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

​BURSCOUGH, ROBERT (1661–1709), divine, the son of Thomas Burscough, was born at Cartmel, Lancashire, in 1651. He entered Queen's College, Oxford, as servitor in 1668, and took his B.A. in 1672 and M.A. in 1682. In 1681 he was presented by Charles II to the vicarage of Totnes, Devonshire, in succession to the Rev. John Prince, author of the 'Worthies of Devon.' He was prebendary of Exeter Cathedral in 1701, and archdeacon of Barnstaple in 1703. He was buried at Bath 29 July 1709. He is characterised by Anthony à Wood as 'a learned man, zealous for the church of England, and very exemplary in his life and conversation.'
He wrote the following: 1. 'A Treatise of Church Government, occasioned by some letters lately printed concerning the same subject,' 1692 (pp. xlii, 270), being an answer to Richard Burthogge's 'Nature of Church Government freely discussed.' 2. 'A Discourse of Schism; addressed to those Dissenters who conformed before the Toleration and have since withdrawn themselves from the communion of the Church of England,' 1699 (pp. 231). This occasioned two pamphlets in reply, and Burscough rejoined by 3. 'A Vindication of the "Discourse of Schism,"' Exeter, 1701. 4. 'A Discourse of the Unity of the Church, of the Separation of the Dissenters from the Church of England, of their Setting up Churches,' &c., Exeter, 1704. 5. 'A Vindication of the Twenty​ third Article of Religion,’ 1702 (mentioned in Biog. Brit. 1748, ii. 1042). The preface to Zachary Mayne's ‘Sanctification by Faith vindicated,’ 1693, is from his pen.
C. W. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Burt, William

​BURT, WILLIAM (1778–1826), miscellaneous writer, son of Joseph Burt of Plymouth, was born there on 23 Aug. 1778, educated at Exeter grammar school, and afterwards articled to a banker and solicitor at Bridgwater. Finally he practised at Plymouth as a solicitor until his death on 1 Sept. 1826. He edited the ‘Plymouth and Dock Telegraph’ for several years, and at one period he held a commission in the 38th foot.
His works are: 1. ‘Twelve Rambles in London, by Amicus Patriæ,’ 1810. 2. ‘Desultory Reflections on Banks in general, and the System of keeping up a False Capital by Accommodation,’ London, 1810, 12mo. 3. ‘The Consequences of the French Revolution to England considered, with a view of the Remedies of which her situation is susceptible,’ 1811; dedicated to Lord Holland. 4. ‘A Review of the Mercantile, Trading, and Manufacturing State, Interests, and Capabilities of the Port of Plymouth,’ Plymouth, 1816. 5. ‘Preface to and Notes on N. T. ​ Carrington's Poem “Dartmoor,”’ 1826. 6. ‘Christianity; a Poem, in Three Books, with Miscellaneous Notes,’ London, 1835, 12mo; edited by the author's nephew, Major Thomas Seymour Burt. 7. ‘Observations on the Curiosities of Nature,’ London, 1836, 12mo; also edited by Major Burt.
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Burrowes, John Freckleton

​BURROWES, JOHN FRECKLETON (1787–1852), organist and composer, was born in London, 28 April 1787. His master was William Horsley. His first published work was a set of six English ballads, 'Printed for the author, 5 Great Suffolk Street, Charing ​Cross,' and in 1812 he published an overture (op. 8) which had been performed at the vocal concerts Hanover Square This was followed in 1817 by a similar work (op. 13) produced by the Philharmonic Society which Burrowes was one of the original members. In 1818 appeared the first edition his 'Pianoforte Primer' a little work which was very successful and is still in use as an instruction book. In 1819 Burrowes brought out a 'Thorough Bass Primer' which achieved a success equal to that of the earlier work. In the course of his long career he also published a 'Companion to the Pianoforte Primer' (1826), a 'Companion to the Thorough Bass Primer' (1832), 'The Tutor's Assistant for the Pianoforte' (1834), a 'Guide to Practice on the Pianoforte' (1841), collections of psalm tunes preludes dances Scotch and Irish airs sonatas a trio for three flutes songs and many arrangements of operas &c for the pianoforte. For nearly forty years Burrowes was organist of St James's Piccadilly About 1834 he settled at 13 Nottingham Place where he died after a long and painful illness 31 March 1852.
[Grove's Dict. of Music, i. 285 a; Musical World, 24 April 1852; Gent Mag 1852, i.; British Museum Music Catalogue.]
W. B. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Burrowes, Peter

1904 Errata appended.
​BURROWES, PETER (1753–1841), Irish barrister and politician, was born at Portarlington in 1753. At Trinity College, Dublin, which he entered in 1774, he specially distinguished himself in the debates of the Historical Society. While still a student at the Middle Temple, in 1784, he published a pamphlet on 'Catholic Emancipation,' which introduced him to the notice of Flood and the other leading Irish patriots. In the following year he was called to the bar, where he rapidly acquired a good practice. In 1790, along with Wolfe Tone and others, he founded a society in Dublin for the discussion of literary and political subjects. In a duel which he fought at Kilkenny in 1794 with the Hon. Somerset Butler, his life was only saved by the ball striking against some coppers which he happened to have in his waistcoat pocket. Though he did not share in t he more extreme vie ws of the United Irishmen, he was a zealous supporter of all the most important measures of reform. Along with thirteen other king's counsel he, 9 Dec. 1798, protested against the proposals for a union with Great Britain, and after being elected member for Enniscorthy he continued, as long as the Irish parliament existed, persistently to oppose the measure. In 1803 he acted as the counsel of Robert Emmet, and in 1811 he was employed to defend the catholic delegates. In 1821 he was appointed judge of the insolvent debtors court. He died in London in 1841, and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery.
[W. Burrowes's Select Speeches of Peter Burrowes, with Memoir, 1850; Life and Adventures of Wolfe Tone.]
T. F. H.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.44 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Burt, Albin R.

​BURT, ALBIN R. (d. 1842), engraver and portrait-painter, commenced life as an engraver, being a pupil of Robert Thew and Benjamin Smith, but finding himself unable to excel in this department, he took to painting heads. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1830, and died at Reading on 18 March 1842. A print of his represented Lady Hamilton, whom his mother knew when a barefooted girl in Wales, as ‘Britannia unveiling the bust of Nelson.’
L. F.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Burt, Edward

​BURT, EDWARD (d. 1755), author of the ‘Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland,’ largely quoted by Walter Scott and Macaulay, has been variously described as an engineer officer who served with General Wade in Scotland in 1724–8, as an army contractor, and an illiterate hack-writer, who ended his days in dire distress (Notes and Queries, 1st ser. xii. 496). Of his early history nothing is known. There is nothing in the military entry books and other war office records to show that Mr., or, as he is often styled, 'Captain,' Burt ever held military rank. He appears to have been with General Wade in Scotland, at the period stated, in some civil capacity, and by virtue of actingwarrants to have then and also afterwards (ib. 2nd ser. vii. 128-9) discharged sundry duties which in later times would have been performed by officers of the commissariat and other army departments. This is indicated in one of General Wade's order-books, which is preserved in the British Museum (Add. MS. 23671). An order therein, dated Inverness, 28 Sept. 1726, directs all commanding officers and others in the northern highlands, on due application from Mr. Edmund Burt or his subordinates, to send with him such parties of soldiers as shall be thought necessary to collect the rents of the estates formerly the Seaforth's. Another order of the same date directs Mr. Burt to state and adjust all accompts relating, to the 'highland galley,' and to report on all matters connected with the said galley as he shall think necessary until further orders.
Evidence in the 'Letters' shows that they were written in 1725-6, although not published until long afterwards. The period of General Wade's command in Scotland is a blank in the records of the regiments employed under him; but some details of his movements, collected from various sources, will be found in the 'Ordnance Gazetteer for Scotland' (under 'Glasgow,' &c), and in 'Colburn's United Service Magazine,' August 1869. Of the later circumstances of the author of the ' Letters' there is no authentic information. His death is thus announced in the 'Scots Magazine' for 1755: 'On 4 Jan. 1755, in London, Edward Burt, esq., late agent with General Wade, chief surveyor during the making of the roads through the highlands, and author of the "Letters from the North of Scotland."'
The first edition of the 'Letters' appeared in London in 1754. Subsequent editions appeared in Dublin in 1755, in London in 1/59 and 1815, and at Haarlem and Hanover. The last edition, which was edited by R. Jamieson, and to which Sir Walter Scott contributed some matter, appeared in London, in two volumes, octavo, in 1818.
H. M. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Dyer, Gilbert

​DYER, GILBERT (1743–1820), antiquary and bookseller, son of Gilbert Dyer, a schoolmaster of considerable reputation on the eastern side of Dartmoor, was born in the hamlet of Dunstone in the parish of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devonshire, and baptised on 14 Sept. 1743. After having been his father's assistant for some time he was appointed in June 1767 master of the school at Tucker's Hall, Exeter, and laboured there with credit for twenty-one years. About 1788 he opened a bookseller's shop opposite the Guildhall in Exeter, and soon became the leading tradesman of that class in the west of England. His catalogues are still held in high value, and in Hone's ‘Year-book’ he is said to have been the owner of a ‘circulating library, the choicest and perhaps the most extensive of any in the whole kingdom, except the metropolis.’ To this passage Hone himself adds a note on the love of books which inspired Dyer and his son, also called Gilbert Dyer, who succeeded him, and on ‘their enormous stock. Their collection of theology was astounding; it was stacked on manifold shelves to the angle point of the gable of their huge upper warehouse.’ Dyer published in 1796 an anonymous tract, entitled ‘The Principles of Atheism proved to be unfounded from the Nature of Man,’ in which he aimed at establishing that man ‘must have been created, preserved, and instructed by Divine Providence.’ He issued in 1805 a volume called ‘A Restoration of the Ancient Modes of bestowing Names on the Rivers, Hills, &c. of Britain,’ which had its origin in his desire ‘to explore the etymologies of a few rivers and towns near Exeter,’ and in which he traced their names back to the Gaelic. His subsequent work, ‘Vulgar Errors, Ancient and Modern … investigating the origin and uses of letters … a critical disquisition on every station of Richard of Cirencester and Antoninus in Britain. To which is added Richard's original work’ (1816), contained Dyer's tract on atheism, which appeared in 1796, and the commentaries on Richard of Cirencester and Antoninus, which had been published in 1814. Several of Dyer's speculations in this volume were contributed to the ‘Monthly Magazine’ in 1809; they were marked by labour and research. Until a few days before his death he seemed in good health, but a long walk overtaxed his powers, and brought on a fever. He died at Exeter on 19 Oct. 1820. He was twice married: first, on 19 July 1772, to Sarah Sayer of the Cathedral Close, Exeter, by whom he had two children, Sarah, baptised at the cathedral 25 Feb. 1775, and Gilbert, baptised 9 June 1776; and second, in 1789, to Sarah Finnemore of Exeter, who seems to have died on 24 Oct. 1811, aged 83.
W. P. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Dyche, Thomas

​DYCHE, THOMAS (fl. 1719), school-master, was educated at Ashbourne free school, Derbyshire, under the Rev. William Hardestee (dedication of Vocabularium Latiale, 5th edition). He subsequently took orders, and removed to London. In 1708 he was keeping school in Dean Street, Fetter Lane, but some time after 1710 he obtained the mastership of the free school at Stratford Bow. In 1719 he rashly attempted to expose in print the peculations of the notorious John Ward of Hackney ‘in discharge of his [Ward's] trust about repairing Dagnam Breach.’ Thereupon Ward sued Dyche for libel, and at the trial, 18 June 1719, was awarded 300l. damages (Post Boy, 19 June 1719, cited in Robinson, Hist. of Hackney, i. 124). Dyche seems to have died between 1731 and 1735. No entry of his burial occurs in the Bow register from 1728 to the end of 1739. No will or letters of administration are to be found in the calendars of the prerogative court of Canterbury. He left a family (dedication of the Spelling Dictionary). His compilations are as follows: 1. ‘Vocabularium Latiale, or a Latin Vocabulary, in two parts,’ 8vo, London, 1708 or 1709; 5th edition, 8vo, London, 1728; 6th edition, 8vo, London, 1735. 2. ‘A Guide to the English Tongue, in two parts,’ 8vo, London, 1709; 2nd edition, 8vo, London, 1710; 14th edition, 12mo, London, 1729. This, the forerunner of similar compendiums by Dilworth, Fenning, and Mavor, had the honour of being ushered into the world with lines addressed to ‘my ingenious Friend the Author’ by laureate Tate. Another less famous poet, by name John Williams, enthusiastically declares
This just essay you have perform'd so well, Records will shew 'twas Dyche first taught to spell.
3. ‘The Spelling Dictionary, or a Collection ​of all the Common Words and Proper Names … in the English Tongue … Second edition, etc.,’ 12mo, London, 1725; 3rd edition, corrected, 12mo, London, 1731. 4. ‘A New General English Dictionary, to which is prefixed a compendious English Grammar, together with a Supplement of the Proper Names of the most noted Kingdoms, Provinces, Cities, etc., of the World. Originally begun by the late Reverend Mr. Thomas Dyche … and now finish'd by William Pardon, Gent. Third edition,’ 8vo, London, 1740. Many other editions were subsequently published. A French version, with plates, by Esprit Pezenas, appeared in two vols. 4to, Avignon, 1756. Dyche was also author of ‘The Youth's Guide to the Latin Tongue,’ and ‘Fables of Phædrus, rendered into familiar English.’ A portrait of Dyche, by Fry, engraved by J. Nutting, and prefixed to his ‘Guide,’ represents a comely personage in clerical costume. Another, but fictitious, portrait, engraved by Vandergutch, is sometimes found adorning the ‘Spelling Dictionary’ (Noble, continuation of Granger, ii. 137).
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Dyer, John

​DYER, JOHN (1700?–1758), poet, born in 1700 or a year or two previously, was the second son of Robert Dyer, solicitor at Aberglasney, Carmarthenshire. He was educated at Westminster, and placed in his father's office. On his father's death he gave up business to study art under Jonathan Richardson [q. v.], author of some well-known books. He then rambled as an itinerant artist through South Wales and the neighbouring English counties, and in 1727 published his ‘Grongar Hill,’ which soon obtained a reputation. An earlier version had already appeared as an ‘Irregular Ode’ in a volume of miscellaneous poems published in 1726 by Savage. Dyer now visited Italy to study painting, and after his return published the ‘Ruins of Rome’ in 1740. His health had been injured, it is said, by malaria fever caught in the Campagna, and his painting was unsuccessful. He was ordained by the Bishop of Lincoln, married a Miss Ensor, said to be a descendant of Shakespeare, and in 1741 became vicar of Catthorpe in Leicestershire. In 1751 he resigned this cure on being appointed by Lord Hardwicke, as chancellor, to Belchford in Lincolnshire, on the recommendation of Daniel Wray, a teller of the exchequer, and ‘a friend to Virtue and the Muses.’ In 1752 Sir John Heathcote presented him to the living of Coningsby, and in 1755 obtained for him from the chancellor the living of Kirkby-on-Bane, both in Lincolnshire, for which he exchanged Belchford. He was made LL.B. of Cambridge by royal mandate in 1752. He was now well off, though he seems to have spent more than he could well afford upon building. In 1757 he published ‘The Fleece,’ upon which Dodsley remarked, according to Johnson, that he ‘would be buried in woollen.’ In 1758 he died of ‘a consumptive disorder.’ He left a son, who died in 1782, and three daughters. Dyer's shorter poems were collected in 1761.
Dyer's love of scenery at a period when the taste was out of fashion may give him some claims to remembrance. He was elaborately criticised in Gilpin's ‘Observations on the River Wye,’ and by Scott of Amwell in his ‘Critical Essays.’ The severity of Johnson's judgment is condemned in Drake's ‘Literary Hours;’ but it may be said that Dyer's longer poems are now unreadable, though there is still some charm in ‘Grongar Hill’ and some shorter pieces. He is probably best known by the sonnet addressed to him by Wordsworth.
[Biog. Brit.; Johnson's Lives of the Poets; Duncombe's Letters, iii. 56–75; Nichols's Leicestershire, iv. 78, 80; Welch's Alumni Westm. p. 285; W. Arthur in ‘Red Dragon,’ x. 208.]
L. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/English, William

​ENGLISH, WILLIAM (d. 1778), Irish poet, was a native of Newcastle, co. Limerick. After teaching schools at Castletownroche and Charleville, he finally entered the Augustinian order. He died at Cork 13 Jan. 1778, and was buried in St. John's churchyard. As a Gaelic poet of humble life English acquired considerable reputation. His best-known ballad, ‘Cashel of Munster,’ was translated by Sir Samuel Ferguson in ‘Lays of the Western Gael’ (1865), pp. 209–10.
[Alfred Webb's Compendium of Irish Biography, where John O'Daly's Poets and Poetry of Munster (Dublin, 1853) is cited.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Entick, John

​ENTICK, JOHN (1703?–1773), schoolmaster and author, residing in St. Dunstan's, Stepney, was probably born about 1703. According to the 'Address,' December 1770, prefixed to his 'New Latin and English Dictionary,' 1771, he was ten years at college. And must have commenced teaching about 1720. His first publication, the 'Speculum Latinum,' was in 1728, 'to make Latin neither tedious nor obscure,' on a system tried by him with success when it was his 'lot to be perplexed with a very dull boy.' In this work he made known that he was ready to print the 'Evidences of Christianity from the great Huetius, Eusebius,' &c., if encouraged; and the announcement was followed by the book in 1729, he styling himself on its title-page student of divinity. In 1736 he issued a proposal, which fell through, to print 'Chaucer' in 2 vols, folio, with explanatory notes; and there and thenceforth he put M.A. after his name, though there is no evidence where he obtained his degree. In 1754 he published his 'Phaedri Fabulae,' with accents and notes. In 1755 he agreed with Shebbeare and Jonathan Scott to write for their anti-ministerial paper, 'The Monitor,' appearing every Saturday, at a salary of 200l. a year; and his attacks on the government, in Nos. 357, 358, 360, 373, 376, 378, and 380, caused his house to be entered and his papers seized under a general warrant in November 1762. He sued the authorities for illegal seizure over this, claiming 2,000l. damages, and obtained a verdict for 300l. in 1765. He published in 1757 a 'New Naval History,' with lives and portraits, dedicated to Admiral Vernon. He married a widow in 1760, losing her the same year; and in 1763 he published a 'General History of the Late War.' In 1764 he issued his 'Spelling Dictionary,' each edition of which comprised twenty thousand copies; in 1766 he brought out an edition of Maitland's 'Survey of London' with additions; in 1771 appeared his 'New Latin and English Dictionary' and an 'English Grammar'; and he is likewise credited with a 'Ready Reckoner,' some pamphlets on freemasonry, and a share both in the new 'Week's Preparation' and the new 'Whole Duty of Man.' Altogether, as his own 'Address' (supra) puts it, he was engaged for half a century either as tutor, schoolmaster, writer, or corrector of the press, labouring incessantly, chiefly for Dilly. He died at Stepney (where he was buried) on 22 May 1773, he being about seventy years old. He left a large work, in 4 vols., 'The Present State of the British Empire,' helped by other hands, nearly ready, which was brought out in 1774. In 1776 appeared a new edition of his 'Survey and History of London,' with his portrait, from a picture by Burgess, in clerical dress, as frontispiece; and Crakelt and others have edited his dictionaries repeatedly down to 1836. In Lysons's 'Environs,' by error, his name is printed 'Entinck.'
J. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/English, John Hawker

​ENGLISH, Sir JOHN HAWKER, M.D. (1788–1840), entered the employment of the king of Sweden as surgeon, and became surgeon-in-chief to the Swedish army. In recognition of his services he was decorated with the order of Gustavus Vasa in 1813, and, having received permission to accept it, was knighted by the prince regent in 1815. On leaving Sweden he graduated M.D. both at Gottingen (3 March 1814) and at Aberdeen (26 May 1823), being admitted a licentiate of the College of Physicians on 25 June following. He resided at Warley House, Essex, but died 25 June 1840 while at St. Leonards-on-Sea.
[Munk's Coll. of Phys. iii. 276; Gent. Mag. new ser. xiv. 221.]
A. V.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/English, Josias

​ENGLISH, JOSIAS (d. 1718?), amateur etcher, was a gentleman of independent means who resided at Mortlake. He was an intimate friend and a pupil of Francis Clein [q. v.], the manager of the Mortlake tapestry works, and etched numerous plates in the style of Hollar, after Clein's designs; these include a set of eleven plates, etched in 1653, entitled ‘Variæ Deorum Ethnicorum Effigies, or Divers Portraicturs of Heathen Gods,’ a set of four representing ‘The Seasons,’ a similar set of ‘The Four Cardinal Virtues,’ and a set of fourteen plates of grotesques and arabesques. His most important etching was ‘Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus,’ after Titian. He also etched a plate of a jovial man smoking, dated 1656, portraits of Richard Kirby, John Ogilby, and William Dobson; the last-named etching was long attributed to John Evelyn. There is in the British Museum a small mezzotint engraving by English. According to Vertue, English died about 1718, and left his property, which included a portrait of Clein and his wife and some samples of the Mortlake tapestry, to Mr. Crawley of Hempsted, Hertfordshire. His wife, Mary, died 21 March 1679–80, was buried at Barnes, Surrey.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Walpole's Anecdotes of Painters; Vertue MSS. (Brit. Mus. Addit. MSS. 23068, &c.); Andersen's Handbuch für Kupferstichsämmler; Manning and Bray's Hist. of Surrey, iii. 322.]
L. C.