Literary and Scientific Institute, of which he was joint secretary. He gave up business early in life, and devoted all his energies to local botany, in 1843 issuing his 'Botany of the Malvern Hills' (3rd edit. 1868); 'Botany of Worcestershire,' 1867; 'The Botanical Looker-out,' 1842 and 1851; 'Pictures of Nature,' 1856; and papers in the periodical press. He died on 21 Oct. 1887 at Greenhill Summit,' Worcester, and was buried at Pendock, Worcestershire. Lees, who was F.L.S. and F.G.S., was one of the first in this countrv to pay regard to the forms of brambles, and is commemorated botanically by his discovery, Rubus Leesii. Lees also published a masque in verse entitled 'Christmas and the New Year,' 2nd ed. 1828, and 'Scenery and Thought in Poetical Pictures of various Landscape Scenes and Incidents,' 1880.
[Journ. Bot. 1887, p. 384; Worcestershire Chronicle, 29 Oct. 1887.]
B. D. J.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leedes, Edward (1627-1707)

​LEEDES, EDWARD (1627–1707), schoolmaster, born at Tittleshall, Norfolk, in 1627, was son of Samuel Leedes or Leeds. He entered Christ's College, Cambridge, as a sizar in June 1642, graduated B.A. and M.A., and in 1668 was elected master of the grammar school at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. He held the mastership till his death, and is said to have been a good teacher. He died on 20 Dec. 1707, and was buried in the church at Ingham, near Bury, where there is a tablet ​to his memory in the chancel. In 1847 a descendant of the same name at Barham, Suffolk, owned a portrait of Leedes. He married Anna (1645–1707), daughter of Thomas Curtis, rector of Brandon. His two sons, Edward and Samuel, both took holy orders. Leedes's chief works (all published in London) were: 1. 'Methodus Græcam Linguam Docendi.' 1690, 8vo; the dedication contains a list of the chief families in Suffolk of which members had been, were being, or might hereafter be educated at Bury school. 2. 'Ad Prima Rudimenta Græcæ Linguæ discenda Graeco-Latinum Compendium.' 1693. 3. 'Eruditæ Pronunciationis Catholici Indices.' 1701, 1751, &c. 4. 'Lud. Kusterus de vero usu verborum mediorum . . .' (2nd edit), 1750, 1773, &c. 5. 'Τροποσχηματολογία, maximam partem ex Indice Rhetorico Farnabii deprompta . . ..' 1717, 8to. An edition of Lucian's 'Works' of 1743 bears Leedes's name as editor; he had published a volume of selections from the same author in 1678 (Watt).
[Davy's Suffolk Coll. vol. xc. (Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 19166), f. 25; The Suffolk Garland, p. 91; information kindly furnished by J. A. Sharkey, esq.; Page's Suppl. to the Suffolk Traveller, p. 286.]
W. A. J. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leeke, Henry John

​LEEKE, Sir HENRY JOHN (1790?–1870), admiral, son of Samuel Leeke, a deputy-lieutenant of Hampshire, entered the navy in 1803, on board the Royal William, guardship at Spithead. It is probable that his service on board her was merely nominal, and that he did not actually go afloat till 1806, when he went out to the Mediterranean in the Iris frigate. He afterwards served in the Royal Sovereign, flagship of Vice-admiral Edward Thornbrough [q. v.], and in the Terrible with Captain Lora Henry Paulet. As midshipman of the Volontaire he commanded a boat on the night of 31 Oct. 1809, when four armed vessels and seven merchant ships were taken from under the batteries in the Bay of Rosas by the boats of the squadron. He was afterwards serving in the Persian when he was promoted to be lieutenant on 24 Nov. 1810. She brought home a large number of prisoners, who attempted one night to take possession of the ship. No one was on deck but Leeke and a quartermaster, but snatching up cutlasses, they stopped the rush of the Frenchmen, and kept them at bay till assistance arrived. He continued serving, chiefly in the Mediterranean, during the war, and was promoted to be commander on 15 June 1814. From 1819 to 1822 he commanded the Myrmidon sloop on the west coast of Africa, where he was actively employed, on different occasions, in reducing the native kings to order and obedience. For assistance rendered to a wrecked schooner he received a gold medal from the Portuguese government. In 1824 he was appointed to the Herald yacht, in which he took out the Bishops of Barbadoes and Jamaica, and thus had the opportunity of bringing home from the Havana a freight of upwards of a million dollars in specie. He was advanced to post rank on 27 May 1826. On 1 April 1835 he was knighted, in recognition of his services on the coast of Africa, and on 25 Jan. 1836 he was nominated a K.H. From 1845 to 1848 he was flag-captain to Admiral Sir John West at Devonport, and in 1852 was appointed superintendent and commander-in-chief of the Indian navy. The duties of the office were principally administrative; but when the war with Persia broke out in November 1856 he assumed the command of the squadron which convoyed the troops to the Persian Gulf, covered their landing, and on 10 Nov. drove the enemy out of Bushir in a four hours' bombardment. In March 1857, on the expiration of five years, he returned to England. He had been promoted to the rank of rear-admiral on 15 April 1854; on 1 Oct. 1858 he was nominated a K.C.B, He became a vice-admiral on 2 May 1860, and admiral on 11 Jan. 1864. He died in February 1870. He married in 1818 a daughter of James Dashwood of Parkhurst in Surrey.
[O'Byrne's Nav. Biog. Dict.; Ann. Reg. 1856, vol. xcviii. pt. i. p. 265; Low's Hist. of the Indian Navy, ii. 240-382; Times, 28 Feb. 1870.]
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leemput, Remigius van

​LEEMPUT, REMIGIUS VAN (d. 1675), painter. [See Van Leemput.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leedes, Edward (1599?-1677)

​LEEDES, EDWARD (1599?–1677), jesuit. [See Courtney, Edward.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gwin, Robert

​GWIN, ROBERT (fl. 1591), catholic divine, a native of the diocese of Bangor in Wales, received his education at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he was admitted to the degree of B.A. on 9 July 1568 (Oxf. Univ. Reg., Oxf. Hist. Soc., i. 271). In 1573 he went to the English College at Douay and studied divinity. He was ordained priest in 1575, and sent back to this country on the mission on 16 Jan. 1575-6, having just before that date taken the degree of B.D. in the university of Douay. He lived chiefly in Wales, and was much esteemed for his talent in preaching. A document in the archives of the English College at Rome says that he ‘tam scriptis quam laboribus maximum in afflictissimam patriam auxilium contulit’ (Douay Diaries, p. 288). By an instrument dated 24 May 1578 Pope Gregory XIII granted him a license to bless portable altars, &c., because at that time there were in England only two catholic bishops, both of whom were in prison, namely, an Irish archbishop and Dr. Watson, bishop of Lincoln. Gwin, who appears to have been alive in 1591, wrote several pious works in the Welsh language, according to Antonio Possevino, who, however, omits to give their titles, and he also translated from English into Welsh 'A Christian Directory or Exercise guiding men to eternal Salvation,' commonly called 'The Resolution,' written by Robert Parsons, the jesuit, 'which translation,' says Wood, 'was much used and valued, and so consequently did a great deal of good among the Welsh people.'
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gwilt, George (1775-1856)

​GWILT, GEORGE, the younger (1775–1856), architect, born in Southwark 8 May 1775, was elder son of George Gwilt the elder [q. v.] He was articled to his father, and succeeded him in business as an architect. He was from the first very fully employed, one of his earliest important commissions being the large warehouses erected about 1801 for the West India Dock Company, but he is not known as the author of any original works of artistic character. His tastes led him rather towards the study than the active practice of architecture, and he early devoted himself to archæological pursuits. He wrote many papers for the 'Archæologia' and the 'Vetusta Monumenta' of the Society of Antiquaries, of which he was elected a fellow on 14 Dec. 1815. In 1820 he superintended the rebuilding of the tower and spire of Wren's church of St. Mary-le-Bow,Cheapside, the upperportion of which had to be taken down in consequence of the decay of the iron cramps employed to hold the stones together. The foundations of the building were at the same time repaired, and Norman and even supposed Roman remains discovered. These are noticed in the description of the church in Britton and Pugin's 'Illustrations of the Public Buildings of London,' to which work Gwilt also contributed. He was particularly interested in the antiquities of Southwark, and contributed to the 'Gentleman's Magazine' of 1815 an article on the remains of Winchester Palace there. His most important archæological work was the restoration of the church of St. Mary Overy, Southwark, which was with him a labour of love. The tower and choir were restored 1822-1825 at a cost of 35,000l., and when, through the exertions of Thomas Saunders, F.S.A., the restoration of the lady chapel was proceeded with at a cost of 3,000l., raised by public subscription, Gwilt gave his services gratuitously. He died 26 June 1856 at the age of eighty-one, and was buried, by authority of the secretary of state, in a vault of the choir of St. Saviour's, Southwark.
Gwilt had three sons. The two eldest, George and Charles Edwin, were promising architects, but both died young. The latter contributed a paper on some antiquities of Southwark to the 'Archæologia' (xxv. 604).
G. W. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Guyton, Emma Jane

​GUYTON, Mrs. EMMA JANE (1825–1887), novelist. [See Worboise.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gwilt, George (1746-1807)

​GWILT, GEORGE, the elder (1746–1807), architect, was made surveyor to the county of Surrey about 1770. In 1774, on the passing of the Metropolitan Building Act, he became district surveyor for St. George's, Southwark, and about 1777 surveyor to the commissioners of sewers for Surrey, his district extending from East Moulsey to the river Ravensbourne in Kent. In this latter post, which he held for thirty years, he was succeeded by his eldest son; George [q. v.] As a young man Gwilt benefited by the patronage of Henry Thrale the brewer, and probably directed some of the improvements made by him at his brewery in Southwark (now Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, & Co.) At his house Gwilt became acquainted with Dr. Johnson, but there was no great cordiality between them. In 1782, when the private bridges at Cobham, Godalming, and Leatherhead were, by act of parliament, handed over to the county and made public, he, as county surveyor, directed the necessary alterations. Cobham bridge (formerly of wood) was entirely rebuilt of brick, with nine semicircular arches, the foundation-stone being laid on 15 July 1782. Godalming bridge (five arches) was also rebuilt, the foundation-stone laid on 22 July 1782, and the bridge opened to the public on 31 Jan. 1783. Leatherhead bridge, being already of stone and flint, was widened. Gwilt superintended the construction of the County Bridewell in St. George's Fields, at the back of the New King's Bench (afterwards Great Suffolk Street), in 1772; of Horsemonger Lane Gaol between 1791 and 1798 (pulled down in September 1878), and of the Sessions House in Newington Causeway, completed in 1799 (pulled down in 1862). In 1800, as architect to the West India Dock Company, he designed six of the large warehouses in the Isle of Dogs. In this work he was assisted by his son George. His two sons, George and Joseph, both separately noticed, were his pupils. He died in Southwark, 9 Dec. 1807, aged 61.
B. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gwilym, David ap

​GWILYM, DAVID ap (14th cent.), Welsh poet. [See David.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gwavas, William

​GWAVAS, WILLIAM (1676–1741), writer in Cornish, eldest son of William Gwavas, by Eliza, daughter of Sir Thomas Arundell of Tolverne, near Truro, was born at Huntingfield Hall, Suffolk, 6 Dec. 1676, and baptised in Huntingfield Church on 1 Jan. following. He was articled to James Holt, an attorney in Lyon's Inn, and then entered the Middle Temple, where he purchased a ground chamber, No. 4 Brick Court. On 29 April 1717 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Harris of St. Ives, Cornwall, with whom he received a portion of 1,500l. Some years before his marriage he had taken up his residence in Cornwall, living in a house in Chapel Street, Penzance. His ​father had left the Cornish property much involved, but he paid off the incumbrances, and redeemed the mortgage on the rectory of Paul. With this rectory he had inherited a chancery suit, commenced 14 June 1680, as to the right of the rector to take tithe of fish landed at Newlyn and Mousehole. The case came before the House of Lords 26 Feb. 1729-30, and went against the fishermen. Nevertheless at the entrance to Newlyn there was for many years a notice affixed to a house which said 'One and All, No tithe of fish' (Josiah Brown, Cases in the High Court of Parliament, 1802, ii. 446-50). About 1710 Edward Lhuyd came into Cornwall, where he conferred with Gwavas, Thomas Tonkin, and John Keigwin as to the formation of a Cornu-British vocabulary. At this time these three persons were the chief authorities in the county on the old Cornish language; they kept up a correspondence on the subject, and collected mottoes, proverbs, and idioms. In the dedication to Tonkin's 'Parochial History of Cornwall,' 1733, the only part of the work that was printed, the author says: 'William Gwavas, Esq., perhaps the only gentleman now living who hath a perfect knowledge of the Cornish tongue, has been so kind as to lend me his helping hand to look over and amend my Cornish vocabulary, and to furnish me with several pieces in the said language, which are inserted in my said "Archæologia," with his name prefixed to them.' The existing remains of Gwavas's Cornish writings are now to be seen at the British Museum, Addit. MS. 28554. His commonplace book, dated 1710, was lot No. 650 at the sale of Mr. W. C. Borlase's library, 22 Feb. 1887, and was purchased by Mr. Bernard Quaritch.
Gwavas was buried on 9 Jan. 1741 in Paul Church, where a marble monument was erected to his memory. He left two daughters: Anne, who married the Rev. Thomas Carlyon, and died in 1797, and Elizabeth, who married William Veale, and died in 1791. A likeness in oil of Gwavas is in the possession of George Bown Millett, esq., of Penzance.
G. C. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bicknell, Alexander

​BICKNELL, ALEXANDER (d. 1796), author, was an industrious litterateur of the last quarter of the eighteenth century, whose writings received their due meed of ridicule or faint praise in the 'Monthly Review,' and are now forgotten. He died 22 Aug. 1796 in St. Thomas's Hospital, London.
He published the following books and pamphlets:
* 'History of Edward Prince of Wales, commonly termed the Black Prince,' 8vo, 1777.
* 'Life of Alfred the Great, King of the Anglo-Saxons,' 8vo, 1777.
* 'The Putrid Soul, a Poetical Epistle to Joseph Priestley, LL.D.,' 4to, 1780.
* 'The Patriot King, or Alfred and Elvida, an Historical Tragedy,' 8vo., 1788.
* 'History of Lady Anne Neville.'
* 'Isabella, or the Rewards of Good Nature.'
* 'The Benevolent Man, a Novel.'
* 'Prince Arthur, an Allegorical Romance.'
* 'Doncaster Races, or the History of Miss Maitland, a True Tale, in a series of letters,' 2 vols. 12mo, 1790.
* 'A History of England and the British Empire,' 12mo, 1791.
* 'The Grammatical Wreath, or a Complete System of English Grammar,' 12mo, 1790.
* 'Instances of the Mutability of Fortune, selected from Ancient and Modern History,' 8vo, 1792.
* 'Philosophical Disquisitions on the Christian Religion, addressed to Soame Jenyns, Esq., and Dr. Kenrick.'
It is stated on the title-page of No. 9 that Bicknell edited Captain J. Carver's 'Travels through the Interior Parts of North America,' 8vo, 1778, and Mrs. George Anne Bellamy's 'Apology for her Life,' 6 vols. 12mo, 1785.
[Monthly Review, vols. lvii. lviii. lxiii. lxxviii., New Series, ii. iv. v. ix.; Gent. Mag.; Watt's Bibl. Brit.]
C. W. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Biddulph, Thomas Myddleton

1904 Errata appended.
​BIDDULPH, Sir THOMAS MYDDLETON (1809–1878), general, born 29 July 1809, was the second son of Robert Biddulph, Esq., of Ledbury; his mother was Charlotte, the daughter of Richard Myddleton, Esq., M.P., of Chirk Castle, of the old Welsh family of Myddleton of Gwaynenog. He became a comet in the 1st life guards 7 Oct. 1826, lieutenant 23 Feb. 1829, captain 16 May 1834, and brevet-major 9 Nov. 1846. On 31 Oct. 1851 he was major in the 7th light dragoons, and lieutenant-colonel unattached. He had been gazetted 16 July 1851 as master of her majesty's household, for which office he had been selected by Baron Stockmar (Martin, Life of the Prince Consort, ii. 382-3). On 16 July 1854 he was appointed an extra equerry to her majesty, and became colonel 28 Nov. 1854. Colonel Biddulph married, 16 Feb. 1857, Mary Frederica, only daughter of Mr. Frederick Charles W. Seymour, who was at one time maid of honour, and afterwards honorary bedchamber woman to the queen. He was created, 27 March 1863, a knight commander of the order of the Bath for his civil services, and was appointed, 3 March 1866, one of the joint keepers of her majesty's privy purse, in succession to the Hon. Sir G. B. Phipps, and in conjunction with General the Hon. Charles Grey. On Grey's appointment to be private secretary to her majesty, 30 April 1867, Sir Thomas Biddulph became sole keeper of the privy purse. He became major-general 31 May 1866. and lieutenant-general 29 Dec. 1873, and he was gazetted, 1 Oct. 1877, to the brevet rank of general, as one of a large number of officers who obtained promotion under the provisions of article 137 of the royal warrant of 13 Aug. 1877. Later in the same year he was sworn a member of the privy council. The official duties of Sir Thomas Biddulph involved a very close attendance upon the queen. He died at Abergeldie Mains, near Balmoral, after a short illness, during which he was daily visited by her majesty, 28 Sept. 1878, and was buried at Clewer. Sir Theodore Martin says of Sir Thomas Biddulph that 'he was the last survivor of the three very able men — Sir Charles Phipps and General Grey being the other two — who had been intimately associated with the prince from their position as leading members of her majesty's Household,' and who always served the queen with generous devotion (Life of the Prince Consort, iv. 12).
[Aberdeen Free Press, 30 Sept. 1878; Times, 30 Sept. and 3 and 8 Oct. 1878; Army List; London Gazette; Illustrated London News, 5 Oct. 1878; Martin's Life of the Prince Consort, 1875-80; Queen Victoria's More Leaves from the Journal of a Life in the Highlands, 1884.]
A. H. G.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.27 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 17 | i | 14 f.e. | Biddulph, Sir Thomas M. : after queen insert He was receiver-general of the duchy of Cornwall from 1866 till his death, and of the duchy of Lancaster from 1873 |