OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Bristow, Henry William

​BRISTOW, HENRY WILLIAM (1817–1889), geologist, born in London on 17 May 1817, was the son of Major-general Henry Bristow, a member of a Wiltshire family, by his wife Elizabeth Atchorne of High Wycombe. After passing with distinction through King's College, London, he joined the staff of the Geological Survey in 1842, and was set to work in Radnorshire. From this county he was shortly afterwards trans- ​ferred to the Cotteswold district, which he examined up to Bath, and afterwards surveyed a large part of Dorset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire, with the Isle of Wight, besides some of the Wealden area, Berkshire, and Essex, rising ultimately in 1872 to the position of director for England and Wales. His field work was admirable in quality, for he was no less patient than accurate in unravelling a complicated district — one of those men, in short, who lay the foundations on which his successors can build, and whose services to British geology are more lasting than showy.
He retired from the survey in July 1888, and died on 14 June 1889, He married on 22 Oct. 1863 Eliza Harrison, second daughter of David Harrison, a London solicitor, and to them four children were born, two sons and as many daughters; they and the widow surviving him.
He was elected F.G.S. in 1843 and F.R.S. in 1862, was an honorary member of sundry societies, and received the order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus. His separate papers Are few in number — about eight — and during his later years he suffered from deafness, which prevented him from taking part in the business of societies. Bat his mark is made on several of the maps and other publications of the Geological Survey, more especially in the memoir of parts of Berkshire and Hampshire (a joint production), and in that admirable one, 'The Geology of the Isle of Wight,' almost all of which was from his pen. He contributed also to sundry publications, official and otherwise, and wrote or edited the following books: 1. 'Glossary of Mineralogy,' 1861. 2. 'Underground Life' (translation, with additions of 'La Vie Souterraine,' by L. Simonin), 1869. 3. 'The World before the Deluge' (a translation, with additions, of a work by L. Figuier), 1872.
[Obituary notice by H. B. W[oodward], with a list of papers and books in Geological Magazine, 1889, p. 381, and information from Mrs. Bristow.]
T. G. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Broome, Frederick Napier

​BROOME, Sir FREDERICK NAPIER (1842–1896), colonial governor, born in Canada on 18 Nov. 1842, was the eldest son of Frederick Broome, a missionary in Canada, and afterwards rector of Kenley in Shropshire, by his wife, Catherine Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Lieutenant-colonel Napier. He was educated at Whitchurch grammar school in Shropshire, and in 1857 emigrated to Canterbury in New Zealand, where he engaged in sheep farming. In 1868 he published 'Poems from New Zealand' (London, 8vo), and in 1869 'The Stranger from Seriphos,' London, 8vo. In 1869 he returned to England, and was almost immediately employed by the 'Times' as a general contributor, reviewer, and art critic. He also Wrote prose and verse for the' Cornhill,' 'Macmillan's,' and ​other magazines. In 1870 Broome was appointed secretary of the fund for the completion of St. Paul's Cathedral; in 1873 secretary to the royal commission on unseaworthy ships; and in 1875 colonial secretary of Natal, whither he proceeded as a member of Sir Garnet (now Viscount) Wolseley's special mission. In 1877 he was nominated colonial secretary of the Isle of Mauritius, and in 1880 he became lieutenant-governor. While administering the government of the island as secretary he earned the approbation of the home government, as well as the thanks of the South African colonies, by his prompt despatch of the greater part of the garrison to South Africa after the disaster of Isandhlwana. In 1882 he was nominated governor of Western Australia.
At that time Western Australia was still a crown colony. Broome turned his attention to the development of its natural wealth. The first years of his administration were marked by a rapid extension of railways and telegraphs, and increasing prosperity was accompanied by a growing desire for representative government. Broome warmly espoused the colonial view, and accompanied his despatches with urgent recommendations to grant a constitution such as the legislature of the colony requested. In 1889, when the bill was blocked in the home parliament in consequence of difficulties attending the transfer of crown lands, Broome himself proceeded to London with other delegates to urge the matter on the colonial office. On 21 Oct. 1890 Western Australia received its constitution, and Broome's term of office came to an end. He left the colony amid great popular demonstrations of gratitude for his services.
He proceeded to the West Indies, where he was appointed acting governor of Barbadoes, and afterwards governor of Trinidad. He died in London on 26 Nov. 1896 at 51 Welbeck Street, and was buried at Highgate cemetery on 30 Nov. On 21 June 1865 he married Mary Anne, eldest daughter of Walter J. Stewart, island secretary of Jamaica, and widow of Sir George Robert Barker [q. v.]
[Times, 28 Nov. 1896; Men and Women of the Time, 1895; Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage.]
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Brown, John (1780-1859)

​BROWN, JOHN (1780–1859), geologist, born at Braintree in Essex in 1780, was apprenticed to a stonemason. While working in his master's yard, like Hugh Miller [q. v.] he was attracted to the study of geology. After the expiry of his indentures he worked at Braintree for a few years as a journeyman, and when about twenty-five removed to Colchester, where he carried on business at East Hill for another twenty-five years, retiring from active work in 1830. He removed to Stanway, near Colchester, purchased a house and farm, and devoted the rest of his life to the study of geology and kindred subjects. His researches along the coasts of Essex, Kent, and Sussex brought to light interesting remains of the elephant and rhinoceros, and he made a very fine collection of fossils and shells. His collections were bequeathed to his friend (Sir) Richard Owen, by whom the bulk of them were presented to the British Natural History Museum. Brown died at Stanway on 28 Nov. 1859, and was buried in the churchyard on the north side of the church on 5 Dec. He was twice married, but left no children. He was a contributor to the 'Magazine of Natural History,' the 'Proceedings' of the Ashmolean Society, the 'Proceedings' of the Geological Society,' 'Annals of Natural History,' the 'London Geological Journal,' and the 'Essex Literary Journal,'
[Essex Naturalist, 1890, iv. 158-68; Proc. of the Geological Soc. 1860, vol. xvi. p. xxvii.]
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Richard Anglicus (fl.1196)

​RICHARD ANGLICUS (fl. 1196), canonist. [See under Poor, Richard, d. 1237, bishop of Durham.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Richard (fl.1190)

​RICHARD (fl. 1190), called the Premonstratensian, was abbot of an unknown English house of that order (Bale, Scriptt, Illustr. Brit … Cat. p. 232). About 1180 he seems to have left England, visited Cologne, and spent some time in writing at the abbey of Arnsberg (Oudin, Comment. de Scriptt. Eccles. ii. 1521). Here, about 1183, he is said to have written his `Life of St. Ursula,' containing a history of the passion of the eleven thousand virgins (ib. 1522). This is extant in Capgrave's `Nova Legenda Angliæ' (f. 316, ed. 1516), and was published in Cologne by Crombach in two volumes in 1667. Some theological treatises attributed to Richard are still extant, such as the `De Canone Missæ,' called also `De Officiis Missæ,' in Corpus Christi College Library, Cambridge, and in the Bodleian Library. The `Carmen de Expositione Missæ' in University College, Oxford, is more probably attributed to Hildebert, called Cenomanensis (cf. Leyser, Hist. Poet. Med. Æv. p. 50, ed. 1721, and elsewhere). Richard is also said to have written `De Computo Ecclesiastico,' but Hardy does not seem correct (Descript. Cat. of MSS. iii. 222, Rolls Ser.) when he follows Tanner (Bibl. Brit.-Hib. p. 627) in attributing to him a chronicle from 1064 to so late a date as 1284.
[See, in addition to authorities cited in the text, Pits's Illustr. Angl. Script, i. 255-6; Fabricius's Bibl. Lat. Med. Æt. vi. 83; Chevalier's Répertoire des Sources Hist. du Moyen Age, i. 1944; Wright's Biogr.Brit. Lit. ii. 471.]
A. M. C.-e.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Richard Fitzscrob

​RICHARD FITZSCROB (fl. 1060), Norman baron, came from Normandy to settle in England in the time of Edward the Confessor. He was one of the few Normans who, thanks to their kindliness towards the English, were not expelled by Earl Godwin in 1052 (Flor. Wig. i. 210). One of the others was Richard's father-in-law, Robert the Deacon, whom Mr. Eyton identifies with Robert FitzWimarch. From ‘Domesday’ we find that in the time of King Edward Richard FitzScrob held the manors of Burford in Shropshire, together with four manors in Worcestershire and lands in Herefordshire. He is said to have erected the building known as Richard's Castle in Herefordshire, which was the first regular castle erected on English land. The Herefordshire ‘Domesday’ mentions no such castle, but connects a castle, called Auretone, with Osbern, son of Richard, and one Richard (no doubt Richard FitzScrob) with an adjacent manor. After the conquest Richard adopted the Norman side, and, together with his ‘castellani Herefordenses,’ took the lead in opposing Edric the Wild (ib. ii. 1). He dispossessed the church of Worcester of the manor of Cotheridge (Monast. Angl. i. 594). Richard was dead before the time of Domesday, and his lands were held by his son Osbern. Osbern FitzRichard (fl. 1088) had held lands in Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire in the time of King Edward. In ‘Domesday’ he appears as one of the few tenants-in-chief in the first-named county; he then also held lands in Bedfordshire and Warwickshire. He took part with Earl Roger of Shrews​bury's men in the rebellion of 1088, and was one of the leaders of the force which threatened Worcester, and was repulsed by the curse of Bishop Wulstan (Ord. Vit iii. 270). He gave Boraston in Burford, Shropshire, to the church of Worcester. Freeman seems to be mistaken in identifying Osbern FitzRichard with Osbern Pentecost. Osbern's wife was perhaps Nest, daughter of Gruffydd ap Llewelyn. Her daughter married Bernard (fl. 1093) [q. v.] of Neufmarché, and a son, Hugh FitzOsbern, who married Eustachia de Say, died before 1140. Hugh had two sons: Osbern, who died about 1185; and Hugh de Say, who was ancestor of the Talbots of Richard's Castle and of the Cornwalls of Burford.
It has been conjectured that the great northern family of Scrope was descended from Richard FitzScrob. Richard is called ‘Ricardus Scrupe’ in the Herefordshire ‘Domesday’ (p. 186), and his son Osbern is once called ‘Osbern filius Escrob’ (Hemming, Cartulary, i. 78). In an early charter of Hugh FitzOsbern there is mention of a Richard de Escrop. In 1163 (Pipe Roll, 5 Henry II) a Robert de Scrupa held two knights' fees in Gloucestershire. The Gloucestershire name is also spelt Escropes and Escrupes, and eventually appears as Croupes; the various forms are sufficiently close to suggest a connection between Scrob and Scrope. The Yorkshire family appears to be derived from a Robert Scrope of Lincolnshire in the eleventh century.
C. L. K.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Richard Maidstone

​RICHARD Maidstone (d. 1396), Carmelite. [See Maidstone.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Richard (d.1360)

​RICHARD (d. 1360), archbishop of Armagh. [See Fitzralph, Richard.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Richard Fastolf

​RICHARD, called Fastolf (d. 1143), second abbot of Fountains, was sacristan of St. Mary's Abbey, York, in 1132, when, being anxious to adopt a stricter life, he entered into a bond for that purpose with six other brethren of the house; and this association led to the foundation of the Cistercian convent of Fountains, of which he was one of the original members [see under Richard, (d. 1139)]. On the death of abbot Richard he was chosen to succeed him. It was a time of great prosperity and activity at Fountains, and soon after Richard's election he entered into the strife concerning the election to the see of York which followed the death of Archbishop Thurstan [q. v.] in 1140, and in which the Cistercian order played a conspicuous part. In 1141 he joined William, abbot of Rivaulx, and others in laying a charge of simony against William, the archbishop-elect, in the papal court, later went to Rome in person, and in 1143 maintained before Eugenius II the invalidity of William's election (John of Hexham, cc. 13, 15). He felt the burden of his office too heavy for him, and an infirmity of speech from which he suffered seemed to him to disqualify him for it. Thrice he visited St. Bernard and requested to be allowed to resign the abbacy. At last Bernard consented, on condition that the convent agreed, and he returned to Fountains. The brethren, however, refused their consent, and on 12 Oct. 1143 Richard died while attending a general chapter of the order at Clairvaux. He was buried by St. Bernard, who wrote to the convent announcing the abbot's death. His name appears as of blessed memory in the Cistercian menologium. Leland saw and greatly admired a book of homilies by this Richard, second abbot of Fountains, whom he calls Richard Fastolf (Collectanea, iv. 44). In his work on English writers he says that this second abbot, whom he there calls Richardus Anglicus or Sacrista, was the author of a treatise on harmony; but in his notice of the author's life Leland confuses him with the sixth abbot Richard (d. 1170) [q. v.], at one time precentor at Clairvaux. While, then, it may be assumed that the second abbot Richard was the author of the book of homilies, it is uncertain whether the treatise on harmony is to be ascribed to him or to Richard, third abbot of the name. Neither work is now known to exist.
W. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Rawling, Cecil Godfrey

​RAWLING, CECIL GODFREY (1870–1917), soldier and explorer, was born at Stoke, Devonport, 16 February 1870, the second son of Samuel Bartlett Rawling, of Stoke, by his wife, Ada Bathe, daughter of S. Withers, of Purton, Wiltshire. He was educated at Clifton College and entered the army by way of the militia, being gazetted to the 13th regiment, Somerset Light Infantry, in 1891. Thenceforward most of his service was in India, where a love of sport took him into and beyond the Himalaya. In 1902 he crossed the Lanak-la Pass into Tibet as a preliminary reconnaissance for a more ambitious venture. In 1903, with Lieutenant A. J. G. Hargreaves, of his own regiment, he crossed the same pass and in nine months explored and mapped about 38,000 miles of hitherto unsurveyed country in Western Tibet and Rudok. In 1904 he was employed with the Tibet mission, and when the British commissioner, Sir Francis Younghusband, returned from Lhasa to Gyantse, he selected Rawling for the command of the very important exploration of the Upper Tsanpo (Brahmaputra) in 1904–1905. This was a very hazardous expedition, because the Tibetans were not known to be other than hostile and the return journey over the Himalaya to Simla had to be made in the middle of winter. During that journey Mount Everest was for the first time clearly recognized from the north, and it became Rawling's ambition to lead a party in from that side. His book, The Great Plateau (1905), describes his journeys in Tibet. In 1909 he went as surveyor to a scientific expedition to Dutch New Guinea, and when the leader was invalided he took command with notable success. He mapped a large area of unknown country and was the first European to meet the interesting Pygmies (Tapiro), who inhabit the lower mountains of that region. His experiences are recorded in The Land of the New Guinea Pygmies (1913). For his explorations the Royal Geographical Society awarded him the Murchison bequest (1909) and the Patrons' gold medal (1917). He returned to his regiment in 1911.
In 1914, on the outbreak of the European War, Major Rawling, as he was then, was ordered to raise and train a service battalion of his regiment, which he subsequently commanded in France. He survived the fighting at Hooge in July–August 1915, the long winter in the Ypres salient, the battle of the Somme, the taking of Fricourt, Mametz Wood, and the capture of Gueudecourt. He was promoted brigadier-general in July 1916. All the summer of 1917 he was constantly engaged, first in the fighting on the Hindenburg line, and then in the great battle east of Ypres. He was killed on 28 October by a stray shell outside his brigade head-quarters at Hooge.
Rawling was made C.I.E. in 1909, C.M.G. in 1916, and received the D.S.O. in 1917. He was unmarried. In character he was singularly boylike; as a traveller he was indefatigable, and as a soldier he was always hopeful and without fear. A tablet to his memory was erected in the south aisle of St. Mary Magdalen's church, Taunton.
[Geographical Journal, December, 1917; private information; personal knowledge.]
A. F. R. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Pélissier, Harry Gabriel

​PELISSIER, HARRY GABRIEL (1874–1913), comedian, was born at Finchley 27 April 1874, the second son of Frederic Antoine Pélissier, a French diamond merchant, by his wife, Jennie Kean. After leaving school he was for six months employed in his father's business in Berwick Street, London. Not finding the occupation congenial, and having from his earliest years a predilection for the stage, he made up his mind to try his fortune on the music-hall stage, and he made his first appearance at a London suburban hall. In 1895 he joined a troupe of entertainers under the direction of the brothers Baddeley, the well-known lawn-tennis players, and Mr. Sherrington Chinn. A year later he took over the direction of the troupe and renamed it ‘The Follies’. It was first heard at Worthing under that title on 7 August 1896. After several years of provincial and seaside engagements, the troupe appeared at the Alhambra, ​London, in 1900, and this was followed by several appearances at the Palace Theatre from 1901 onwards. For a time ‘The Follies’ was included in the entertainment given by Mr. Albert Chevalier at the Queen's Hall, and in December 1904 Pélissier and his ‘Follies’ were commanded to appear before King Edward VII at Sandringham, in connexion with Queen Alexandra's birthday festivities.
So successful was his entertainment that Pélissier determined to test its capacity to stand alone as an attraction, and after a preliminary experiment at the Midland Theatre, Manchester, at the end of 1906, he opened at the Royalty Theatre, London, on 19 March 1907. The venture was completely successful. In September 1907 he removed to Terry's Theatre, and in 1908 to the Apollo, where the entertainment was given for hundreds of nights. His ‘Follies’ became famous for their burlesques of current theatrical pieces, and their ‘potted plays’ and ‘potted opera’ were triumphant successes. Gifted alike as composer, producer, and comedian, Pélissier was, for a time, immensely popular; but after 1911 his powers declined, and ill-health seriously impeded his work. A revue at the Alhambra, a pantomime at the Empire, and a final season of ‘The Follies’ at the Apollo (1912) were all unsuccessful, and after a three months' illness Pélissier died in London 25 September 1913.
Pélissier was a man of immense proportions, and his bulk undoubtedly added to his attraction as a comedian. He had an exceedingly mobile countenance, which he used with excellent effect, and an agreeable voice, and he was an accomplished musician. His facility in writing songs, humorous and sentimental, burlesques, extravaganzas, and ‘potted plays’ was remarkable. A series of humorous sketches entitled Potted Pélissier was published in 1913.
He married in 1911 Fay Compton, actress, a member of his troupe, youngest daughter of Edward Compton, actor, and left an infant son.
[The Times, 27 September 1913; Daily Telegraph, 27 September 1913; private information.]
J. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Wheelhouse, Claudius Galen

​WHEELHOUSE, CLAUDIUS GALEN (1826–1909), surgeon, born at Snaith in Yorkshire on 29 Dec. 1826, was second son of James Wheelhouse, surgeon. At seven he left the grammar school at Snaith for Christ's Hospital preparatory school at Hertford, and entered Christ's Hospital in London in 1836. He was apprenticed at sixteen to R. C. Ward of Ollerton, Newark, and always strongly advocated the system of apprenticeship. He entered the Leeds school of medicine in October 1846, and was admitted M.R.C.S.England on 25 March 1849, and a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries in 1850. He then went to the Mediterranean on a yachting cruise as surgeon to Lord Lincoln, afterwards fifth duke of Newcastle and secretary of state for war. He took with him one of the first photographic cameras which left England, and obtained many good photographs in spite of the cumbrous processes.
Wheelhouse returned to England in 1851, and entered into partnership with Joseph Prince Garlick of Park Row, Leeds, the senior surgeon to the dispensary and lecturer on surgery at the Leeds school of medicine. In the same year he was elected surgeon to the public dispensary and demonstrator of anatomy in the medical school, where he was successively lecturer on anatomy, physiology, and surgery. He was twice president of the school, and when the new university of Leeds was inaugurated in October 1904 Wheelhouse was made hon. D.Sc. He was surgeon to the Leeds infirmary from March 1884.
Elected F.R.C.S. England on 9 June 1864, he served on the college council from 1876 to 1881. President of the council of the British Medical Association 1881–4, he presided at the Leeds meeting in 1889. In 1897, when the association held its annual meeting at Montreal, McGill College made him hon. LL.D., and he received the gold medal of the association.
In 1886, when the Medical Act brought direct representatives of the profession on the general medical council, Wheelhouse headed the poll in England and Wales. Re-elected in 1891 at the end of his term, he did not seek re-election in 1897. From 1870 to 1895 he was first secretary and afterwards treasurer of the West Riding Medical Charity, and in 1902 he was presented by his fellow members with an address of thanks and testimonial.
On retiring from practice at Leeds in 1891 he settled at Filey, where he was active in local affairs. He died at Filey on 9 April 1909, and was buried there. He married in 1860 Agnes Caroline, daughter of Joseph Cowell, vicar of Todmorden, and had issue three daughters.
Wheelhouse filled the unusual position of a general practitioner who made a name in pure surgery. An admirable teacher, he did much to convert the Leeds medical school into a worthy integral part of the university. In 1876 he advocated that form of external urethrotomy for impermeable strictures to which his name is given; it has displaced all rival methods. The operation was first described in the ‘British Medical Journal,’ 1876, i. 779, in a paper entitled ‘Perineal section as performed at Leeds.’
[Brit. Med. Journal, 1909, i. 983 (with portrait); Lancet, 1909, i. 1145.]
D’A. P.