OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, John Orrin

​SMITH, JOHN ORRIN (1799–1843), wood engraver, was born at Colchester in 1799. About 1818 he came up to London, and was for a short time in training as an architect. On coming of age in 1821 he inherited some money, with a portion of which he bought a part-proprietorship in a weekly newspaper, ‘The Sunday Monitor,’ on which Douglas Jerrold [q. v.] worked as a compositor. The rest he invested in the purchase of houses, the title of which proved bad, and by the time he was twenty-four he found himself penniless.
William Harvey [q. v.], the draughtsman on wood, came to his assistance, and instructed him in the art of wood-engraving. Smith showed great aptitude and soon found employment, the only complaint being that some of the printers of that date declared that his ‘cuts’ were too fine to print. After much hack-work, he was employed by Léon Curmer of Paris to engrave a number of the blocks for his beautiful edition of ‘Paul et Virginie’ (1835). Wood-engraving had not revived at this time in France as it had under Bewick and his successors in England. In 1837 he prepared engravings for Seeley and Burnside's ‘Solace of Song,’ which marked a new departure in wood-engraving. In it high finish, tone, and delicacy of graver work contrast with the crisp, somewhat hard, though admirable work of Clennell, Nesbit, and Thompson. Where, however, there was gain in refinement, there was doubtless a loss in virility.
There followed, besides much other work, in 1839, Herder's ‘Cid,’ published at Stuttgart, and an English edition of ‘Paul et Virginie;’ in 1840 Dr. Wordsworth's ‘Greece;’ in 1840–1 ‘Heads of the People,’ by (Joseph) Kenny Meadows [q. v.]; in 1839–43 Shakespeare's ‘Works,’ with nearly 1,000 designs by Kenny Meadows. Of the last two works Smith was part proprietor with Henry Vizetelly and the artist. In 1842 he took into partnership the eminent wood-engraver Mr. W. J. Linton, with whom, under the style of ‘Smith & Linton,’ much good work was produced for the ‘Illustrated London News.’ Among the books engraved by them was ‘Whist, its History and Practice,’ illustrated by Meadows (1843).
Smith died from a stroke of apoplexy on 15 Oct. 1843, at 11 Mabledon Place, Burton Crescent, London. In 1821 he married Jane Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Barney [q. v.] His widow survived him with four children. The son, Mr. Harvey Edward Orrinsmith (the name is now so spelt), at one time practised wood-engraving, but subsequently became a director of the firm of James Burn & Co., bookbinders.
A portrait of Orrin Smith was engraved for Curmer's ‘Paul et Virginie.’
G. S. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, John Chaloner

​SMITH, JOHN CHALONER (1827–1895), civil engineer and writer on British mezzotints, was born in Dublin on 19 Aug. 1827. His father was a proctor of the ecclesiastical courts, and married a granddaughter of Travers Hartley, M.P. for Dublin in the Irish parliament. Chaloner Smith was admitted to Trinity College, Dublin, in 1846, and in 1849 graduated B.A. He was articled to George Willoughby Hemans the engineer, and in 1857 was appointed engineer to the Waterford and Limerick railway. In 1868 he obtained a similar position from the Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford Railway, and held it till 1894. He carried out some important extensions of the line, and was mainly responsible for the loop-line crossing the Liffey, connecting the Great Northern and South-Eastern railways of Ireland.
But beyond his reputation as an engineer Chaloner Smith will be remembered for his notable work on ‘British Mezzotinto Portraits … with Biographical Notes’ (London, 1878–84, 4 pts.), which consists of a full catalogue of plates executed before 1820, with 125 autotypes from plates in Smith's possession. The latter were also issued separately. The print-room at the British Museum contains an interleaved copy with manuscript notes. Smith was an enthusiastic collector of engravings, principally mezzotints, which were sold after the completion of his book. Some of the best of the examples (especially those by Irish engravers) were purchased for the Dublin National Gallery through the liberality of Sir Edward Guinness (now Lord Iveagh).
For many years Chaloner Smith took a deep interest in the question of the financial relations between England and Ireland, and published two or three pamphlets on the subject. Just before his death he was examined before the royal commission which was appointed to consider the question. He died at Bray, co. Wicklow, on 13 March 1895.
[Irish Times, 15 March 1895; information from Rev. Canon Travers Smith of Dublin.]
D. J. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, John Abel

​SMITH, JOHN ABEL (1801–1871), banker and politician, born in 1801, was the eldest son of John Smith of Blendon Hall, Kent, a member of the banking family of which Robert Smith, first baron Carrington [q. v.], was the head. His mother was Mary, daughter of Lieutenant-colonel Tucker. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge (B.A. in 1824 and M.A. in 1827), and joined the family banking firm of Smith, Payne, & Smith, of which he became chief partner. He entered parliament as M.P. for Midhurst in 1830, but at the general election in the following year he was returned for Chichester, for which he sat till 1859. He was again elected in 1863, and retained his seat till 1868, when the borough lost one of its representatives (Official Returns of Members of Parliament, vol. ii. index). A staunch liberal, he took an active part in the first Reform Bill, and was one of the leaders of the party which advocated the admission of Jews into parliament. In 1869 he introduced a bill for a further limitation of the hours during which public-houses might be kept open. He died on 7 Jan. 1871 at Kippington, near Sevenoaks. He was a magistrate for Middlesex and Sussex.
In 1827 he married Anne, daughter of Sir Samuel Clarke-Jervoise, bart., and widow of Ralph William Grey of Backworth House in Northumberland, by whom he had two sons, Jervoise, born in 1828, and Dudley Robert, born in 1830.
[Ward's Men of the Reign, p. 872; Times, 11 Jan. 1871; Burke's Landed Gentry, 4th edit.]
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, John Gordon

​SMITH, JOHN GORDON (1792–1833), professor of medical jurisprudence, born in 1792, was educated at Edinburgh and graduated in the university in 1810 with the highest honours in medicine. He entered the army as a surgeon, and was attached to the 12th lancers at the battle of Waterloo, when he received the thanks of Colonel Ponsonby, whose life he saved, for his services to the wounded. He retired from the army on half-pay when peace was concluded in 1815, and settled in London. Here he found it difficult to establish himself in practice, as he held a Scottish degree only, and was therefore not entitled to practise in England. He accepted the appointment of physician to the Duke of Sutherland, and resided with him for four years, occupying his leisure in composing a work on forensic medicine. At the same time he acted as surgeon to the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital. He also lectured on medical jurisprudence at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1825 and again in 1826, and at the Mechanics' Institute; and in 1829 he was elected the first professor of medical jurisprudence at the London University (now University College) in Gower Street. None of the licensing bodies in London required any evidence of instruction in forensic medicine, and there was consequently no class. Smith lectured for two years, and then resigned his office. For a time he edited the ‘London Medical Repository.’ He died in a debtor's prison, after fifteen months' confinement, on 16 Sept. 1833.
An ardent reformer in politics as well as medicine, Smith was an enthusiastic pioneer of the study of medical jurisprudence, which (Sir) Robert Christison [q. v.] was endeavouring at the same time to set on a scientific basis. Smith fought hard, but again unsuccessfully, to place Scottish and English degrees and licences in medicine upon an equal footing.
He published, besides various contributions to the ‘Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal:’ 1. ‘De Asthmati,’ Edinburgh, 1810. 2. ‘The Principles of Forensic Medicine,’ 8vo, London, 1821; 2nd edit. 1824; 3rd edit. 1827. 3. ‘An Analysis of Medical Evidence,’ London, 8vo, 1825. ​4. ‘The Claims of Forensic Medicine,’ 8vo, 1829. 5. ‘Hints for the Examination of Medical Witnesses,’ 12mo, 1829.
D’A. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, John (fl.1633-1673)

​SMITH, JOHN (fl. 1633–1673), writer on trade, was apprenticed to Matthew Cradock, a London merchant, a member of the Society for the Fishing Trade of Great Britain, and afterwards became himself a merchant of London. In 1633, while still an apprentice, he was sent by Philip Herbert, earl of Montgomery and fourth earl of Pembroke [q. v.], to visit the Shetland Islands, and to make a report on their trade and industries. He remained in the Orkneys and Shetlands more than a year, and drew up an interesting account of the general condition of the islands and their chief industry, the fishing trade, which he published as ‘The Trade and Fishing of Great Britain displayed; with a Description of the Islands of Orkney and Shotland, by Captain John Smith,’ London, 1661, 4to.
In 1670 Smith published a more elaborate work, in which his former treatise was included, entitled ‘England's Improvement Reviv'd: in a treatise of all Manner of Husbandry and Trade, by Land and Sea,’ London, 4to. This work is prefaced by a eulogistic notice from John Evelyn [q. v.] The chief attention of the writer is devoted to forestry, but it also deals with live-stock and the reclamation of waste land. It is very practical, and is not concerned with economic theory. Another edition was published in 1673.
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, John Prince

​SMITH, JOHN PRINCE (1774?–1822), law reporter, only son of Edward Smith of Walthamstow, Essex, born about 1774, was admitted on 15 Nov. 1794 a student at Gray's Inn, where he was called to the bar on 6 May 1801. He practised on the home ​circuit, and as a special pleader and equity draughtsman, and was one of Daniel Isaac Eaton's counsel on his trial for blasphemous libel on 6 March 1812. He was appointed in 1817 second fiscal in Demerara and Essequibo, and died at Demerara in 1822, leaving a son (see below) and a daughter.
Among Smith's works were:
* ‘Elements of the Science of Money founded on the Principles of the Law of Nature,’ London, 1813, 8vo.
* ‘Practical Summary and Review of the Statute 53 Geo. III, or Law for the Surrender of Effects, and for the Personal Liberation of Prisoners for Debt,’ London, 1814, 8vo.
* ‘Advice for the Petitioners against the Corn Bill,’ London, 1815, 8vo.
Smith edited:
* ‘The Law Journal,’ London, 1804–6, 3 vols. 8vo;
* ‘An Abridgment of the Public General Statutes, 44–6 Geo. III,’ London, 1804–7, 3 vols. 8vo;
* ‘Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Court of King's Bench, 44–6 Geo. III,’ London, 1804–7, 3 vols. 8vo.
John Prince Smith, the younger (1809–1874), political economist, son of the preceding, born at London on 20 Jan. 1809, accompanied his father to Demerara, and was placed at Eton in 1820. On his father's death he entered the employ of Messrs. Daniel, merchants, of 4 Mincing Lane, which he quitted in 1828. After two years of irregular occupation as banker's clerk, parliamentary reporter, and journalist, in London and Hamburg, he obtained on 5 April 1831 the place of English and French master in Cowle's Gymnasium at Elbing. Resigning this post in 1840, he remained at Elbing, and, resuming journalistic work, gained no little celebrity by his able advocacy of free-trade principles in the ‘Elbinger Anzeigen.’ Removing to Berlin in 1846, he married Auguste, daughter of the eminent banker, Sommerbrod, and was elected a member of the Free Trade Union in the same year, and common councillor in 1848. He took an active part in the proceedings of the economic congresses at Gotha (1858), Hanover (1862), and Brunswick (1866), was deputy for Stettin in the Prussian House of Representatives (1862–6), and president of the Berlin Economic Society from 1862, and of the standing committee of the Lübeck Economic Congress from 1870 until shortly before his death. In 1870 he was returned to the Reichstag for Anhalt-Zerbst. He died at Berlin on 3 Feb. 1874. His ‘Gesammelte Werken,’ ed. Braun, Wiesbaden, and Michaelis, with ‘Lebensskizze’ by Wolff, appeared at Berlin, 1877–80, 3 vols. 8vo. His only English work is ‘System of Political Economy by Charles Henry Hager, LL.D. Translated from the German,’ London, 1844, 8vo.
[‘Lebensskizze’ by Wolff, above mentioned; Gray's Inn. Reg.; Law List, 1802; Rider's British Merlin, 1818–22; Gent. Mag. 1822, ii. 646; Howell's State Trials, xxxi. 953; Dict. Living Authors, 1816; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
J. M. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vautor, Thomas

​VAUTOR, THOMAS (fl. 1616), musician, was apparently a household musician in the family of Anthony Beaumont, of Glenfield, Leicestershire; and filled the same post to Sir George Villiers after his marriage with Anne Beaumont in 1592. On ​11 May 1616 Vautor supplicated for the degree of Mus. Bac. at Oxford, which was granted on condition of his composing a choral hymn for six voices; he was admitted on 4 July. At this time George Villiers, the son of Vautor's patrons, was rising in the king's favour, and in 1619 he was created Marquis of Buckingham, upon which Vautor dedicated to him a collection of twenty-two madrigals, entitled ‘The First Set; being Songs of diverse Ayres and Natures for Five and Sixe parts; Apt for Vyols and Voices.’ Among the pieces are two fa-las, a ‘Farewell to Oriana’ (Queen Elizabeth), an elegy on Prince Henry, and another on Sir Thomas Beaumont of Stoughton, Leicestershire. These had evidently been composed at an earlier period; and Vautor mentions in the dedication that ‘some were composed in your tender yeares, and in your most worthy father's house.’ Nothing further is recorded of Vautor, and no other compositions by him are known, either in print or manuscript. None of Vautor's music has been reprinted; but two specimens of the verses, ‘Blush not rude present’ and ‘Sweet Suffolk Owl,’ are included in Mr. A. H. Bullen's ‘Lyrics from the Songbooks of the Elizabethan Age.’ His collection is very rare. Anthony Wood was not aware that he had published anything; and Hawes, in reprinting Morley's ‘Triumphs of Oriana’ (1814), did not include Vautor's ‘Farewell to Oriana’ among the supplementary numbers. A list of the twenty-two pieces is given in Rimbault's ‘Bibliotheca Madrigaliana.’
H. D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vavasour, John

​VAVASOUR, JOHN (d. 1506?), judge, was eldest son of John Vavasour of Spaldington in Yorkshire, by his wife Isabell, daughter and coheir of Thomas de la Haye, lord of Spaldington (Misc. Gen. et Herald. i. 194; Glover, Visitation of Yorkshire, ed. Foster, p. 116). He studied law at the Inner Temple. His first employment in court recorded in the year-books took place in Trinity term 1467. In Trinity term 1478 he was invested with the order of the coif; in June 1483, in the last fortnight of the reign of Edward V, he was nominated a king's serjeant, an appointment renewed by Richard III and Henry VII. On 23 Sept. 1485 he was appointed one of the justices of pleas within the duchy of Lancaster. In the first year of Henry's reign the post of recorder of York was contested by candidates nominated by the king and by the Earl of Northumberland, and the corporation took advantage of the rivalry to elect Vavasour. He ingratiated himself with the king during a royal visit to York in April 1486, and afterwards as the bearer of despatches in regard to the complicity of John de la Pole, earl of Lincoln [q. v.], in Simnel's rebellion. He was knighted, and on 10 April 1489 was appointed on the commission to make inquest in the city of York concerning the insurrection. On 14 Aug. 1490 he was appointed puisne justice of the common pleas. From a memorial dated 1505–6 it appears that he was concerned in Sir Richard Empson's lawsuit against Sir Robert Plumpton [see under Plumpton, Sir William], and that he suffered himself to be influenced by Empson. Vavasour died without issue, probably soon after Michaelmas 1506. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Talboys, son of Sir William Talboys [q. v.]
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vaux, William Sandys Wright

​VAUX, WILLIAM SANDYS WRIGHT (1818–1885), antiquary, only son of William Vaux (d. 1844), prebendary of Winchester and vicar of Wanborough, Wiltshire, was born on 28 Feb. 1818. He was educated at Westminster school from 1831 to 1836, and matriculated from Balliol College, Oxford, on 18 March 1836, graduating B.A. 1840 and M.A. 1842. In 1841 he entered the department of antiquities of the British Museum, and in January 1861 became the keeper of the department of coins and medals, a post ​which, owing to ill-health, he resigned in October 1870. He was connected with the early development of the Oxford movement in London, and his rooms were a frequent place of meeting for the sub-committees connected with the London Church Union and the foreign chaplaincies. From 1871 to 1876 he was engaged in cataloguing the coins in the Bodleian Library. From 1846 he was a member of the Numismatic Society, and to his friendly care much of the success of that body is due. In 1852 he became one of the secretaries, and for some time assisted John Yonge Akerman [q. v.] in editing the first series of the ‘Numismatic Chronicle,’ in which he himself wrote twenty-five papers. In 1855 he was elected president, and remained in office until 1874. For many years the society met in his rooms in Gate Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. On 4 June 1868 he became a fellow of the Royal Society. From November 1875 to his death he was the secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, and for many years secretary to the Royal Society of Literature. He died at 102 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London, on 21 June 1885, having married on 11 July 1861 Louisa, eldest daughter of Francis Rivington of Harley Street, London.
Vaux's knowledge was large and varied, more especially in all that related to oriental antiquities. His ‘Nineveh and Persepolis: an Historical Sketch of Ancient Assyria and Persia, with an Account of the recent Researches in those Countries’ (1850; 4th ed. 1855), did much to popularise the discoveries of Layard and other travellers. He also wrote: 1. ‘Handbook to the Antiquities in the British Museum: a Description of the Remains of Greek, Assyrian, Egyptian, and Etruscan Art,’ 1851. 2. ‘Ancient History from the Monuments; Persia from the earliest Period to the Arab Conquest,’ 1875: new edition by Prof. A. H. Sayce, 1893. 3. ‘Ancient History from the Monuments: Greek Cities and Islands of Asia Minor,’ 1877. In 1854 he edited for the Hakluyt Society ‘The World encompassed by Sir F. Drake.’
G. C. B.
# Dictionary of the Swatow dialect/pwt
### pwt

* 拔pŵt647645
* To elevate; to promote; to excel.

#### i sĭ pŵt kong-seng;

    he is a selected sìu-châi, one who excels the common rank, and can be employed.

#### pŵt pó móng îaⁿ kâi chám-cìang;

    promoted to fill a vacant post as commander of a certain garrison.

#### thî-pŵt;

    raise to a higher post.
* 孛pŵt718394
* Intractable.

#### pŵt cheⁿ;

    a comet, in allusion to its sudden appearance and supposed malign influences.

#### hàm i màiⁿ lâi tó̤ pŵt-cheⁿ;

    tell him not to come about like an evil star.
* 跋pŵt7091575

#### pŵt-sîap;

    uncomfortable; tiresome.

#### cêk lō kâi pŵt-sîap sĭ kang-khó căi;

    the discomforts of the journey are great.

#### pŵt-pŵt sîap-sîap, sĭm sĭ kang-khó;

    most uncomfortable and very fatiguing.
* 袚pŵt1541135
* To disperse, to drive off.

#### pŵt tṳ̂ put sîang;

    to ward off evil.
# Dictionary of the Swatow dialect/sah
### sahsah

* 接sah975648
* To catch in the hand.

#### cêk nâng tīo, cêk nâng sah;

    one tosses and the other catches.

#### màiⁿ sah ka-lâuh;

    do not let it fall instead of catching it.

#### i kâi cìⁿ sīa khṳ̀ kàu khṳt i sah tîeh;

    he caught in his hand the arrow that shot at him.
* 悞sah1064617
* To mistakenly suppose; to misapprehend.

#### úa sah cò̤ sĭ hìeⁿ-seⁿ, ío sĭ cìeⁿ-seⁿ;

    I thought it was thus, but find instead that it is so.

#### i màiⁿ sah cò̤ hó̤;

    he must not erroneously think that it is good.

#### sah cò̤ sĭ i, ío sĭ i a-tĭ;

    thought it was he, but it proved to be his brother.
* 貿sâh5891545
* Unenlightened; obscure.

#### hāi i kiaⁿ kàu kông sâh-sâh;

    scared him almost out of his senses.
# Dictionary of the Swatow dialect/pui
### puipui

* 卑pui668246
* Vulgar, plebeian, low, mean, inferior; humble; a term for one's self.

#### ke lâi àiⁿ ŭ cun pui tōa sòi kâi lói-sìo;

    in the family there should be observance of the customary civilities between the high and the low, the elder and the younger.

#### bô̤ cun pui bô̤ tōa sòi;

    no difference on account of rank nor of age.

#### i kìⁿ cīeⁿ-si sĭ ka-kī cheng-cò̤ pui-ceh;

    in meeting his superior officer he speaks of himself as an “inferior officer”.

#### cò̤ kuaⁿ màiⁿ cò̤ pui, cò̤ pui siu nâng khùi;

    if your are an official, do not be one of low rank, for if you are you will be treated with contumely.

#### pui cūaⁿ;

    lowlive; mean, base; baseborn.

#### àiⁿ khîu kau tin-tò̤ pui, àiⁿ khîu îong tin-tò̤ jôk;

    sought eminence and got a lower station, sought glory and came to disgrace instead.
* 悲pui668618
* To commiserate; grief for another's woe; to be sad; to feel for; sympathy; tragic.

#### i kâi nâng chû-pui căi;

    she is very tender-hearted.

#### chṳ̂-pui nîe;

    a name for the goddess Kwanyin.

#### pui-lŭi;

    to weep bitterly.

#### pui-chô;

    sad, sorrowful.

#### tăi chṳ̂ tăi pui;

    most pitiable.

#### pui-ai, thìaⁿ-khàu;

    to weep and wail.

#### pui-chám;

    heart-rending.

#### īu pui īu hí;

    both sad and glad.
* 肥pûi1371304
* Fat, fleshy, plump; oily, rich, unctuous, fertile.

#### cîah kàu pûi-pûi;

    has grown very fat.

#### pûi-càng, tōa-kîaⁿ;

    fat and stout.

#### thóiⁿ a-pûi ŭ tŏ̤ mē;

    see if the fat fellow is there.

#### pûi-tōa;

    corpulent.

#### chī kàu pûi-pûi;

    feed up and make fleshy.

#### i pûi lâi phàⁿ-lauh;

    his fat is of a flabby sort.

#### cí kâi pûi lâi kín-cí;

    this one's fat is very solid.

#### cí kù pûi ka-kī tīaⁿ-tīaⁿ;

    looks only to his own benefit.

#### cí īeⁿ keⁿ-chài tōa cîah pûi;

    this sort of vegetable takes up much fat in the cooking.

#### i cîah kàu o pûe chiah tōi;

    he has become brown, hardy and stout.

#### câp pûi, káu pù;

    of ten fat persons nine are rich.
* 疿pùi1391045
* Prickly heat.

#### hip kàu hía pùi cêk pa cêk pa;

    pent up there till the prickly heat has come out in many spots.

#### khîeh kò̤ sang-hún lâi so pùi;

    get some prepared chalk and rub the spots.

#### thong sin seⁿ kàu cĕng-cĕng pùi;

    his whole body is covered with prickly heat.
* 吠pūi140304
* To bark.

#### cá mêⁿ kâi káu pūi khṳ̀ thíam căi;

    last night there was a dog barking violently.
# Dictionary of the Swatow dialect/puh
### puhpuh

* 刺puh1035186
* To prod; to thrust; to stab.

#### khṳt to̤-kíaⁿ pûh lô̤h khṳ̀ hûeh cū lâu;

    when the pen-knife was thrust in the blood ran.

#### khṳt ki chì pûh kàu uang-uang chim lô̤h khṳ̀;

    was stabbed over so deeply by a thorn.
* 膪pûh11213012
* Flabby.

#### pûh nêk;

    flabby meat.

#### cêk sin nêk pûh-pûh, m̄ tōiⁿ;

    his flesh is flabby and not solid.