OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# A New and General Biographical Dictionary

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​A NEW AND GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL
DICTIONARY.
1784.
VOL. I. ​ GEORGE R.
GEORGE the Second, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all to whom these Presents shall come. Greeting: Whereas WILLIAM OWEN, and WILLIAM JOHN-STON, of Our City of London, Booksellers, have, by their Petition, humbly represented unto Us, That, they have with great Care, Labour and Expence, compleated a Work intituled,
A NEW and GENERAL
Biographical Dictionary,
CONTAINING
The Lives of the most illustrious Persons, who have flourished in all Nations, from the earliest Period to the Present Time,
And have most humbly prayed, That We would grant Them Our Royal Licence, for the sole Vending of their said Dictionary, for the Term of Fourteen Years, according to the Statute in that Case made and provided ; We, being willing to give all due En-couragement, to a Work of this Nature, which may be of public Use and Benefit, are graciously pleased to condescend to Their Request ; And We do, therefore, by these Presents (so far as may be agreeable to the Statute in that behalf made and provided), grant unto Them, the said WILLIAM OWEN, and WILLIAM JOHNSTON, Their Heirs, Executors, and Assigns, Our Royal Privilege and Licence, for the sole printing, publishing, and vend-ing their said Dictionary, for the Term of Fourteen Years ; to be computed from the Date hereof, strictly forbidding and prohibiting all Our Subjects within Our Kingdoms and Dominions, to reprint, abridge, or translate the same, either in the like or any other Vo-lume or Volumes whatsoever ; or, to import, buy, vend, utter, or distribute any Copies thereof, reprinted, beyond the Seas, during the aforesaid Term of Fourteen Years, without the Consent and Approbation of them, the said WILLIAM OWEN and WILLIAM JOHNSTON, their Heirs, Executors, or Assigns, by Writing under their Hands and Seal, first had and obtained, as they and every of them offending herein will answer the contrary at their Peril. Whereof the Commissioners and other Officers of Our Customs, the Master Wardens and Company of Stationers of Our City of London, and all other Our Officers and Ministers whom it may concern, are to take Notice, that due Obedience be rendered to our Pleasure herein signified.
Given at our Court at Kensington, the Twenty-third Day of 1755, in the Twenty-ninth Year of Our Reign.
By His Majesty's Command,
HOLDERNESSE.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# A New Survey of the West Indies or The English American his Travel by Sea and Land

A New Survey of the
WEST INDIES: OR, The English American his Travel by Sea and Land: CONTAINING A Journal of Three thousand and Three hundred Miles within the main Land of
AMERICA: Wherein is set forth His Voyage from Spain to S. John de Ulhua; and thence to Xalappa, to Tlaxcalla, the City of Angels, and forward to MEXICO: With the Description of that great City, as it was in former times, and also at this present. LIKEWISE His Journey from Mexico, through the Provinces of Gua- xaca, Chiapa, Guatemala, Vera Paz, Truxillo, Comayagua, with his abode XII. years about Guatemala, especiall in the Indian Towns of Mixco, Pinola, Petapa, Amatitlan. AS ALSO His strange and wonderful Conversion and Calling from those remote Parts to his Native Countrey : With his Return through the Province of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, to Nicoya, Panama, Porto bello, Cartagena and Havana, with divers Occur- rents and Dangers that did befal in the said journey. ALSO A new and exact Discovery of the Spanish Navigation to those Parts : And of their Dominions, Government, Reli- gion, Forts, Castles, Ports, Havens, Commodities, Fa- shions, Behavior of Spaniards, Priests and Friers, Black-moors, Mulatto's, Mestiso's, Indians; and of their Feasts and Solemnities.
With a GRAMMAR, or some few Rudiments of the Indian Tongue, called Poconchi or Pocoman.
The third Edition enlarged by the Author, with a new and accurate Map.
By THOMAS GAGE
LONDON: Printed by A. Clark and are to be sold by John Martyn, Robert Horn and Walter Kettilby. 1677.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Perry, James Clewlow

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​PERRY. (Lieut., 1828. f-p., 17; h-p., 20.)
James Clewlow Perry was born in 1798. This officer entered the Navy, 2 July, 1810, as Fst.-cl. Boy, on board the Talbot 18, Capts. Hon. Alex. Jones and Spelman Swaine, employed off the coast of Ireland; removed, in Aug. 1812, to the Warspite 74, commanded in the Channel by Capts. Hon. Henry Blackwood and Lord Jas. O’Bryen; became Midshipman, in Oct. 1814 and Aug. 1815, of the President 38, Capt. Archibald Duff, and Trent 36, both on the Irish station; joined, in April, 1818, after two years of non-servitude, the Eden 26, Capt. Fras. Erskine Loch, in the East Indies; was there transferred, in 1820, to the Leander 60, flag-ship of Hon. Sir H. Blackwood; invalided home in 1821; and from 1823 until paid off in 1830 served, at first at home and afterwards in South America, on board the Queen Charlotte 100, flag-ship at Portsmouth, Rifleman 18, Capt. Jas. Montagu, Spartiate 76, and Wellesley 74, bearing each the flag of Sir Geo. Eyre, Ganges 84, Doris frigate, Capt. Sir John Gordon Sinclair, and Forte 44, Capt. Jeremiah Coghlan. Having accompanied, in the Eden, an expedition against the pirates of the Persian Gulf, he there, in Jan. 1820, assisted, as a passed Midshipman, at the bombardment of Ras-al-Khyma, their principal resort and head-quarters, where the fortifications were all destroyed, their vessels burnt, and a large quantity of treasure seized. He was confirmed a Lieutenant of the Forte 3 March, 1828; and since that vessel was put out of commission has been on half-pay.
In 1837 he was appointed Inspector of the Gaol at Cork, where he continues.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Petley, John

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​PETLEY. (Retired Commander, 1843. f-p., 21; h-p., 33.)
John Petley entered, the Navy, 4 Feb. 1793, as Midshipman, on board the Suffolk 74, Capts. Robt. Lambert and Pulteney Malcolm, employed at first in the Channel and afterwards in the East Indies; where he was nominated, 21 Aug. 1798, Acting-Lieutenant of the Centurion 50, Capt. John Sprat Rainier. Under Capt. Lambert.he assisted, in 1795-6, at the reduction of Ceylon, Amboyna, Banda, &c. He was confirmed a Lieutenant, 4 Aug. 1799, into the Intrepid 64, Capt. Wm. Hargood, also in the East Indies; and subsequently appointed – 28 June, 1801, to the Daedalus 36, Capt. Wm. Waller, with whom he returned to England in 1803 – 16 Nov. in that year, to the Atalante 16, Capt. Joseph Ore Masefield, with whom he cruized in the Channel until Oct. 1805, when a wound he had received in the eye obliged him to be sent to the Hospital at Plymouth – 4 Feb. 1806, to the command of a Signal station in co. Waterford, which he retained until Oct. 1809 – and, in Feb. 1810, to the Impress service at Gravesend. In April, 1814, he was placed on half-pay. He became a Retired Commander on the Junior List 30 July, 1840; and on the Senior 23 Dec. 1843.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Percy, Algernon

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​NORTHUMBERLAND, Duke of, formerly Lord Prudhoe, F.R.S., F.S.A. (Captain, 1815. f-p., 11; h-p., 31.)
His Grace Algernon Duke of Northumberland, born 15 Sept. 1792, is second and youngest son of Hugh, second Duke of Northumberland, K.G., by Frances Julia, third daughter of Peter Burrell, Esq., of Beckenham, co. Kent, and sister of Peter, late Lord Gwydir. His brother, Hugh, third Duke, K.G., whom he succeeded in 1847, assisted, as His Britannic Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary, at the coronation of Charles X., King of France, became subsequently Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and held the office of Vice- Admiral of co. Northumberland, and of the town and co. of the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
This officer (then Lord Algernon Percy) entered the Navy, in March, 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Tribune frigate, Capt. Rich. Henry Alex. Bennett, whom he followed, as Midshipman, in the ensuing Sept., into the Fame 74. In those ships he served, off Shetland, Rochefort, and Cadiz, and in various parts of the Mediterranean, until 1810. He then joined the Hydra 38, Capt. Geo. Mundy, and after having commanded a gun-boat in co-operation with the patriots on the coast of Andalusia, he became attached, in Jan. 1811, to the Christian VII. 80, bearing the flag off the Scheldt of Sir Edw. Pellew; under whom, when again serving in the Mediterranean on board the Caledonia 120, he was confirmed in the rank of Lieutenant by a commission bearing date 16 Dec. 1811. Prior to the receipt of the intelligence of his official advancement to the rank of Commander, which took place 8 March, 1814, his Lordship occasionally acted as Captain of the Scout and Pelorus sloops, and also of the Caledonia herself, in which ship he fought in a partial action with the French fleet off Toulon, and witnessed the fall of Genoa. He subsequently officiated for some months as Acting-Captain of the Cossack 22, on the coast of North America; and at the period of his elevation to Post-rank, 19 Aug. 1815, was serving at Portsmouth on board the Driver sloop. He has since been on half-pay.
The Duke was elected a F.R.S. 9 April, 1818. He married, 25 Aug. 1842, Lady Eleanor, eldest daughter of Earl Grosvenor. Agent – John P. Muspratt.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Percy, William Henry

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​PERCY. (Rear-Admiral, 1846. f-p., 11; h-p., 35.)
The Honourable William Henry Percy was born 24 March, 1788. He is a younger brother of Rear-Admiral Hon. Josceline Percy, C.B.
This officer entered the Navy, 1 May, 1801, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Lion 64, Capt. Henry Mitford, and on his return from a voyage with convoy to Canton; became Midshipman, in Nov. 1802, of the Medusa 32, Capt. John Gore. In that ship, after participating in the service mentioned in the note attached to our memoir of his brother, he sailed with the Marquis Cornwallis for India, and returned from the Ganges to the Lizard, a distance of 13,831 miles, in the surprisingly short period of 84 days. After serving for some months on the Home station in the Tribune 36, Capts. Rich. Henry Alex. Bennett and Thos. Baker, Royal William flag-ship of Admiral Geo. Montagu, and Fame 74, Capt. R. H. A. Bennett, he was made Lieutenant, 6 July, 1807, into the Décade frigate, Capt. John Stuart, on the coast of Ireland. His next appointment was, 15 Nov. 1809, to the Hibernia 110, Capt. Robt. Jenner Neve, in the Mediterranean. Being advanced to the rank of Commander, 2 May, 1810, Capt. Percy, from 28 Dec. following until Posted 21 March, 1812, served in that capacity in the Mermaid 28, armée en flûte, employed in the conveyance of troops to Portugal and Spain. His only other appointment appears to have been, 4 April, 1814, to the Hermes 20, which vessel, after 25 of her men had been killed and 24 wounded in an unsuccessful attack upon Fort Bowyer, Mobile, was set on fire and destroyed to prevent her falling into the hands of the Americans, 15 Sept. in the same year. Capt. Percy had under his orders at the time, besides his own ship, the Carron 20, and Sophie and Childers of 18 guns each. Of all blame in the loss of the Hermes he was by Court-martial honourably acquitted 18 Jan. 1815. On 9 March following he arrived at the Admiralty, with despatches from Sir Alex. Cochrane, reporting the defeat of the British army before New Orleans. He accepted his present rank 1 Oct. 1846.
Rear-Admiral Percy has been for some years a Commissioner of Excise. He sat in Parliament as Member for Stamford, co. Lincoln.
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# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Perkins, Henry Augustus

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​PERKINS. (Lieut., 1814. f-p., 12; h-p., 29.)
Henry Augustus Perkins entered the Navy, 26 June, 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Canopus 80, Capts. Thos. Geo. Shortland and Chas. Inglis, successive flag-ship of Rear-Admirals Sir Thos. Louis and Geo. Martin; under the former of whom he served as Midshipman at the passage of the Dardanells and in the expedition to Egypt. Quitting the Canopus in March, 1809, he was next, between the following Aug. and Dec. 1813, employed, on the Home and Mediterranean stations, in the San Josef 110, Capt. Rich. Dalling Dunn, Thames 32, Capt. Hon. Granville Geo. Waldegrave, Renown 74, Capt. Philip Chas. Durham, Echo 16, Capt. Robt. Keen, and Druid and Aigle frigates, both commanded by Sir John Louis. On 6 of the month last mentioned he was nominated Acting-Lieutenant of the Swallow 18, Capts. Edw. Reynolds Sibly, Arthur Stow, and James; to which vessel, also in the Mediterranean, he was confirmed 16 March, 1814. In the following month he went on half-pay. He was subsequently appointed to the Philomel 16, Capt. Jas. Hanway Plumridge, Pompée 74, Capt. Sir Jas. Athol Wood, Granicus 36, Capt. Wm. Furlong Wise, and ​Impregnable 98, flag-ship of Lord Exmouth. In the Granicus, which frigate he left In Oct. 1816, he was wounded at the battle of Algiers; and in the Impregnable he served at Plymouth from 16 May, 1818, until 1820. He has not been since afloat.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Perrier, William

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​PERRIER. (Lieutenant, 1846.)
William Perrier is son of Sir Anthony Perrier, Kt., H.B.M.’s Consul at Brest, by a sister of Capt. F. W. Pennell, R.N.
This officer passed his examination 2 May, 1842; obtained his commission 10 March, 1846; and was then appointed to the Excellent gunnery-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Henry Ducie Chads. He has been serving, since 26 March, 1847, in the Sidon steam-frigate, of 500 horse-power, Capt. Wm. Honyman Henderson, in the Mediterranean.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Petch, William Tatton

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​PETCH. (Lieut., 1814. f-p., 16; h-p., 32.)
William Tatton Petch was born 22 Sept. 1790. He is brother of Lieut. Chas. Adolphus Petch, R.N. This officer entered the Navy, 15 March, 1799, as Third-cl. Boy, on board the Neptune 98, Capts. Erasmus Gower, Jas. Vashon, Edw. Brace, and Fras. Wm. Austen; in which ship, bearing the flag in the Channel of Vice-Admiral Jas. Gambier, he continued employed as Midshipman until paid off in April, 1802. Joining next, in March, 1805, after having been for a time attached to ther merchant service, the Belliqueux 64, Capt. Hon; Geo. Byng, he assisted on shore as Aide-de-Gamp to that officer at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope in Jan. 1806; and on 27 of the following Nov. commanded a launch at the capture and destruction of a Dutch frigate, seven brigs of war, and 20 armed and other merchant-vessels in Batavia Roads. On his return to England in 1813 he followed Capt. Byng, as Master’s Mate, into the Warrior 74, and in Nov. of the same year sailed with the Prince of Orange for Holland. In the ensuing Dec. he removed to the Impregnable 98, successive flag-ship of Admiral Wm. Young and H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence; as Aide-de-Camp to the latter of whom we find him escorting the allied sovereigns from Calais to Dover. He was advanced in consequence (he had passed in 1808) to the rank of Lieutenant 27 June, 1814. With the exception of a short time passed in 1826-7 in the Coast Blockade as Supernumerary-Lieutenant of the Ramillies 74, Capt. Hugh Pigot, he has since been on half-pay;
Lieut. Petch married, 18 April, 1816, Hannah, daughter of Thos. Stapleton, a Master in the merchant-service, by whom he has issue 9 children. His eldest son, Wm. Henry Petch, Second-Master R.N. (1844), has been acting, since Aug. 1844, as Master of the Prometheus steamer,- and Sealark sloop, on the coast of Africa. Agents – Messrs. Ommanney.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Petch, Charles Adolphus

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​PETCH. (Lieutenant, 1828.)
Charles Adolphus Petch, born about 1797, is brother of Lieut. Wm. Tatton Petch, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy 8 Feb. 1810; and on 13 Dec. in the same year was present in the Kent 74, Capt. Thos. Rogers, at the destruction of a large convoy protected by two batteries in the Mole of Palamos, at which place the British, out of 600 officers and men, who had been employed in the boats of a squadron, sustained a loss of upwards of 200 killed and wounded. Joining, subsequently, the Thames 32, Capt. Chas. Napier, he assisted in that ship at the capture, 26 Feb. 1813, of the island of Ponza. On 16 May following, being then with Capt. Napier in the Euryalus 36, we find him contributing to the capture of La Fortune national xebec, of 10 guns, 4 swivels, and 95 men, together with upwards of 20 merchant-vessels, lying in Cavalarie Road. In 1814 he accompanied, in the same ship, the brilliant expedition sent up the Potomac under Capt. Jas. Alex. Gordon to effect the capture of Alexandria. In 1815, while in charge of a prize to Bermuda, he fell into the hands of the enemy. Being made Lieutenant, 13 June, 1828 (11 years after he had passed his examination), into the Alacrity 10, Capt. Joseph Nias, he was present in the following year, in the Mediterranean, at the capture of a pirate by the boats of that vessel. His appointments, since his return to England in 1830, have been, in succession – 5 April, 1831, to the Coast Guard – 20 June, 1836, to the command of the Greyhound Revenue-vessel – in 1839, to the office of Agent in a contract mail steam-vessel on the Liverpool and Kingstown station – and, 28 Aug. 1841 and 26 Jan. 1843, to the command of the Wildfire and Advice steam-packets, in the latter of which he is still serving. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Fox, Charles James

See also Charles James Fox on Wikipedia.
​Fox, Charles James (1749-1806).—Statesman and historian, s. of Henry F., 1st Lord Holland, was one of the greatest orators who have ever sat in the House of Commons. His only serious literary work was a fragment of a proposed History of the Reign of James the Second. An introductory chapter sketching the development of the constitution from the time of Henry VII., and a few chapters conducting the history up to the execution of Monmouth are all which he completed.
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Foxe, John

See also John Foxe on Wikipedia.
​Foxe, John (1516-1587).—Martyrologist, was b. at Boston, Lincolnshire, and ed. at Oxf., where he became a Fellow of Magdalen Coll. While there he gave himself to the study of the theological questions then in debate, and ended by becoming a Protestant, in consequence of which he in 1545 left his coll. He then became tutor in the family of Sir T. Lucy of Charlecote, and afterwards to the children of the recently executed Earl of Surrey. During the reign of Mary he retired to the Continent, and pub., at Strasburg, his Commentarii (the first draft of the Acts and Monuments). Removing to Basel he was employed as a reader for the press by the famous printer Oporinus, who pub. some of his writings. On the accession of Elizabeth, F. returned to England, was received with kindness by the Duke of Norfolk, one of his former pupils, and soon afterwards (1563) pub. the work on which his fame rests, the English version of the Acts and Monuments, better known as The Book of Martyrs. Received with great favour by the Protestants, it was, and has always been, charged by the Roman Catholics with gross and wilful perversion of facts. The truth of the matter appears to be that while Foxe was not, as in the circumstances he could hardly have been, free from party spirit or from some degree of error as to facts, he did not intentionally try to mislead; and comparison of his citations from authorities with the originals has shown him to have been careful and accurate in that matter. F., who had been ordained a priest in 1560, became Canon of Salisbury in 1563. He wrote sundry other theological works, and d. in 1587. There is a memoir of him attributed to his s., but of doubtful authenticity. Some of his papers, used by Strype (q.v.), are now in the British Museum.
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Franklin, Benjamin

​Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790).—American statesman, philosopher, and writer, was one of a numerous family. His f was a soap-boiler at Boston, where F. was b. He was apprenticed at the age of 13 to his brother, a printer, who treated him harshly. After various changes, during which he lived in New York, London, and Philadelphia, he at last succeeded in founding a successful business as a printer. He also started a newspaper, The Gazette, which was highly popular, Poor Richard's Almanac, and the Busybody Papers, in imitation of the Spectator. After holding various minor appointments, he was made deputy Postmaster-General for the American Colonies. In 1757 he went to London on some public business in which he was so successful that various colonies appointed him their English agent. In the midst of his varied avocations he found time for scientific investigation, especially with regard to electricity. For these he became known over the civilised world, and was loaded with honours. In 1762 he returned to America, and took a prominent part in the controversies which led to the Revolutionary War and the independence of the Colonies. In 1776 he was U.S. Minister to France, and in 1782 was a signatory of the treaty which confirmed the independence of the States. He returned home in 1785, and, after holding various political offices, retired in 1788, and d. in 1790. His autobiography is his chief contribution to literature, and is of the highest interest.
Works (10 vols., Bigelow, 1887-9), Autobiography (1868), Lives by M'Master (1887), and Morse (1889).
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Forster, John (historian)

​Forster, John (1812-1876).—Historian and biographer, b. at Newcastle, ed. at the Grammar School there, and at Univ. Coll., London, became a barrister of the Inner Temple, but soon relinquished law for literature. In 1834 he accepted the post of assistant ed. of the Examiner, and was ed. 1847-55. In this position F. exercised a marked influence on public opinion. He also ed. the Foreign Quarterly Review 1842-3, the Daily News in 1846, and was Sec. to the Lunacy Commission and a Commissioner 1861-72. His historical writings were chiefly biographies, among which are Statesmen of the Commonwealth of England (1836-9), Life of Goldsmith (1854), Biographical and Historical Essays (1859), Sir John Eliot (1864), Lives of Walter S. Landor (1868), and Charles Dickens (1871-4). He also left the first vol. of a Life of Swift. F., who was a man of great decision and force of character, concealed an unusually tender heart under a somewhat overbearing manner.
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Foster, Stephen Collins

See also Stephen Foster on Wikipedia.
​Foster, Stephen Collins (1826-1864).—Song-writer, was b. in Pittsburgh. He wrote over 100 songs, many of which had extraordinary popularity, among which may be mentioned The Old Folks at Home, Nelly Bly, Old Dog Tray, Camp Town Races, Massa's in de cold, cold Ground, and Come where my Love lies Dreaming. He composed the music to his songs.
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