OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Davidson, John (d.1797)

​DAVIDSON, JOHN (d. 1797), Scottish antiquary, was the son of James Davidson of Haltree (or Halltree), an Edinburgh bookseller, by Elizabeth, sister of William Brown, minister, of Edinburgh. He was educated for the law and became writer to the signet. He was for many years crown agent, and was also agent for many Scotch noblemen and landed proprietors. Davidson lived in Edinburgh, and among his associates were Lord Hailes, William Tytler, George Paton, Plummer of Middlestead, David Herd, and Callander of Craigforth. He had some correspondence with Bishop Percy, who describes him as ‘a man of learning and a very excellent critic’ (Nichols. Lit. Illust. viii. 125; cf. p. 288). He had a special knowledge of Scottish history and antiquities, and printed for private circulation the following: 1. ‘Accounts of the Chamberlain of Scotland, 1329, 1330, and 1331,’ Edinburgh, 1771. 2. ‘Charta Willelmi Regis Scotorum Canonicis de Jedburgh concessa,’ &c., engraved by A. Bell, 1771. 3. ‘Observations on the Regiam Majestatem’ [1792], 8vo. 4. ‘Remarks on some of the Editions of the Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland,’ 1792, 8vo. 5. ‘Copies of various Papers, &c., relating to the Peerages of Brandon and Dover,’ 4to. He was understood to have superintended the edition of Lord Hailes's ‘Annals of Scotland,’ issued in 1797. Davidson died at Edinburgh on 29 Dec. 1797. He was married, but had no children. He left his estate of Haltree to a younger son of Sir William Miller, bart. (cf. Notes and Queries, i. (4th ser.) 115), and his farm Cairntows, near Edinburgh, to Henry Dundas, lord Melville.
W. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Davidson, Thomas (1838-1870)

​DAVIDSON, THOMAS (1838–1870), Scottish poet, was of English extraction, his father, a shepherd, being a native of the neighbourhood of Wooler, and his mother of Belford. He was born at Oxnam Row, near Oxnam Water, a tributary of the Teviot, about four miles from Jedburgh, 7 July 1838. He was educated at various village schools, and, having displayed in his early years a passionate love of books, was sent in 1854 to the Nest Academy at Jedburgh, with the view of preparing for the university of Edinburgh, which he entered in 1855. In 1859 he became a student of theology in the united presbyterian church, and was licensed as a preacher 2 Feb. 1864, but never was settled in a charge. A cold caught in June 1866 seriously affected his health, and he died of consumption at Bank End, Jedburgh, 29 April 1870. Before he entered the university Davidson was in the habit of amusing himself in the composition of verses. In 1859 he obtained the second prize in the rhetoric class for a poem on ‘Ariadne at Naxos.’ His friends discerned in the poem a finish and grace which seemed to entitle it to higher consideration, and one of them without his knowledge sent it to Thackeray, who inserted it with an illustration in the ‘Cornhill Magazine’ for December 1860. Davidson's enthusiasm for Scottish poetry and Scottish song had made him a centre of attraction to many kindred spirits at the university, and he was in the habit of composing verses which he sang to the old Scotch airs, to the ‘great delight of all.’ Occasionally he sent songs and short poems to the ‘Scotsman.’ Most of his verses have a touch of pathos in them, relieved, however, by the never-failing humour which was one of his strongest characteristics. The song ‘Myspie's Den’ is worthy almost to rank with the love ballads of Burns, and the ‘Auld Ash Tree,’ with its weird refrain, ‘To weary me, to weary me,’ strikes the minor key in tones the mournful charm of which cannot be resisted. On the other hand, he exhibited the prodigality of his humour in the ‘Yang-Tsi-Kiang,’ an extravaganza, which, after being made use of by the supporters of Carlyle in the contest for the lord rectorship of the university, has continued to retain its popularity as a students' song.
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Oskytel

​OSKYTEL (d. 971), archbishop of York, whose name also appears as Oscytel, Oschitel, Oschetel, Osketell, Asketillius, Uscytel, Usketillius, Oscekillus, was a Dane by birth, and was related to the Danes, Turketyl, abbot of Bedford; Odo [q. v.], arch-bishop of Canterbury; and Oswald (d. 972) [q. v.], his successor in the see of York. In 950 he was consecrated bishop of Dorchester; his first signature occurs 952. In 966 he was translated to the see of York, with the consent of Edward and his council (Flor. Wig. s. a.) He journeyed to Rome for the pall with Oswald, who, according to Eadmer, had helped him in the government of his first diocese (Historians of the Church of York, ii. 14). On the death of Odo, arch-bishop of Canterbury, in 968, Oskytel invited Oswald to live with him. He showed him much kindness, and introduced him to Dunstan. From Oswald he learned the new monasticism then being introduced into England from Fleury. In 968 he consecrated Elfsig bishop of Chester. His name occurs among the signatures of many charters, showing that he was often absent from his diocese. He died at Thame, 1 Nov. 971, and his remains were carried to Bedford Abbey, and buried there by Turketyl. He was a man of learning and piety (Anglo-Saxon Chron. sub anno).
[The lives of Oswald by Senatus and Eadmer in Historians of the Church of York, ii. 13, 14, 71 (Rolls Ser.); Oswald's life in the Hist. Rames. (Rolls Ser). pp. 24-5; Ordericus Vitalis, ed. Le Prevost, ii. 282; the best modern life is in Raine and Dixon's Lives of the Archbishops of York.]
M. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Oslac

​OSLAC (fl. 966), Northumbrian earl, witnessed a charter as dux or earl in 963 (Kemble, Codex Dipl. No. 604; Green, Conquest of England, p. 316 n.) In 966 King Eadgar [q. v.] divided the Northumbrian earldom, over the whole of which Oswulf or Osulf had ruled since 953 or 954, and appointed Oslac earl of the portion described by Symeon of Durham as York and its dependent lands ('fines'), that is, of the ancient kingdom of Deira (Historia Regum ap. Symeonis Opera, ii. 94, 197, 382). The connection between Northumbria and the southern parts of England seems to have been drawn closer during Oslac's term of office. The Danelaw was becoming anglicised, and Oslac appears several times as witnessing charters of Eadgar, though not nearly so often as would have been the case had he held a more southern earldom, and he no doubt had a large measure of independence. Eadgar, indeed, expressly recognised the right of the northern people to their own laws and customs, decreeing that 'secular rights should stand among the Danes with such good laws as they best might choose' (Ancient Laws, i. 273). To his more or less independent position Oslac probably partly owed the reverence with which he was regarded. He is styled the 'great earl' (A.-S. Chronicle) and the 'magnificent earl' ('dux magnifies,' Florence, an. 976). On the death of Eadgar in 975 Oslac was banished from the kingdom — unjustly according to the opinion of the monastic party — and went over sea. His banishment, which is lamented in a song inserted in the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' (an. 975), seems to have been connected with the predominance of Ælfhere, the Mercian earl, the ​enemy of the monks, but was perhaps due to political rather than ecclesiastical exigencies. After his banishment North umbria was again united into a single earldom under Waltheof, the father of Uchtred, who was, it may reasonably be conjectured, of the house of Oswulf.
[Sym. Dunelm. ii. 94, 197, 382, Anglo-Saxon. Chron. ann. 966, 975, Hist. Rames. p. 50 (all in Rolls Series); Flor. Wig. i. 145 (Engl. Hist. Soc.); Kemble's Codex Dipl. Nos. 543, 555, 556, 562, 566, 567 (Engl. Hist. Soc.); Thorpe's Anc. Laws and Inst. i. 273; Green's Conquest of England, pp. 316, 325, 354; Freeman's Norman Conquest, i. 292.]
W. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Osred (697?-716)

​OSRED (697?–716), king of Northumbria, son of Aldfrith [q. v.], king of Northumbria, probably by his wife Cuthburh or Cuthberga [q. v.], sister of Ine [q. v.], king of the West-Saxons, was about eight years old at his father's death in 705. For about two months the throne of Northumbria was usurped by Eadwulf; then a conspiracy was made against him, he was driven from the kingdom, and Osred, who was adopted by Bishop Wilfrith, and was perhaps the bishop's godson, was made king. In the first year of his reign he was present with his lords at a synod held on the Nidd, at which Wilfrith or Wilfrid was restored to the abbey of Ripon and the see and abbey of Hexham (Eddius, c. 60). In 711 his chief ealdorman Berctfrid defeated the Picts. He ruled with violence, slaying many of the nobles of his kingdom and compelling others to become monks. He was immoral; he debauched nuns, and forcibly entered religious houses (Æthelwulf, De Abbatibus, c. 2; S. Bonifacii Epistolæ, No. 59). A conspiracy was made against him, and in 716 he was betrayed by members of the royal house, and was slain beyond the southern border of his kingdom in battle against his kinsman Cenred, who succeeded him.
[Bede's Eccl. Hist. v. cc. 18, 19, 22 (Engl. Hist. Soc.); Eddi's Vita Wilfr., c. 60, ap. Historians of York, i. 89 (Rolls Ser.); Æthelwulf's poem De Abbatibus, c. 2, ap. Sym. Dunelm. 1. 268 (Rolls Ser.); S. Bonifacii Epistolæ, No. 59, ed. Jaffé; Anglo-Saxon Chron. an. 716; William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum, i. c. 53 (Rolls Ser.); Henry of Huntingdon, iv. c. 9, Rolls Ser.]
W. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Osric (d.634)

​OSRIC (d. 634), king of Deira, was son of Ælfric, the brother of Ælla, king of Deira, and consequently cousin of Edwin or Eadwine (585?–633) [q. v.], king of Northumbria. Osric accepted Christianity from Paulinus [q. v.], and, when Eadwine was slain in battle with the Mercian king Penda, succeeded him in Deira. At the time the people of the northern kingdom of Bernicia, who had been subject to Eadwine, separated themselves from Deira, and chose as their king Eanfrith, son of Ethelfrid or Æthelfrith [q. v.], king of Northumbria, who was of their royal house, sprung from Ida [q. v.] When Osric became king he cast off Christianity and returned to his old heathenism. The next year (634) he laid siege to York, the capital of his kingdom, which was held by Caedwalla (d. 634) [q. v.], Penda's British ally. Caedwalla made a sudden sally from the city, fell upon him unawares, slew him, and destroyed his army. Deira was soon afterwards united to Bernicia under the rule of Oswald (d. 642) [q. v.] Osric left a son named Oswin or Oswini (d. 651) [q. v.]
[Bede's Hist. Eccl. iii. cc. 1, 14 (Engl. Hist. Soc); Flor. Wig., genealogies, i. 254, 269 (Engl. Hist. Soc.); Miscell. Biogr. p. 2 (Surtees Soc.); Green's Making of England, pp. 272, 274, 296; Dict. Chr. Biogr., art. 'Osred,' by Canon Raine.]
W. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Osric (d.729)

​OSRIC (d. 729), king of Northumbria, was the son of Alchfrith, and grandson of Oswy [q. v.] Bæda, in referring to his reign, merely notes the appearance or two comets, presaging calamity to a kingdom and the deaths of Wihtred of Kent and of the monk Ecgberht at Iona. The 'English Chronicle,' is even more meagre, and the manuscripts contain contradictory statements as to the year of his death. One of the manuscripts agrees with the date given by Bæda, viz., that it took place in 729; the other repeats the fact under 731. That 729 is the right date is proved ​by the circumstance that Bæda mentions his death as taking place in the same year (729) with the appearance of the comets. The 'English Chronicle' further adds that he was slain; and William of Malmesbury relates the tradition that he lost his throne and his life as a punishment for the death of the licentious king Osred (697?-716) [q. v.], in whose murder he and his predecessor on the throne, Cœnred, were concerned.
He has been sometimes identified with the Osric, king of the Hwiccii, who is mentioned by Bæda as ruling that tribe at the time of the appointment of Oftfor [q. v.] to the see of Worcester about 691. Bishop Stubbs, however, considers the identity of the two Osrics to be very doubtful (Dict. Chr. Biogr. s.v. 'Osric' [2]). The Osric of the Hwiccii granted a charter to the abbey of Bath in 676, which was attested by Theodore [q. v.] and other bishops. In 681 he founded the abbey at Gloucester (Dugdale, Mon. Angl. i. 541, 542), and he was buried in the abbey-church, afterwards Gloucester Cathedral. A shrine, with the king's effigy upon it, was erected to his memory there by Abbot Malvern in the time of Henry VIII. Leland, who, at the desire of King Henry, paid a visit to the abbey in 1540, asserted that the body of Osric 'first laye in St. Petronell's Chapel, thence it was removed into our Lady's Chapel, and thence removed of late dayes and layd under a fayre tombe of stone on the north side of the High Aultar. At the foot of the tomb is this written on a Norman pillar, "Osricus rex primus fundator hujus monasterii 681."' In 1892 Dr. Spence, dean of Gloucester, verified Leland's statement, when, on removing two panels of the stone loculus 'on the north side of the High Aultar,' he disclosed a long leaden coffin, lying exactly beneath the king's effigy. The coffin contained a few bones mingled with cement which had fallen on it, one of the ends being broken by the weight of the superincumbent effigy.
[Dict. Christian Biogr.; Bædæ Hist. Eccl. lib. v. c. 23, 24; English Chronicle (Rolls Ser.), ii. 38,40; William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum (Kings of Northumbria).]
J. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Osmund (fl.803)

​OSMUND (fl. 803), bishop of London, succeeded bishop Heathobert, who died in 801 (Sym. Dunelm. ii. 66; Flor. Wig. i. 232), and was probably consecrated by Archbishop Æthelheard on his return from Rome in 802 (Ecclesiastical Documents, iii. 536-9). He attended the council of Clovesho in October 803, witnessing an act with reference to the see of Worcester, the act recognising the restoration of the see of Canterbury to its ancient rights, and the ordinance of Æthelheard against the appointment of laymen as lords of monasteries. He was attended at the council by one abbot, three priests, and another whose status is not given. He was also present at a synod held at Acleah in August 805. His successor, Æthelnoth, appears as bishop in 811.
[Sym. Dunelm. ii. 66 (Rolls Ser.); Flor. Wig. i. 232 (Engl. Hist. Soc.); Will, of Malmesbury's Gesta Pontiff, p. 114 (Rolls Ser.); Haddan and Stubbs's Councils and Eccl. Docs. iii. 542, 544, 546, 558; Dict. Chr. Biogr. iv. 160, art. 'Osmund' (1), by Bishop Stubbs.]
W. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Osred (d.792)

​OSRED (d. 792), king of Northumbria, was son of Alchred or Aired, king of Northumbria. The latter belonged to the house of Æthelric, a younger son of Ida [q. v.], who had been driven from his kingdom by his own people in 774 (Northumbrian Annals, ap. Hoveden, i. 23). Oswald's mother was Osgearn. He succeeded Alfwold, king of Northumbria, in 788, but was the next year betrayed by his nobles and taken prisoner by Æthelred, who had previously been king, and had been driven out by Alfwold. Æthelred took Osred's kingdom, caused him to be tonsured at York, and banished him. He found shelter in the Isle of Man. While he was there some of the Northumbrian nobles offered to support him; and, relying on their oaths, he returned secretly to Northumbria in 792. His troop deserted him, and he was betrayed to Æthelred, who made him prisoner and had him put to death at a place called Aynburg on 14 Sept. He was buried in the church of the abbey of Tynemouth.
[Symeon of Durham's Hist. Dunelm. Eccl. and Hist. Regum ap. Opera, i. 49, ii. 52, 54 (Rolls Ser.); Hoveden, i. 23 (Rolls Ser.); Dict. Chr. Biogr., art. 'Osred,' by Canon Raine.]
W. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Osmund (fl.758)

​OSMUND (fl. 758), king of the South-Saxons, is said by Florence of Worcester to have been reigning in 758, at which time the South-Saxons were subject to Wessex, having been subdued by Caedwalla (659?-689) [q. v.] in 686. With the names of other South Saxon kings, under-kings, or ealdormen, the name of Osmund appears in late copies of charters preserved in the register of the church of Chichester. These documents represent him as confirming as king a charter of Nunna [q. v.], in the time of Osa, bishop of Selsey; as granting land at Ferring for a monastery by a charter dated 3 Aug. 765, and witnessed by Osa; and as granting land at Hanfield in 770. Among the witnesses of a charter of Offa of 772, quoted by Bishop Stubbs from Lambeth MS. 1212, an Osmund appears as ' dux,' and his name is followed by that of an Oswald, 'dux Suth. Saxonum.' The bishop suggests that this ealdorman Osmund may be the same as king Osmund of the charters in the Chichester register.
[Flor. Wig. i. 57 (Engl. Hist. Soc.); Kemble's Codex Dipl. Nos. 1001. 1008. 1009 (Engl. Hist. Soc.); Dict. Chr. Biogr. iv. 161, art 'Osmund' (3), by Bishop Stubbs.]
W. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hewitt, John (1807-1878)

​HEWITT, JOHN (1807–1878), antiquary, born at Lichfield in 1807, studied music in youth, and was for some time organist of St. Mary's Church in that city. He also contributed to many periodicals. Subsequently he was appointed to a post in the war office, and while living in London was well known in literary society. He enjoyed the friendship of Bulwer Lytton, Mary Howitt, Mrs. S. C. Hall, Allan Cunningham, Leigh Hunt, and others, and wrote under the nom de guerre of ‘Sylvanus Swanquill.’ For many years he resided at Woolwich, but on his retirement from the war office he removed to Lichfield, where he died on 10 Jan. 1878.
His works are: 1. ‘The Tower [of London]: its History, Armories, and Antiquities: before and since the Fire,’ London, 1841, 8vo, published by the authority of the master-general and board of ordnance. It has gone through several editions in English, French, and Spanish. 2. ‘Chart of Ancient Armour from ye XI to ye XVII cent.,’ with descriptions of the figures in the chart [London, 1847], fol. and 8vo. 3. ‘Ancient Armour and Weapons in Europe: from the Iron period of the Northern nations to the end of the [seventeenth] century,’ 3 vols., London, 1855–60, 8vo. A work of great erudition. 4. ‘Official Catalogue of the Tower Armories,’ London, 1859, 12mo. 5. ‘Old Woolwich,’ 1860, published by the Royal Artillery Association. 6. ‘Handbook for the City of Lichfield and its Neighbourhood,’ Lichfield, 1874, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1884. 7. ‘Handbook of Lichfield Cathedral,’ 1875; 3rd edit., enlarged by the Dean of Lichfield (E. Bickersteth), Lichfield, 1886, 8vo. 8. An enlarged edition of Stothard's ‘Monumental Effigies,’ London, 1876. 9. Numerous contributions to the ‘Archæological Journal’ and the ‘Reliquary,’ including a series of papers in the latter on ‘Mediæval Arms and Armour.’
[Reliquary, xviii. 228; Anderson's Book of British Topography, p. 259.]
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hewitt, John (1719-1802)

​HEWITT, JOHN (1719–1802), alderman of Coventry, a relative, perhaps uncle, of James Hewitt [q. v.], was born in that city ​in 1719, and succeeded his father in business as a draper. He was three times elected mayor, in 1755, 1758, and 1760, and was for thirty years a justice of the peace. He published (1779–90) a journal of his magisterial proceedings ‘in cases of riots, coiners, murder, highway robberies, burglaries, returned transports, and every species of events that falls under the cognizance of the laws of this kingdom.’ The book is a curious medley, in which the record of offences more or less serious is found side by side with explanations of the criminal law, correspondence with official persons, and an account of the writer's municipal achievements and hospitalities. Hewitt also published ‘A Guide for Constables,’ 1779, and ‘Memoirs of Lady Wilbrihammon, alias Mollineux, alias Irving, an Impostress,’ Birmingham (1778?), 4to. He died 20 April 1802.
[A Journal of the Proceedings of J. Hewitt, Senior Alderman of the City of Coventry; Coventry Mercury, 26 April 1802; Colville's Worthies of Warwickshire; Watt's Bibl. Brit.]
J. M. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hewlett, James

​HEWLETT, JAMES (1768–1836), flower-painter, born 15 Sept. 1768, was son of a gardener and an associate in boyhood of John Britton, the Wiltshire antiquary (Britton's Autobiog. 1850). He practised chiefly at Bath, painting flowers in water-colours, which are noted for good drawing, colour, and botanical accuracy. He occasionally painted other subjects, such as gipsies, and contributed to the Royal Academy and other exhibitions. He died at Park House, Isleworth, 18 Aug. 1836, and was buried in Isleworth Church, where a monument was erected by his widow. There are four drawings of flowers by him at ​the South Kensington Museum. Another painter of the same name, whose relationship is undetermined, practised at Bath at an earlier date. Queen Charlotte visited his studio in 1817. It is difficult to distinguish their works. The elder Hewlett died at Notting Hill, London, in 1829. The sister of one was the wife of Benjamin Barker [q. v.]
[Bryan's Dict. of Painters and Engravers; Aungier's Hist. of Syon and Isleworth, p. 166; Tunstall's Rambles about Bath, ed. R. E. Peach; Notes and Queries, 7th ser. v. 467.]
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hewlett, Ebenezer

​HEWLETT, EBENEZER (fl. 1747), antitrinitarian writer, lived at the New Pales in Sun Street, without Bishopsgate, London, and was for a time employed by the East India Company. He wrote a number of theological tracts, the doctrines of which, he says, brought him ‘only poverty, disgrace, and loss of friends.’ Their titles are: 1. ‘An Answer to Mr. Tho. Chubb's Book entitled “The True Gospel of Jesus Christ,”’ 8vo, London, 1738. 2. ‘Mr. Whitefield's Chatechise. Being an Explanation of the Doctrine of the Methodists. In a Letter to Mr. Seagrave [occasioned by his answer to Dr. Trapp],’ 8vo, London, 1739. 3. ‘The Deist turned Christian, the Papist turned Protestant, and the Calvinist turned Arminian, by being undeceived concerning the Doctrine of Free Justification by Christ's Blood. By way of dialogue between E. Hewlett and a Deist,’ 8vo, London, 1740. 4. ‘Miracles real evidences of a Divine Revelation, and the influence of evil Angels carefully examin'd: in answer to Mr. Chubb's Discourse on Miracles, and Mr. Fleming's Animadversions thereon,’ 8vo, London, 1741. 5. ‘A Vindication of the Bible from the censures of the Deists and the inconsistencies of Popery and Calvinism, &c.,’ 8vo, London, 1741. 6. ‘Satisfaction by the Merits of Christ Blasphemy against God,’ 8vo, London, 1741. 7. ‘Letter to A. P.,’ 8vo, London, 1747, which was answered by A. P. in ‘A Discourse on the Trinity,’ 8vo, Reading, 1747.
[Hewlett's Works.]
G. G.