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

​HOLDEN, LAWRENCE (1710–1778), dissenting divine, was born at Bolton, Lancashire, in 1710, and educated for the ministry under Charles Owen, D.D., at Warrington. His first settlement was at Whitworth, Lancashire, whence he removed to Doncaster, West Riding, in 1735, and finally about 1740 to Maldon, Essex. He did not subscribe as required by the Toleration Act, his opinions being unitarian; hence there was a secession from his congregation at Maldon. On his publishing a volume of sermons, Secker offered him preferment if he would conform. Sherlock, bishop of London, stopped a prosecution with which he was threatened when he opened a school at Maldon. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the charge of the English presbyterian congregation at Rotterdam. His visit to Holland however introduced him to the works of foreign divines, of which he made use in his critical commentaries. He died on 4 Aug. 1778. He married first (before 1735) a daughter of A. Whitworth, by whom he had a son and two daughters; secondly (about 1740) a daughter of John Slack of Elmsall, West Riding, by whom he had eight children. His widow died on 7 January 1808, aged 85.
He published: 1. ‘Twenty-two Sermons,’ &c., 1755, 8vo. 2. ‘The Vanity of Crying to God,’ &c., 1757, 8vo. 3. ‘A Paraphrase on … Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Eccle- ​siastes,’ &c., 1763, 8vo, 4 vols. 4. ‘A Paraphrase on … Isaiah,’ &c., Chelmsford, 1776, 8vo, 2 vols.
Holden, Lawrence, the younger (1752–1844), dissenting divine, son of the preceding, was born at Maldon on 15 Dec. 1752. In 1766 he entered the Hoxton Academy, and went through a six years' course of study for the dissenting ministry under Savage, Kippis, and Rees. While at Hoxton he was much influenced by his father's friend, Caleb Fleming, D.D. [q. v.], whose biography he edited. On 5 July 1772 he entered the ministry at Tenterden, Kent, as assistant to Cornelius Hancock, whom he succeeded as pastor in May 1774. Here he ministered for over seventy-one years, assisted from 1827 by Edward Talbot. He began his ministry at the age of nineteen and continued it to the age of ninety-one. He died at Tenterden on 19 March 1844 and was buried on 26 March. A memorial sermon was preached at Maidstone on 14 April by William Stevens. He married (January 1777) a daughter of James Blackmore, who died without issue many years before her husband. He published a few sermons (1810–14) and lectures on the evidences (1820).
[Monthly Repository, 1806, pp. 561 sq., 1808, p. 50; Christian Reformer, 1844, pp. 263 sq., 780 sq.; Stevens's Character of the late Rev. L. Holden, 1844; Davids's Evang. Nonconf. in Essex, 1863, p. 426; Miall's Congregationalism in Yorkshire, 1868, p. 255.]
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Holcombe, Henry

​HOLCOMBE, HENRY (1690?–1750?), musical composer, was born about 1690, probably at Shrewsbury, and was a chorister there. While still a boy he came to London, and took part in the ‘Anglo-Italian’ operatic performances at Drury Lane. His two recorded impersonations are Prenesto in ‘Camilla’ in 1706, and again in 1708, and the Page in ‘Rosamund,’ 1707. He left the stage when his voice broke, and became a successful teacher of singing and of the harpsichord. He died in London about 1750.
He published two collections of songs, ‘The Musical Medley; or a Collection of English Songs and Cantatas set to Musick,’ London, 1745, and ‘The Garland; a Collection of eleven Songs and Cantatas,’ London, 1745. He was also the composer of ‘Six Solos for a Violin and Thorough Bass, with some pieces for the German Flute and Harpsichord,’ London, 1745.
Two of his songs, ‘Happy Hour all Hours Excelling’ (printed in the ‘Musical Miscellany’), and ‘Arno's Vale,’ enjoyed much popularity.
[Grove's Dict. of Music, i. 743; Fétis's Biog. Univ. des Musiciens, iii. 357; Holcombe's music in British Museum.]
R. F. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Holden, Moses

​HOLDEN, MOSES (1777–1864), astronomer, was born at Bolton, Lancashire, on 21 Nov. 1777. As a youth he worked in a foundry at Preston, until disabled by an accident. On his recovery he occupied himself first as a landscape gardener, then as a weaver. Early in life he possessed a strong love of astronomy, and he collected a library that was remarkable for one in his station. In 1814–15 he constructed a large orrery and an ingenious magic-lantern. These were made for the purpose of illustrating his astronomical lectures, which were first given in the Theatre Royal, Preston, in 1815, and afterwards in many towns in the north of England. In 1818 he published ‘A small Celestial Atlas, or Maps of the Visible Heavens, in the Latitude of Britain,’ 3rd edit. 1834, 4th edit. 1840. It was one of the earliest works of the kind published at a low price. He also compiled an almanac, published in 1835 and later. In 1826 he devoted the proceeds of one of his lectures to the erection of a monument in St. Michael's Church, Toxteth, Liverpool, to the memory of Jeremiah Horrocks the astronomer. He assisted in establishing the Preston Institution for the Diffusion of Knowledge, and in 1834 the freedom of the borough was conferred on him. He died at Preston on 3 June 1864, aged 86.
[Preston Guardian.]
C. W. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bristowe, Edmund

1904 Errata appended. Note: In the reprint edition most of the abbreviations in the reference paragraph were expanded, but not otherwise changed.
​BRISTOWE, EDMUND (1787–1876), painter, the son of an heraldic painter, was born at Windsor 1 April 1787, and passed his life at Windsor and Eton. At an early age he was patronised by the Princess Elizabeth, the Duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV), and others. He made sketches of well-known characters in Eton and Windsor, painted still life, interiors, and domestic and sporting subjects. He had great sympathy with animals, some power of rendering their characteristic movements and expressions, and is said to have given suggestions to Landseer. In 1809 he exhibited at the Royal Academy 'Smith shoeing a Horse,' and was an occasional exhibitor there and at the rooms of the British Institution, and at those of the Society of British Artists, until the year 1838, when he exhibited the 'Donkey Race' at Suffolk Street.
Bristowe was a man of independent eccentric views, would not work to order, and sometimes refused to sell even his finished ​productions. He is said to have excelled in the delineation of monkeys, cats, and horses. His works, feeble in technique and little known, are scattered about in private galleries, some being in the royal collection at Windsor. Among them may be mentioned 'Monkey Pugilists,' 'Cat's Paw,' 'Law and Justice,' 'Incredulity,' 'The Rehearsal,' 'Pros and Cons of Life.' Engravings of a few of his works have appeared in the 'Sporting Magazine' and elsewhere.
He produced little during the fifteen years immediately preceding his death, which took place at Eton, 12 Feb. 1876.
[Cat. Roy. Acad.; Cat. Brit. Inst.; Cat. Soc. Brit. Artists; Windsor Gazette, 19 Feb. 1876; Windsor Express, 19 Feb. 1876; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists (1878).]
W. H-h.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.37 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 357 | ii | 23 f.e. 3 f.e. | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ Bristowe, Edmund: for Bristowe read Bristow |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brit, Walter

​BRIT, BRYTTE, or BRITHUS, WALTER (fl. 1390), was a fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and the reputed author of several works on astronomy and mathematics, as well as of a treatise on surgery. He has also been described as a follower of Wycliffe, and as author of a book, 'De auferendis clero possessionibus' (see Bale, Script. Brit. Cat. vi. 94, p. 503 ; J. Simler's epitome of C. Gesner's Bibliotheca, 248 b, Zurich, 1574, folio ; Wood, Antiquities of Oxford, i. 475). If this description be correct, Brit is no doubt identical with the Walter Brute, a layman of the diocese of Hereford, whose trial before Bishop John Trevenant of Hereford in 1391 is related at great length by Foxe (Acts and Monuments, i. 620-54, 8th ed. 1641). Foxe prints the articles of heresy with which Brute was charged, the speech in which he defended himself, and his ultimate submission of his opinions to the determination of the church. Thirty-seven articles were then drawn up and sent to the university of Cambridge to be confuted. Brute, however, appears to have escaped further molestation. With respect to Brit's scientific writings considerable confusion prevails, and it seems probable that not one of the extant works ascribed to him is really his. The work most frequently cited is the 'Theorica Planetarum' (Leland, Comm. de Script. Brit. p. 397), which bears his name in two manuscripts in the Bodleian Library (Digby, xv. ff. 58 b-92, and Wood, 8 d, f. 93) ; but it is claimed for Simon of Bredon, also fellow of Merton, in the verses subjoined to another copy in the same collection (Digby, xlviii. f. 112 b), which, to judge from their contents, have a distinctly stronger presumption in favour of their accuracy. The work in question, which begins with the words 'Circulus ecentricus, circulus egresse cuspidis, et circulus egredientis centri idem sunt,' is further to be distinguished from another treatise with the same title, of which the opening words are 'Circulus ecentricus, vel egresse cuspidis, vel egredientis centri, dicitur,' and of which the authorship is shown by the notices collected by Baldassare Boncompagno (Della Vita e delle Opere di Gherardo Cremonese e di Gherardo di Sabbionetta, pp. 76-100, Rome, 1851, 4to) to be really due to the younger Gerard of Cremona (Gerardus de Sabloneto) in the thirteenth century. The latter has been repeatedly confounded with the 'Theorica' indifferently assigned by the bibliographers to Brit and Bredon. Another treatise mentioned by Bale as the composition of Brit is the 'Theoremata Planetarum,' which Tanner cites as that existing in the Digby MS. exc. f. 190 b (now f. 169 b) ; but this manuscript dates from about the year 1300, and the work is by John Halifax (J. de Sacro Bosco). Finally, the 'Cirurgia Walteri Brit' named in the ancient table of contents in another Digby MS. (xcviii. f. 1 b) has nothing corresponding to it in the volume itself but a set of English medical receipts whose author is not stated (f. 257).
[Authorities cited in text, and Leland's Collectanea, v. 55; Tanner's Bibl. Brit. 127.]
R. L. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bristol, Ralph de

1904 Errata appended; duplicated at Ralph of Bristol.
​BRISTOL, RALPH de (d. 1232), bishop of Cashel, is mentioned by William of Malmesbury as having granted fourteen days of indulgence to the abbey of Glastonbury. He became the first treasurer of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, in 1219, and was consecrated bishop of Cashel in 1223. He died about the beginning of 1232. He is said to have written the life of his patron, Lawrence O'Toole, archbishop of Dublin; but according to Baronius he supplied only the materials for the work, which was written by a monk of Auge.
[Ware's Works (ed. Harris), ii. 319; Cotton's Fasti Hibern. ii. 121, 189, 227.]
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.37 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 356 | i | 7 f.e. 2 f.e. | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ Bristol, Ralph de: for Cashel read Kildare |
| | | 7-6 f.e. | omit by William of Malmesbury |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brithwold

​BRITHWOLD. [See Brihtwold.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Briton, William

​BRITON or BRETON, WILLIAM (d. 1356), theologian, is described as a Franciscan by all the literary biographers (leland, Comm. de Script. Brit. p. 356, &c.); according, however, to H. O. Coxe (Catal. Codd. MSS. in Coll. Aulisque Oxon. i. 4), he was a Cistercian. No fact is known of his life, but Bale (Script. Brit. Cat. v. 89), who claims him, apparently by a guess, for a Welshman, places his death in 1356 at Grimsby. Briton's works, enumerated by Bale, are principally concerned with dialectics. His fame, however, rests upon his 'Vocabularium Bibliæ,' a treatise explanatory of obscure words in the Scriptures. The prologue and some other parts are in Latin verse. These, with additional specimens, have been printed by A. M. Bandini in his 'Catal. Codd. Latin. Biblioth. Medic. Laurent.' iv. 213 et seqq., Florence, 1777. Extracts are given by Ducange, 'Glossar. Med. et Infim. Latin.' praef., cap. xlix.
[Authorities cited above, and Fabricius, Biblioth. Lat. Med. et Inf. Æt. i. 261, ed. Florence, 1858.]
R. L. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brithwald

​BRITHWALD. [See Brihtwald.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brito, Ranulph

​BRITO or LE BRETON, RANULPH (d. 1246), canon of St. Paul's, is first mentioned in the year 1221 as a chaplain of Hubert de Burgh. During the administration of his patron he stood high in the favour of Henry III, and became the king's treasurer. On the fall of Hubert in 1232 many of the officers who had been appointed through his influence were removed, and their places given to countrymen of the new minister, Peter des Roches, the Poitevin bishop of Winchester. Among those displaced was Ranulph Brito, who was accused of having misapplied the revenues which passed through his hands, and was subjected to a fine of 1,000l. He was also sentenced to banishment, but this penalty was afterwards remitted. Whether the charges brought against him were well founded or not, it is significant that his successor, Peter de Rievaulx (De Rivallis), is described by Matthew Paris as the 'nephew or son' of the bishop of Winchester.
In 1239 a certain William, who lay under sentence of death for various crimes, endeavoured to save his own life by bringing accusations of treason against several persons of eminent position. Ranulph Brito, who ​was then canon of St. Paul's, was one of those denounced; and at the king's instance he was arrested by the mayor of London and committed to the Tower. The dean and chapter of St. Paul's, in the absence of the bishop of London, immediately pronounced a general excommunication against all who had any share in this outrage upon a member of their body, and placed the cathedral under an interdict. The bishop of London supported the action of the chapter, and, finding the king unmoved by his remonstrances, threatened to extend the interdict to the whole of the city The legate, the archbishop of Canterbury, and several other prelates added entreaties and menaces, and the king was- obliged to yield. He at first struggled to obtain from the chapter an undertaking that the prisoner, if released, should be ready to appear when called upon to answer the charge made against him; but they refused to entertain the demand, and Ranulph was set unconditionally at liberty. Shortly afterwards the informer confessed the falsity of the accusations which he had made, and was brought to the scaffold. Although admitting Ranulph's innocence of the crime of treason, Matthew Paris intimates that he had amassed a large fortune by various acts of extortion, the canons of Missenden being particularly mentioned as having suffered from his rapacity. He died suddenly in 1246, having been seized with apoplexy while watching a game of dice.
The name of Ranulph Brito has been erroneously inserted by Dugdale and others in the list of chancellors. This mistake arose from the word consiliarius, used by Matthew Paris, having been printed in Wats's edition as cancellarius.
[Matt. Paris's Chron. Maj. (ed. Luard), iii. 220, 543-545, iv. 588; Rot. Claus, i. 547; Foss's Lives of the Judges, ii. 262.]
H. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brittain, Thomas

​BRITTAIN, THOMAS (1806–1884), naturalist, was born at Sheffield on 2 Jan. 1806. He was educated at a private school. He was engaged during the greater part of his life as a professional accountant, but became interested in natural science, and was very skilful in the preparation of diagrams and in the mounting of objects for the microscope. He settled in Manchester about 1842, and continued to live there during the remainder of his life. In some contributions to Axon's 'Field Naturalist' (Manchester, 1882, p. 148), he has told the story of his scientific studies from the time of his first microscope, which was obtained in 1834. In December 1858 he was one of the promoters of a Manchester Microscopical Society, which ultimately became a section of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. When a second Manchester Microscopical Society - a more popular association - was established in 1879, he repeatedly held the office of vice-president, and was afterwards president. On his retirement, from failing health and advanced years, he was presented with an address at the Manchester Athenæum, 4 Oct. 1883. Brittain was connected with other scientific societies in Manchester and London. He was a clear and animated speaker, and for many years lectured on various subjects of natural science to a great number of the mechanics' and similar institutions. He made frequent contributions to the 'Manchester City News,' 'Unitarian Herald,' and other papers on matters of scientific interest. He was also connected with the unsuccessful attempt to establish a Manchester aquarium, and had a short experience, from 1858 to 1860, of municipal work. He died at Manchester on 23 Jan. 1884. His writings are: 1. 'Half a Dozen Songs by Brittanicus,' Manchester, 1846, privately printed. 2. 'A General Description of the Manchester Aquarium,' 1874, a pamphlet guide. 3. 'Micro-Fungi, when and where to find them,' Manchester, 1882. This, in spite of some obvious defects, has been of considerable use to local students. It is arranged in the order of the months, and first appeared in the 'Northern Microcopist.' 4. 'Whist: how to play and how to win, being the result of sixty years' play,' Manchester, 1882. Brittain did not make any claim to be a discoverer, but he was a ​pleasant exponent of science, and did much to popularise the taste for natural history in his adopted home.
[Manchester Guardian. 24 Jan. 1884; Unitarian Herald, 1 Feb. 1884; information from friends and personal knowledge.]
W. E. A. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bristol, Earls of

​BRISTOL, Earls of. [See Digby.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ballanden

​BALLANDEN. [See Bellenden.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ball, Nicholas

1904 Errata appended.
​BALL, NICHOLAS (1791–1865), Irish judge, son of John Ball, silk mercer of Dublin, was educated at Stonyhurst and Trinity College, Dublin, where his fellow students were Richard Shell and W. H. Curran. He was called to the Irish bar in 1814, and afterwards passed two winters in Rome with Mr. (afterwards Sir Thomas) Wyse. The two young men saw much of Cardinal Gonsalvi, secretary of state. They were vehemently denounced and defended in the Irish press, because it was supposed that they used their influence to support a scheme for catholic emancipation, by which the pope should appoint Irish catholic bishops, subject to the veto of the English government. Ball obtained silk in 1830, and was admitted a bencher of the King's Inn in 1836. His success at the bar was not brilliant, but he soon obtained a very lucrative practice in the rolls court and in the court of chancery, where his reputation was that of an acute, clear, and ready advocate. In 1835 he was elected member of parliament for Clonmel, and in 1837 was appointed attorney-general and privy councillor for Ireland. He disliked parliamentary life, and spoke seldom and briefly, but in terse and lucid language. He was glad to take refuge in a judgeship of the common pleas (Ireland), to which he was preferred in 1839, and which he held till his death. He was the second Roman catholic barrister promoted to a judgeship after the passing of the Emancipation Act. He was a sound and able lawyer, and some of his charges are said to have been unsurpassed in his day. A silly story was current about him that 'he had ordered a mill to cease clacking until otherwise ordered by the court, and forgetting the withdrawal of the order before he left Cork, the owner had brought against him an action for damages.' Justice Ball was a sincere Roman catholic, but no ultramontanist, a zealous Irish liberal, but strongly opposed to the disintegration of the empire. His literary acquirements were extensive and ​accurate. He married in 1817 Jane, daughter of Thomas Sherlock, of Butlerstown Castle, co. Waterford, by whom he had several children, his eldest son, John, being under-secretary of state for the colonies under Lord Palmerston's first administration. Justice Ball died at his residence in Stephen's Green, and was buried in the family vault under the chancel of the Roman catholic cathedral, Dublin.
[Freeman's Journal. 16 and 20 Jan. 1865; Dublin Daily Express, 16 and 19 Jan. 1865; Gent. Mag. 3rd series, xviii. 389; Tablet, 21 Jan. 1865.]
P. B. A.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.14 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 76 | ii | 31 | Ball, Nicholas: after Inn insert and one of the king's Irish serjeants. |
| | | 24 f.e. | for 1835 read 1836 |
| | | 21 f.e. | after Ireland insert in July 1838 |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ball, Peter

​BALL or BALLE, PETER, M.D. (d. 1675), physician, was brother of William Ball [q. v.], F.R.S. On 13 Jan. 1658-9, being then twenty years of age, he was entered as a medical student at Leyden, but proceeded to Padua, where he took the degree of doctor of philosophy and physic with the highest distinction 30 Dec. 1660. To celebrate the occasion verses in Latin, Italian, and English were published at Padua, in which our physician, by a somewhat violent twist of his latinised names, Petrus Bule, is made to figure as 'alter Phœbus.' Ball was admitted an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Dec. 1664. He was one of the original fellows of the Royal Society, one of the council in 1666, and in the following year was placed on the committee for causing a catalogue to be made of the noble library and manuscripts of Arundel House, which had been presented to the society by Henry Howard, Esq., afterwards Duke of Norfolk. While at Mamhead in October 1665, Ball, in conjunction with his elder brother, William, made the observation of Saturn mentioned under William Ball. Dying in July 1675, he was buried on the 20th of that month in the round of the Temple Church.
[Prince's Worthies of Devon, pp. 111-13; Munk's Roll of Royal College of Physicians (1878), i. 335; Apollinare Sacrum, &c. 4to, Patavii, mdclx.; Birch's Hist. Roy. Soc. vol. i.-iii. passim; Athenæum, 21 Aug. and 9 Oct. 1880; Temple Register.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ballantine, James

​BALLANTINE, JAMES (1808–1877), artist and man of letters, born at Edinburgh in 1808, was entirely a self-made man. His first occupation was that of a house-painter. He learned drawing under Sir William Allen at the Trustees' Gallery in Edinburgh, and was one of the first to revive the art of glass-painting. In 1845 he ​published a treatise on 'Stained Glass, showing its applicability to every style of Architecture,' and was appointed by the royal commissioners on the fine arts to execute the stained-glass windows for the House of Lords. He was the author of several popular works:
* 'The Gaberlunzie's Wallet,' 1843.
* 'The Miller of Deanhaugh,' 1845.
* An 'Essay on Ornamental Art,' 1847.
* 'Poems,' 1856.
* 'One Hundred Songs, with Music,' 1865.
* 'The Life of David Roberts, R.A.' 1866.
There is also a volume of verses published by Ballantine in Jamaica, whither in later life he seems to have retired for the benefit of his health. 'The Gaberlunzie's Wallet' and some of his songs are still popular in Scotland. He died in Edinburgh in December 1877. He was the head of the firm of Messrs. Ballantine, glass stainers, Edinburgh.
[Athenæum, 22 Dec. 1877; Academy, 29 Dec. 1877; Cooper's Men of the Time, 1875.]
E. R.