OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Porter, Anna Maria

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PORTER, ANNA MARIA,
Was the daughter of an Irish officer, who died shortly after her birth, leaving a widow and several children, with but a small patrimony for their support. Mrs. Porter took her family to Scotland soon after; and there, with her only and elder sister, Jane, and their brother, Sir Robert Ker Porter, she received the rudiments of her education. Sir Walter Scott, when a student at college, was intimate with the family, and, we are told, "was very fond of either teasing the little female student when very gravely engaged with her book, or more often fondling her on his knees, and telling her stories of witches and warlocks, till both forgot their former playful merriment in the marvellous interest of the tale." Mrs. Porter removed to Ireland, and subsequently to London, chiefly with a view to the education of her children.
Anna Maria became an authoress at the age of twelve. Her first work was called "Artless Tales," and was published in 1793. "Don Sebastian, or the House of Braganza," is considered her best novel. Some of her others are "The Lake of Killarney," "A Sailor's Friendship and a Soldier's Love," "The Hungarian Brothers," "Ballad Romances, and other Poems," "The Recluse of Norway," "The Knight of St. John," "Roche Blanche," and "Honour O'Hara." Miss Porter died at Bristol, while on a visit to her brother. Dr. Porter, on the 21st. of June, 1832, aged fifty-two.
The number of her novels is really astonishing—more than fifty volumes were the product of her pen. In all her works, Miss Anna Maria Porter portrays the domestic affections, and the charms of benevolence and virtue, with that warmth and earnestness which interests the feelings; but in "Don Sebastian" we have an interesting plot, and characters finely discriminated and drawn. The author has, therefore, shewn a higher order of genius in this novel than in her others, because she has displayed more constructive power,
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Porter, Jane

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PORTER, JANE,
Was sister of the preceding, and the oldest of the two, though she did not commence her career of authorship so early, nor did she write such a number of novels as her sister, yet she has succeeded in making a deeper impression of her genius on the age. She was the first that introduced that beautiful kind of fiction, the historical romance, which has now become so popular. Her "Thaddeus of Warsaw" was published in 1803, and "The Scottish Chiefs" in 1810; both were highly popular, but "Thaddeus of Warsaw" had unprecedented success. It was translated into most of the continental languages, and Poland was loud in its praise. Kosciusko sent the author a ring, containing his portrait. General Gardiner, the British minister at Warsaw, could not believe that any other than an eye-witness had written the story, so accurate were the descriptions, although Miss Porter had not then been in Poland. She was honoured publicly by having the title of Chanoiness of the Polish order of St. Joachim conferred upon her after the publication of "Thaddeus of Warsaw."
Miss Porter's last work was the "The Pastor's Fireside;" and she also wrote, in conjunction with her sister, "Tales round a Winter's Hearth." She contributed to many periodicals; and her ​"Biographical Sketch of Colonel Denham, the African Traveller," in the "Naval and Military Journal," was much admired. The genius of both these ladies was similar in kind; they described scenery vividly, and in appeals to the tender and heroic passions, were effective and successful; but their works want the permanent interest of real life, variety of character, and dialogue. The career of Miss Porter was not marked by any striking event; she won her celebrity by her genius, and the excellence of her character brightens the picture, and makes her fame a blessing to her sex. Miss Porter died May 24th., 1850, at the residence of her brother, Dr. Porter, (the last survivor of the family,) at Bristol. She was nearly seventy-four years of age.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Possonby, Catharine

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POSSONBY, CATHARINE,
Has written chiefly for the magazines and annuals. Her poetry exhibits tenderness of feeling, and the religious sentiment which always elevates the fancy. She has also written several prose works. "The Countess d'Auvergne; or, Sufferings of the Protestants in the Sixteenth Century," is a work of literary merit, and interesting in its displays of Christian heroism.
# A Compendium of Irish Biography/Whiteside, James

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​Whiteside, James, Chief-Justice of the Queen's Bench in Ireland, was born at Delgany, County of Wicklow, 12th August 1804. His father was rector of the parish. He took his M.A, degree at Trinity College, Dublin, entered at the Middle Temple, and in 1830 was called to the Irish Bar, and rose into practice with singular rapidity, being especially fortunate in his defence of prisoners. In 1840 he published a work on the Law of Nisi Prius, which went through several editions. In 1842 he was called to the inner Bar, and two years afterwards his defence of O'Connell and his fellow-traversers in the state trials raised him to the first rank in his profession. Impaired health obliged him to spend two years in Italy, and we have the result in his Italy in the Nineteenth Century (1848), followed by the Vicissitudes of the Eternal City (1849). In 1848 he was counsel for Smith O'Brien and his associates when on their trial for high-treason at Clonmel. In 1851 Mr. Whiteside was returned to Parliament for Enniskillen,a seat he subsequently exchanged for the representation of Dublin University. He had always been a staunch Conservative, and soon became one of the props of that party in the Lower House, and shared in its successes, holding the office of Solicitor-General for Ireland during Lord Derby's first administration in 1852, and that of Attorney-General in his second administration in 1858-'9. During his parliamentary career he occupied an almost unique position at the Irish Bar, The acknowledged leader in the Nisi Prius Courts in Dublin, he appeared at assize times as a "special" counsel in almost every case of magnitude. He was one of the most strenuous opponents of the disestablishment of the Irish Church, and made several brilliant speeches in the House of Commons on the subject. He more ​than once refused the offer of a puisne judgeship, and when, in 1866, his party again came into power, it was felt that high place was due to his eminent services. After a few weeks of office as Attorney-General, the retirement of Chief-Justice Lefroy made room for his appointment as Chief-Justice of the Queen's Bench, over which he presided for ten years. We are told that his "courtesy, his abounding and facile humour, which exercised itself on the most incongruous subjects; the pleasant literary flavour of all his sayings; the quaint abundance of his illustrations; the grace and charm of his manner, rendered attendance in his court one of the pleasautest of intellectual enjoyments." He died at Brighton, 25th November 1876, aged 72. Besides his books on Italy, he was the author of some minor sketches, including a series of lectures on The Irish Parliament.
* ↑ Annual Register. London, 1756–1877.
* ↑ Manuscript and Special Information, and Current Periodicals.
# A Compendium of Irish Biography/Wilks, Robert

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​Wilks, Robert, an eminent actor, was born at Rathfarnham, County of Dublin, in 1670. Holding a lucrative clerkship under Secretary Southwell, he developed a taste for the stage, performed in some amateur theatricals in Dublin during rejoicings for the battle of the Boyne, and finally devoted himself unreservedly to the life of an actor, then but a poorly paid profession. After acting in Dublin, in Ashbury's company, he went to London, and took an engagement with Betterton, but was tempted back by an offer of £60 a year. He subsequently returned to London, and soon took his place in the first rank of actors there. In 1709 his name was joined with those of Dogget and Cibber in a patent granted by Queen Anne. His especial forte was comedy, yet he acted "Hamlet" and other Shaksperian parts with credit. Wilks died in London, 27th September 1732, aged 62, and was, by his own directions, interred at midnight, in St. Paul's Church-yard, Covent-garden. The age on his tomb, 67, does not correspond with the dates given for his birth and death. He was twice married—his second wife surviving him. He was munificent in his benefactions to poor actors. Dr. Johnson calls him "a man who, whatever were his abilities or skill as an actor, deserves at least to be remembered for his virtues, which are not often to be found in the world, and perhaps less often in his profession than in others." A theatrical critic says: "Mr. Wilks's excellence in comedy was never once disputed, but the best judges extol him for the different parts in tragedy. … He was not only perfect in every part he acted, but in those that were concerned with him in every scene, which often prevented mistakes."
* ↑ Actors, Representative: W. Clark Russell. London, 1875.
* ↑ Players, Lives of the: John Gait. 2 vols. London, 1831.
* ↑ Worthies of Ireland, Biographical Dictionary of the: Richard Ryan. 2 vols. London, 1821.
# A Compendium of Irish Biography/Williams, Richard Dalton

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​Williams, Richard Dalton, a minor poet, "Shamrock" of the Nation newspaper, Dublin, was born in the County of Tipperary, 8th October 1822. Educated at Carlow College, he came up to Dublin to study medicine. The first of his numerous poetical contributions to the Nation was in January 1843. Williams became an ardent nationalist, and in 1 848, with his friend Kevin Izod O'Doherty, commenced the Irish Tribune paper. Before the sixth weekly publication, it was seized by Government, and proceedings were instituted against the editors. On the 30th of October 1848, on a third trial, O'Doherty was convicted and transported to Australia; while Williams, tried two days afterwards, was acquitted. He then resumed his medical studies, took out his degree at Edinburgh, emigrated to America in 1851, and became a professor in Spring Hill College, Mobile. Dr. Williams died of consumption at Thibodeaux, Louisiana, 5th July 1862, aged 39. As a poet he excelled in humorous pieces. Of his graver style, "The Irish National Guard to his Sister," "Ben Heder," and the "Dying Girl" are perhaps the best known. After the disappointment of his political aspirations, there was not wanting in his productions a vein of cynical bitterness. His writings turned towards spiritual subjects in his later days. A number of his poems were collected and published as a Christmas supplement to the Nation in 1876; and a notice of his life formed the subject of three articles in the Irish Monthly in 1877.
# A Compendium of Irish Biography/White, Stephen

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​White, Stephen, D.D., a distinguished Irish Jesuit, who flourished in the 17th century, attained an advanced age, and was living in June 1645. Dr. Reeves says: "He it was who opened that rich mine of Irish literature on the Continent, which has ever since yielded such valuable returns, and still continues unexhausted; and by his disinterested exertions, less enterprising labourers at or nearer home, not only were made acquainted with the treasures preserved in foreign libraries, but from time to time received at his hands the substantial produce of his diligence, in the form of accurate copies of Irish manuscripts, accompanied by critical emendations and historical inquiries, amply sufficient to superadd to his credit as a painstaking scribe the distinction of a sound thinker and an erudite scholar. Abroad, as well as at home, his merits were acknowledged. … He sought the honour of his country, not of himself; and was satisfied that the fruits of his labours, if only made to redound to the credit of loved Ireland, should pass into other hands, and under their names be employed in their several projects, and at their discretion. Thus, in the Benedictine library of Keysersheym, in Switzerland, he copied the life of St. Colman, the patron saint of Austria, for Hugh Ward. At the monastery of St. Magnus, in Ratisbon, he found the life of St. Erhard, of that city, and sent a transcript to Ussher. To this prelate, so opposed to him in matters of polemical controversy, he made acceptable communications regarding St. Brigid and St. Columba; and … this literary ​generosity was duly felt, … To Colgan he transmitted a life of St. Patrick which he copied from an ancient manuscript at Biburg, in Bavaria; from St. Magnus's, at Katisbon, he sent him Ultan's Life of St. Brigid; and from Dilingen, as I have already observed, he sent him the text for the life of St, Columba. To his untiring generosity Fleming, also, was indebted for two contributions for his Collectanea of Columbanus's writings." Almost all that is known concerning Stephen White is contained in a paper read before the Royal Irish Academy by Dr. Reeves, in 1861.
# A Compendium of Irish Biography/Whitelaw, James

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​Whitelaw, James, Rev., author and philanthropist, was born in the County of Leitrim, about 1749. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin (where he took his degree of B.A, in 1771), and entered the Church. The living of St. James's, in the Liberties of Dublin, and afterwards the vicarage of St. Catherine's in the same locality, were conferred upon him. He laboured indefatigably among the poor, establishing schools, industrial institutions, and loan funds. In 1798 he undertook, and carried through, in the face of great difficulties, on account of political agitation, a census of the city of Dublin. He estimated the population within the city boundaries at 170,805, and the number of houses at 14,854. [The population within the same limits in 1871 was 267,717; the number of houses, 26,859,] For six years he was engaged chiefly on an enquiry into the condition of the endowed schools of Ireland, and was a prime agent in compiling the body of information upon which subsequent legislation regarding education in Ireland was based. He wrote a school-book entitled Parental Soliciticde. and compiled a system of physical geography. He was constant in his ministrations at Cork-street Fever Hospital, where on one day he administered the sacrament separately to six patients in the last stages of malignant fever. The result was that he caught the disease himself, and died, 4th February 1813, aged 64. His widow was granted a pension of £200 by the Government. Some years before his death, in conjunction with Mr. Warburton, Deputy-keeper of the Records in Dublin Castle, he projected a History of Dublin. Mr. Warburton furnished documents and the ancient history of the city; Mr. Whitelaw methodized the whole, and wrote the modern descriptive portion of the work. It was announced in the Gentleman's Magazine the month before his death, as preparing for publication. At his decease the first volume was finished. Mr, Warburton's death soon followed, and the work was completed, chiefly from Mr. Whitelaw's papers, by the Rev. Robert Walsh, in 1818, and given to the public as History of the City of Dublin, its Present Extent, Public Buildings, Schools, Institutions, etc., by the late J. Warburton, the late Rev. J. Whitelaw, and the Rev. Robert Walsh. [See Walsh, Rev. Robert.] It is illustrated with maps and plates, and, amongst other useful information, gives brief sketches of foreign artists who lived in Dublin, and of eminent citizens, many of them not of sufficient importance to warrant their being noticed in this Compendium. Though entirely wanting in the interest, scholarship, and minuteness of Mr. Gilbert's Streets of Dublin, the work is a standard authority in regard to the city and its history,
* ↑ Dublin, History of, by Whitelaw, Warburton, and Walsh. 2 vols. London, 1818.
* ↑ Gentleman's Magazine. London, 1731–1868
# A Compendium of Irish Biography/Wilde, Richard Henry

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​Wilde, Richard Henry, a lawyer, was born in Dublin, 24th September 1789. At an early age he was taken by his parents to the United States, where he studied law, was called to the Bar, and became a distinguished orator. He attained the position of Attorney-General of the State of Georgia, and was thrice elected to Congress between 1815 and 1835. He spent some years on the Continent of Europe, and was the fortunate discoverer of an old fresco portrait of Dante on the wall of the Bargello at Florence. Mr. Wilde was the author of a Life of Tasso, published in 1842; and of some Lyrics. He died at New Orleans, 10th September 1847, aged 57.
# A Compendium of Irish Biography/Willes, Sir James Shaw

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​Willes, Sir James Shaw, Judge of the English Court of Common Pleas, was born in Cork in 1814. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he took his B.A. degree in 1836. Four years later he was called to the English Bar and commenced practice on the Home Circuit. In 1850 he was appointed on the Common Law Commission, and did useful service in the preparation of the several Law Procedure Acts. When only forty-one years of age he was appointed a puisne judge of the Common Pleas, receiving the honour of knighthood at the same time. "He was esteemed one of the wisest and most learned of English lawyers, displaying in his decisions not only a rare and profound knowledge of principles, but a wonderful power of dealing with complicated facts and evidence. His decisions on questions of mercantile and maritime law were especially lucid and convincing. He took his own life, at his residence near Watford, Herts, while suffering under temporary aberration of mind, the result of suppressed gout, on 2nd October 1872, aged about 58.
# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Reid, Whitelaw

See also Whitelaw Reid on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
REID, WHITELAW (1837-1912), American journalist and diplomatist (see 23.52), died in London Dec. 15 1912. His last public address was delivered before the students of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, on “Thomas Jefferson.” In 1912 appeared The Scot in America and the Ulster Scot and posthumously, in 1913, American and English Studies.
See Royal Cortissoz, The Life of Whitelaw Reid (1921).
# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rathenau, Walter

See also Walter Rathenau on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
​RATHENAU, WALTER (1867-), German industrialist and political economist, president of the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft, was born Sept. 29 1867 in Berlin. He came into prominence in Aug. 1914 as the founder and director of organizations for providing raw materials, during the World War, for Prussia and the German Empire. On the formation of the Wirth ministry in May 1921 he was appointed Minister of Reconstruction, and in that capacity negotiated with the French minister, Loucheur, a convention for supplying German materials for the restoration of the devastated area in France, and thus paying in kind part of the reparation which the German Reich had undertaken to pay in gold. Rathenau published various books, pamphlets and articles, on social and economic questions, some of which attracted world-wide attention, especially his Von kommenden Dingen (1920). In Jan. 1922 he became Foreign Minister in the Wirth Ministry.
# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ravenstein, Ernst Georg

See also Ernst Georg Ravenstein on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
RAVENSTEIN, ERNST GEORG (1834–1913), British geographer, of German origin, was born at Frankfort-on-Main on Dec. 30 1834, and was educated there. In 1852 he became a pupil of August Petermann, and came to England, where he served in the topographical department of the War Office from 1855 to 1872. As a geographer he was less of a traveller than a research student, and his studies led mainly in the direction of the practice and history of cartography. He compiled many original maps and atlases, bringing a fine critical faculty to bear
upon the data where these were not of the first order of scientific accuracy, as in his series of eastern equatorial Africa, scale 1:1,000,000 (1881-3), and of British East Africa, 1:500,000 (1889). One of his earliest writings was The Russians on the Amur (1861), but he was concerned mainly with the history of geography, as exemplified in his Vasco da Gama’s First Voyage (1898) and Martin Behaim, his Life and his Globe (1908), as also in his history of cartography in the E.B. (see 17.633). He was an active member of the Royal Geographical Society and of the British Association, over the geographical section of which he presided in 1890, and in which he served as chairman of a committee which made a valuable enquiry into the climatology of Africa. He had also a particular interest in gymnastics, and published a handbook on them in 1867. He died at Hofheim in the Taunus, Germany, March 13 1913.
# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Reid, Sir George

See also George Reid (Scottish artist) on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
REID, SIR GEORGE (1841-1913), British painter (see 23.50), died at Oakhill, Som., Feb. 9 1913.
# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Reid, Sir George Houstoun

See also George Reid (Australian politician) on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
REID, SIR GEORGE HOUSTOUN (1845-1918), Australian statesman, was born at Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Feb. 25 1845. His father, a Presbyterian minister, emigrated to Australia seven years later, and the boy was therefore Australian by education though not by birth. At the age of 13 he became a junior clerk in a business house in Sydney, but later entered the N.S.W. civil service and began to read for the bar, being finally called in 1879. Politics attracted him more than law, and in 1880 he was elected member for E. Sydney, together with Sir Henry Parkes but above him in the poll. He stood as a free trader, a policy to which he adhered throughout his political career, and with one short break (1884-5) he represented E. Sydney in the N.S.W. Legislature until 1901 when he was elected its representative in the Federal Parliament. He first held office in N.S.W. for a brief period in 1883-4 as Minister of Public Instruction. In 1894 he became its Premier and during his term of office (1894-9) introduced reforms into the civil service and represented the Colony at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. He did much to promote Federation and from 1901-9 led the free-trade party in the Federal Parliament, becoming Premier for a short period (1904-5) but being for the most part leader of the Opposition. When the Act to constitute an Australian High Commissionership was passed in 1909 Sir George Reid became the first High Commissioner and was created K.C.M.G. He represented his country in London in genial fashion until 1916, and at the end of his term of office
stood for the British House of Commons and was elected for the St. George's Hanover Square division of London Jan. 1916. He was created G.C.M.G. in 1911 and G.C.B. in 1916. He published My Reminiscences (1917), as well as Five Free Trade Essays (1875), and other economic papers. He died suddenly in London, Sept. 12 1918.
# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rathmore, David Robert Plunket, 1st Baron

See also David Plunket, 1st Baron Rathmore on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
​RATHMORE, DAVID ROBERT PLUNKET, 1st Baron (1838-1919), Irish lawyer and politician, was born Dec. 3 1838, the third son of John, 3rd Baron Plunket (1793-1871). He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, taking his degree in 1859, and was called to the Irish bar in 1862. He was made Q.C. in 1868, and the same year became legal adviser to the Irish government. In 1870 he stood successfully as Conservative member for Dublin University, holding the seat for twenty-five years. From 1874 to 1877 Plunket was solicitor-general for Ireland, and in 1880 was for a short time paymaster-general. In 1885 he was first commissioner of works in Lord Salisbury's ministry, and resumed this post in 1886, when the Conservative party returned to power, holding it till 1892. In 1895 he was raised to the peerage. He died at Greenore Aug. 22 1919.