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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/O'Keefe, Eoghan

Eoghan Ó Caoimh in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
​O'KEEFE, EOGHAN (1656–1726), Irish poet, was born at Glenville, co. Cork, in 1656. He married early, and had a son, whom he brought up to be a priest, but who died at Rochelle in France in 1709 while studing theology. He wrote a poem of fifty-six verses, 'An tan nach faicim fear’ (‘When I do not see a man'), on the death of this son. His wife had died in 1707, and Eoghan himself entered the church and became parish priest of Doneraile, co. Cork. He was president of the bardic meetings held at Charleville co. Cork, till his ordination. He wrote ‘Ar treasgradh i nEacdhruim do shiol Eibhir' (‘All that at Aughrim are laid low of the seed of Eber’), a poem of eight stanzas, lamenting the defeat and denouncing the victors. It has been printed, with a translation, by S. H. O'Grady. He also wrote many other poems which were current in the south of Ireland as long as Irish was generally read there. He died on 5 April 1726, and was buried at Oldcourt near Doneraile. A local stonecutter named Donough 0'Daly carved an epitaph on his tombstone, which states that he was a wise and amiable man, an active parish priest, and a learned scholarly poet ‘a bpriomhtbeangadh a dhuithche agus a shinnsear' (‘in the original language of his country and his ancestors’). Dr. John O'Brien, bishop of Cloyne, also wrote a short epitaph in verse.
[O'Daly's Poets and Poetry of Munster, Dublin, 1849; S. H. O'Grady's Catalogue of the Irish Manuscripts in the British Museum; O'Reilly in Transactions of Iberno-Celtic Society, 1820; Egerton MS. 154 in British Museum.]
N. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/O'Leary, Ellen

​O'LEARY, ELLEN (1831–1889), Irish poetess, and an active participator in the fenian movement in Ireland, was born in 1831 in the town of Tipperary. Her father was a shopkeeper. Miss O'Leary contributed verse to various Irish journals from an early age; but after her brother had accepted the invitation of James Stephens, 'chief organiser of the Irish republic,' to take charge of the 'Irish People,' which was established in November 1863, she wrote exclusively for that journal, and soon became a distinguished member of the band of poets whose gifts the fenians, in imitation of the Young Irelanders of twenty years earlier, employed in spreading their opinions. The 'Irish People' was seized by the government on 15 Sept. 1865; its editor, John O'Leary, and other leaders of the movement were arrested, and Stephens, who escaped, and was in hiding at Sandymount, near Dublin, employed Miss O'Leary to carry messages between Sandymount and Dublin, and to aid him generally in directing the affairs of the fenian organisation. Stephens was arrested at Sandymount on 11 Nov. 1805, but on the 24th he escaped from Richmond prison. A sum of 200l. was raised by Miss O Leary on a mortgage on her property to aid the fenian leader in getting out of the kingdom.
After the collapse of the fenian movement Miss O'Leary went to her home in Tipperary, and lived there in retirement, devoting herself to literature, till 1885. She then rejoined her brother John, who, after being imprisoned for five years and exiled for fifteen, had in that year returned to Ireland. She died on 16 Oct. 1889 at Cork.
A selection of her poems, entitled 'Lays of Country, Home, and Friends,' was published in Dublin in 1891. It contains a biographical sketch by Mr. T. W. Rolleston, and an appreciative criticism of Miss O'Leary's poems by Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, which had first appeared in the 'Dublin University Review,' in December 1886, under the title 'A Celtic Singer.' Miss O'Leary's songs are sweet and simple lays, couched in the natural colloquial language of the Irish peasant.
[The Irish newspapers of 1864, I860, and 1866; O'Leary's Lays of Country, Home, and Friends, Dublin, 1891.]
M. MacD.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/O'Kelly, Joseph

​O'KELLY, JOSEPH (1832–1883), geologist, born in Dublin on 31 Oct. 1832, was the second son of Matthias Joseph O'Kelly, who had married Margaret Shannon. His father was noted for a love of natural history, especially of conchology, and yet more for his activity in the cause of catholic emancipation Joseph O'Kelly entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1848, proceeded B.A. in 1852, and M,A. in 1860. He also obtained a diploma in engineering. After working for a few years under Sir Richard John Griffith [q. v.] he was appointed to a post on the Geologic Survey of Ireland in 1854. In this capacity he was chiefly occupied in the field with the district around Cork, the igneous rocks of Limerick, and the coal fields of Queen's County and Tipperary, investigating the last named, with the aid of colleagues, in great detail. But the work involved real hardships, such as exposure to stormy weather and accommodation worse than humble. By these O'Kelly's health was seriously impaired, so that, after working for a time in Galway, he was transferred, in October 1665, to the post of secretary to the Survey. In his new office his services were of great value, not only for his extensive knowledge of Irish geology, but also from his straightforward honesty and genial disposition, which enabled him to diminish friction and to promote cordial co-operation in official circles.
His health proved to be permanently injured, and he died of acute bronchitis on 13 April 1883. His contributions to the literature of geology, practically restricted to the memoirs published by the Survey, indicate his powers and his thoroughness as a geological observer. He was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy early in 1866, and married in 1870 Miss Dorothea Smyth, by whom he had a family of five sons and four daughters; these all survived him.
[Obituary notice in Geological Magazine, 1883, p. 288, and information from Mrs. O'Reilly and friends.]
T. G. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/O'Kelly, Patrick

​O'KELLY, PATRICK (1754–1835?), eccentric poet, known as the 'Bard O'Kelly,' was born at Loughrea, co. Galway, in 1754. He seems to have obtained a local reputation as a poet before he published his first volume, 'Killarney: a Poem,' in 1791. His fame rapidly spread, and subsequent volumes were issued by subscription. When George IV ​was in Ireland, O'Kelly was presented to him in Dublin. His majesty, when Prince of Wales, had subscribed for fifty copies of his second volume of poems. He travelled over the south and west of Ireland selling his books. In July 1808 he wrote the well-known 'Doneraile Litany,' which is his best production. It is a string of curses on the town and people of Doneraile, co. Cork, where he had been robbed of his watch and chain in the locality. On Lady Doneraile replacing his property, he wrote 'The Palinode,' revoking all the former curses. He met Sir Walter Scott at Limerick in the summer of 1825 (Lockhart, Life of Walter Scott, 1 vol. Edinburgh, 1845, p. 602). O'Kelly died about 1835.
His works, which are all in verse of a very pedestrian order, are:
* 'Killarney: a Descriptive Poem,' 8vo, Dublin, 1791. O'Kelly complained that Michael McCarthy's 'Lacus Delectabilis,' 1816, was almost entirely taken from his poem.
* 'The Eudoxologist, or an Ethicographical Survey of the Western Parts of Ireland: a Poem,' &c., 8vo, Dublin, 1812 (containing the 'Doneraile Litany').
* 'The Aonian Kaleidoscope,' 8vo, Cork, 1824.
* 'The Hippocrene,' 8vo, Dublin, 1831 (with portrait).
There was another Patrick O'Kelly who published, in 1842, a 'General History of the Rebellion of 1798,' and translated works by Abbé McGeoghegan and W. D. O'Kelly on Ireland.
[Brit. Mus. Cat.; O'Donoghue's Poets of Ireland; Croker's Popular Songs of Ireland; Watty Cox's Irish Magazine, September 1810.]
D. J. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Holding, Henry James

​HOLDING, HENRY JAMES (1833–1872), artist, youngest son of Henry Holding, an amateur painter, was born at Salford, Lancashire, in November 1833. At an early age he was employed as a pattern-designer to calico-printers, but soon took to the career of an artist, following the example of three of his brothers. All the members of the family were artists, but none received any regular art training. Before attaining his majority, Holding exhibited in Manchester, Liverpool, and London, his favourite subjects being marine and torrent scenery, which he painted in both oil and water-colours. His last work, ‘Bettws-y-Coed,’ exhibited in 1872, was considered his best. Another excellent picture is his ‘Finding of the Body of Rufus by the Charcoal-burners,’ exhibited in 1862. He died on 2 Aug. 1872 in Paris, whither he had gone on a sketching tour and for the benefit of his health. He was buried in the English cemetery at Paris, since demolished.
An elder brother, Frederick Holding (1817–1874), long resident in Manchester, painted with success in water-colours, showing much skill in figure-drawing. He drew the illustrations for Southey's ‘Battle of Blenheim,’ Manchester, 1864, and other books, and towards the close of his life was scenic artist at the Theatre Royal and the Prince's Theatre, Manchester.
[Letter in Manchester City News, 3 May 1890, by G. W. Holding; Manchester Royal Institution Exhibition Catalogues.]
C. W. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hole, William

​HOLE or HOLLE, WILLIAM (fl. 1600–1630), engraver, one of the earliest English engravers, is notable as the earliest engraver of music on copperplates in this country. He engraved and published ‘Parthenia, or the Maydenhead of the first Musicke that ever was executed for the Virginalls composed by those famous Masters, William Byrd, Dr. John Bull, and Orlando Gibbons, Gentlemen of his Maties most illustrious Chappell.’ This book, engraved for Dorothy Evans, and printed in London by G. Lowe, appears to have been published in 1611, with a title-page, and a fresh edition in 1613 with the title-page slightly altered. A much later edition has a new title-page by Hollar. Hole also engraved in 1613, with a dedication to Robert Carr, earl of Somerset, ‘Prime Musiche nuove di Angelo Notari a una, due, et tre Voci, per Cantare con la Tiorba et altri Strumenti, Nouamente posti in luce.’ A volume entitled ‘Fantasies of Three Parts, by Orlando Gibbons. Cut in copper, the like not before extant,’ was probably also engraved by Hole at an earlier date. These books are excessively rare; copies of them all are in the library at the British Museum. Hole also engraved throughout Martin Billingsley's ‘The Pen's Excellencie,’ with a portrait of the author. Among the portraits engraved by Hole were Henry, prince of Wales, with a lance (copied from Simon Passe's print) in Drayton's ‘Poly-Olbion;’ the same prince's effigy on his funeral car for George Chapman's ‘Epicede;’ George Chapman, prefixed to his ‘Iliad,’ 1616; Thomas Coryat [q. v.], and another plate for his ‘Crudities,’ 1611; Michael Drayton, for his ‘Poems,’ 1619; George Wither, for his ‘Poems,’ 1617; John Florio, for his Italian and English dictionary, 1611; Sir John Hayward, Thomas Egerton, viscount Brackley, John Clavell (a penitent thief), and others. He also engraved title-pages, and some of the maps for Camden's ‘Britannia,’ 1607. On 29 May 1618 he received a grant for life of the office of head-sculptor of the iron for money in the Tower and elsewhere (Cal. State Papers, Dom. James I. vol. xcvii.)
[Dodd's manuscript Hist. of English Engravers, Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 33402; information from Mr. W. Barclay Squire, F.S.A.]
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hole, Henry Fulke Plantagenet Woolicombe

​HOLE, HENRY FULKE PLANTAGENET WOOLICOMBE (d. 1820), wood-engraver, was son of an officer in the Lancashire militia, who belonged to an old Devonshire family. He resided in Liverpool, and was one of the pupils of Thomas Bewick [q. v.] He cut some of the water-birds in ‘The British Birds.’ A book-plate cut by him is dated 1798. He cut eight designs by Thurston for McCreery's poem ‘The Press,’ published at Liverpool in 1803; others for Mrs. Hemans's ‘Poems,’ 1808; some of the designs by Thurston for Ackermann's ‘Religious Emblems,’ 1809; ‘Six Views in the Neighbourhood of Liverpool’ in Gregson's ‘Portfolio,’ 1817, &c. He was a member of the Liverpool Academy, and in 1814 contributed to their exhibition ‘An Attempt to restore the Old Method of Cross-lining on Wood,’ by himself. Hole subsequently inherited from an uncle the estate of Ebberley Hall, Devonshire, and retired from the profession. He died in 1820.
[Dobson's Bewick and his Pupils; Linton's Masters of Wood-engraving; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists.]
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Prentis, Edward

​PRENTIS, EDWARD (1797–1854), painter, born in 1797, first exhibited in 1823 at the Royal Academy, sending ‘A Girl with Matches’ and ‘A Boy with Oranges;’ and in 1825 contributed three pictures to the first exhibition of the Society of British Artists, of which, in the following year, he was elected a member. Thenceforward, throughout his life, he was a steady supporter of the society, and all his works were shown in Suffolk Street. Prentis painted scenes in the domestic life of his own time, humorous, pathetic, and sentimental, which gained considerable temporary popularity; they included such subjects as ‘The Profligate's Return from the Alehouse,’ 1829; ‘Valentine's Eve,’ 1835; ‘The Wife’ and ‘The Daughter,’ 1836 (engraved, as a pair, by J. C. Bromley, 1837); ‘A Day's Pleasure,’ 1841, his cleverest work (engraved); and ‘The Folly of Extravagance,’ 1850, which was the last picture he exhibited. Prentis executed for the trustees of the British Museum a series of accurate and highly finished drawings of the ivory objects found at Nimroud; these were engraved on wood by J. Thompson, and published in Layard's ‘Monuments of Nineveh’ (1849, fol.) Prentis died in December 1854, leaving a widow and eleven children.
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Preston, Amyas

​PRESTON, Sir AMYAS (d. 1617?), naval commander, of a family settled for many generations at Cricket in Somerset, was lieutenant of the Ark in the actions against the Spanish Armada of 1588, commanded the boats in the attack on the great galleass stranded before Calais on 29 July, and was there dangerously wounded. In 1595, in company with George Somers [q. v.], he undertook a voyage to the Spanish main; and having on the way plundered the island of Porto Santo near Madeira, and the island of Cocke between Margarita and the continent, they ravaged the coast of the mainland; after a toilsome march into the mountains, they plundered and burnt the town of Santiago de Leon, now more commonly known as Caracas; and, having done much damage to the Spaniards, though without obtaining any great spoil, they returned to England, where they arrived in September. In 1596 Preston was captain of the Ark with Lord Howard in the Cadiz expedition, and was knighted by Howard. In 1597 he was captain of the Defiance in the expedition to the Azores, known as the Islands voyage. He seems to have been, after this, mixed up with the fortunes of Essex, and in 1601 quarrelled with Sir Walter Ralegh, to whom he sent a challenge. There was no hostile meeting. On 17 May 1603 (Cal. State Papers, Dom.) he was granted the office of keeper of stores and ordnance in the Tower, which he held till his death, probably in 1617 (ib. 12 Nov. 1617). In 1609 he was member of council for the Virginia Company. It appears from the records of the company that he died before 1619. He married at Stepney, in 1581, Julian Burye, widow, of the city of London.
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Preston, George

​PRESTON, GEORGE (1659?–1748), governor of Edinburgh Castle at the time of the rebellions in 1715 and 1745, was the second son of George Preston—sixth of Valleyfield, descended from the Prestons of Craigmillar—who was created a baronet of Nova Scotia on 31 March 1637. His mother was Marion, only child of Hugh Sempill, fifth lord Sempill. He was captain in the service of the States-General in 1688, and attended William, prince of Orange, in his expedition to England. Subsequently he served in the foreign wars of King William and Queen Anne, and at the battle of Ramillies he was severely wounded. In 1706 he was made colonel of the Cameronian or 26th regiment, and he retained that office till 1720. At the outbreak of the rebellion in 1715 he was sent from London to take command of the castle of Edinburgh, and was finally appointed lieutenant-governor of the castle, ‘with a salary of ten shillings per day.’ He was also made commander-in-chief of the forces in Scotland. On the outbreak of the rebellion of 1745 the government, either doubtful of Preston's loyalty or deeming his great age a disqualification, sent General Joshua Guest [q. v.] to take command of the garrison of the castle. It is affirmed that after the battle of Prestonpans General Guest was deterred from surrendering the castle merely by the firmness of Preston (Grant, Memoirs of the Castle of Edinburgh, p. 171); but, according to Home (Hist. of the Rebellion), General Guest spread the rumour that he was in need of provisions, and at the point of surrendering the castle, merely to induce the highlanders to occupy their time in a vain siege of the castle instead of marching into England. But, whatever may have been the conduct and purpose of Guest, there can be no doubt that Preston, notwithstanding his great age, displayed the utmost watchfulness and determination. ‘Every two hours a party of soldiers wheeled him in an armchair round the guards, that he might personally see if all were on the alert’ (Grant, p. 171); and when the Jacobites sent a flag of truce to the castle, and threatened, unless it were surrendered, to burn Valleyfield, he replied that in that case he should direct his majesty's cruisers to burn down Wemyss Castle, on the coast of Fife, then the property of the Earl of Wemyss, whose son, Lord Elcho, was a general officer in the service of Prince Charles Edward. Preston died on 7 July 1748. He left no issue. He paid off the encumbrances on the estate of Valleyfield, and thus acquired the right of the entail of the property, which he duly executed in favour of the heirs, male and ​female, of his brother Sir William, and his nephew Sir George.
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Preston, John (fl.1415)

​PRESTON, Sir JOHN (fl. 1415), judge, was a member of an ancient Westmoreland family seated at Preston Richard and Preston Patrick in the southern part of the county. His father, John Preston, represented Westmoreland in the parliaments of 1362, 1366, 1372, and 1382, and was succeeded by his elder son, Richard, on whose death, leaving only daughters, Preston Patrick passed to his brother the judge, who continued the family.
Preston prosecuted on behalf of the crown in a case of murder in 1394, and was made recorder of London in 1406. He was not called to the degree of serjeant-at-law until 1411, up to which time his practice seems to have been confined to criminal cases and the city courts. He resigned the recordership on being raised (16 June 1415) to the bench of the common pleas. Retaining this position until 28 Jan. 1428, he was then allowed to retire on the ground of age and infirmity, ​but the date of his death is not recorded. The John Preston referred to in ‘Calendarium Inquisitionum post mortem’ (iv. 244) in 1444–1445 may have been his elder son John, a clergyman, who in 1414–15 had received a grant of Sandal church from the prior of St. Pancras. His younger son, Richard, succeeded him in the Preston estate, and married Jacobine, a daughter of Middleton of Middleton Hall, near Kirkby Lonsdale. His descendants acquired the manor of Furness, and one of them, John, was created a baronet in 1644, being killed next year in fighting for Charles I. On the death of his second son, Sir Thomas, in 1710, the title became extinct.
J. T-t.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Prentis, Stephen

​PRENTIS, STEPHEN (1801–1862), poet, born in 1801, was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1824, and M.A. in 1830. For many years he resided at Dinan, Côtes du Nord, France, where he died on 12 June 1862. He was the author of numerous short poems of considerable merit, which he printed for private circulation among his friends.
His works, which, unless otherwise specified, were printed at Dinan, are extremely scarce: 1. ‘An Apology for Lord Byron, with Miscellaneous Poems,’ London, 1836, 8vo. 2. ‘Tintern Stonehenge. “Oh! think of me at Times!”’ [in verse], London, 1843, 8vo. 3. ‘The Wreck of the Roscommon,’ a poem, London, 1844, 8vo. 4. ‘A Tribute to May’ [in verse], 1849, 4to. 5. ‘Le Grand Bey,’ 1849. 6. ‘Winter Flowers,’ 1849. 7. ‘The Flight of the Swallow,’ 1851. 8. ‘The Revel of the Missel-Thrush,’ 1851. 9. ‘The Debtor's Dodge; or the Miller and the Bailiff [in verse], with copious Notes,’ 1852, 8vo. 10. ‘Reflexions in a Cemetery abroad,’ 1852. 11. ‘The Common Home,’ 1852. 12. ‘Opuscula,’ 1853, 4to, containing a scene from ‘The Cid,’ an unpublished drama, and ‘Sketch of Levy's Warehouse in 1838.’ 13. ‘Æsop on the Danube, or Le Loup devenu Berger; to which are added two small Poems,’ 1853, 8vo. 14. ‘Lines to a Post,’ 1853, 8vo. 15. ‘Shadows for Music’ [in verse], 1853, 8vo. 16. ‘Sketch of Levy's Warehouse (St. Margaret's Bank, Rochester)’ [in verse]; a reprint, with more text and more notes, 1853, 8vo. 17. ‘ Jeux d'Esprit (xxix) on the Russian War,’ 1854–1855. 18. ‘Lines on a Heap of Stones,’ 1857. 19. ‘Le Paysan du Danube (Les Deux Pigeons)’ [in English verse from the French of La Fontaine], 1858, 8vo. 20. ‘The Prince and the Prayer-book; an Episode in the Life of Napoleon III,’ 1858, 8vo.
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ravensworth, first Earl of

​RAVENSWORTH, first Earl of. [See Liddell, Henry Thomas, 1797–1878.]