OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/McNab, William Ramsay

​McNAB, WILLIAM RAMSAY, M.D. (1844–1889), botanist, born in 1844, was the only son of James McNab (1810–1878), who from 1849 to the time of his death was curator of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, a post which his father (William McNab) had previously held since 1810. McNab, after acting as assistant to Professor John Hutton Balfour [q. v.] at Edinburgh, and studying in Germany, graduated M.D. at Edinburgh in 1866. He began medical practice in 1867, but was appointed in 1870 to the professorship of natural history in the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, and in the following year he was the first to introduce to British students the facts and methods of Sachs. In March 1872 he was appointed to the chair of botany in the Royal College of Science, Dublin, which he held till his death from heart disease, on 3 Dec. 1889. Besides other appointments Dr. McNab was scientific superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, and at the time of his death was Swiney lecturer on geology at the British Museum. His style as a lecturer was precise, lucid, and simple. He was the author of numerous communications to various societies on all branches of botany. His more important papers were on ‘Experiments on the Movement of Water in Plants’ (‘Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy,’ vol. xxxv.); ‘On the Development of the Flowers of Welwitschia mirabilis’ (‘Transactions of the Linnean Society,’ vol. xxviii.); ‘Revision of the Species of Abies’ (‘Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy,’ ii. 11). He was also the author of two botanical class-books, ‘Outlines of Morphology and Physiology,’ and ‘Outlines of Classification’ (Longman's ‘London Science Series,’ 1878).
[Obituary notice in Nature, 19 Dec. 1889, xli. 159; personal knowledge.]
A. C. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pilkington, Andrew

​PILKINGTON, Sir ANDREW (1767?–1853), general, born about 1767, obtained his first commission in the army on 7 March 1783, and was promoted lieutenant 24 Jan. 1791, captain 2 March 1795, major 31 March 1804, lieutenant-colonel 5 Oct. 1809, colonel 12 Aug. 1819, major-general 22 July 1830, lieutenant-general 23 Nov. 1841.
Pilkington saw much and varied service. With the Channel fleet in 1793–4 he commanded a company of the Queen's Royals on board the Royal George on ‘the glorious first of June’ 1794, when Lord Howe defeated the French off Ushant. Pilkington received two splinter wounds. He was next employed in the West Indies, and was present at the capture of Trinidad, 1795–7. He served in Ireland in the suppression of the rebellion in 1798, and was with the expeditions to the Helder in 1799 and 1805. He was severely wounded in the defence of the Kent, East Indiaman, against a large French privateer in 1800, on his passage to India. He served on the staff at the Horse Guards in 1807–8, and in Nova Scotia from 1809 to 1815. During the latter period he commanded several successful expeditions. He reduced the islands in Passamaquody Bay, between New Brunswick and Maine, U.S. He was created K.C.B. on 19 July 1838. He died on 23 Feb. 1853 at his residence, Catsfield Place, Battle, Sussex, which he had purchased from James Eversfield, esq.
Sir Andrew married at Hayes, on 9 May 1808, Maria Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Vicary Gibbs [q. v.], who survived him, with two daughters, Maria Georgina, married to Burrell Hayley, rector of Catsfield in Sussex, on 18 July 1848, and Louisa Elizabeth, married on 1 Sept. 1853 to Richard Thomas Lee.
W. B-t.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pilkington, Richard

​PILKINGTON, RICHARD (1568?–1631), protestant controversialist, born about 1568, was probably a nephew of James Pilkington [q. v.], bishop of Durham (see Wills, old ser. Chetham Soc. i. 82, iii. 122). He was educated at Rivington school, Lancashire, entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in April 1585, and proceeded M.A. in 1593. He was incorporated M.A. at Oxford on 31 Oct. 1599, where he proceeded B.D. on 27 June 1600, and D.D. in July 1607 as of Queen's College (Wood, Fasti, pp. 285, 322). From 27 May 1596 till his death he was rector of Hambleden, Buckinghamshire; from 1597 to 1599 rector of Salkeld, Cumberland, and of Little Kimble, Buckinghamshire, from 1620 till his death. On 13 Dec. 1609 he received the king's license to hold Hambleden rectory along with ‘another’ benefice (State Papers, Dom. James I, vol. 1., Docquet). From 1597 till 1600 he was archdeacon of Carlisle, treasurer of Lichfield Cathedral from 1625 till 1628, and from 1625 till his death archdeacon of Leicester.
He died in September 1631, and was buried in the chancel of Hambleden church. His wife was Anne, daughter of John May [q. v.], bishop of Carlisle.
In reply to the ‘Manual of Controversies’ (1614) by Anthony Champney [q. v.], Pilkington wrote ‘Parallela, or the grounds of the new Roman Catholic and of the ancient Christian Religion out of the holy Scriptures compared together,’ London, 1618, 4to. Champney answered Pilkington in 1620, and, in a prefatory epistle to Archbishop Abbot, spoke of Pilkington as ‘a minion of yours,’ who had been induced by Abbot to begin the controversy.
[Wood's Athenæ Oxon. ii. 513, and Fasti, i. 284–5, 322; Lipscomb's Buckinghamshire, ii. 353, iii. 573; Tanner's Bibl. Brit.-Hib.; Le Neve's Fasti; Hist. MSS. Comm. 4th Rep. p. 409; Pilkington's Hist. of the Pilkington Family, 1894, p. 64; information from Mr. E. S. Shuckburgh of Emmanuel Coll. Cambr.]
W. A. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pilkington, Gilbert

​PILKINGTON, GILBERT (fl. 1350), is the reputed author of ‘The Tournament of Tottenham,’ a burlesque in verse on ‘the parade and fopperies of chivalry.’ An amusing description is given, in homely language, of the efforts of ignorant rustics to reproduce all the ceremonies of the tournament by way of prelude to a rustic wedding. The earliest manuscript of the piece is in the Cambridge University Library, Ff. v. 48, and dates from the fourteenth century. It is followed by a sequel entitled ‘The Feest.’ Both bear the signature of Gilbert Pilkington, but it is doubtful if he were more than the copyist. In the same manuscript, which once belonged to George Withers, the poet, the words ‘Quod dominus Gilbertus Pylkyngton’ are appended to two other poems, one entitled ‘Passio Domini,’ and the other ‘The Story of Robin Hood and Little John.’ But of these, too, Pilkington may only have been the copyist. A fifteenth-century copy of ‘The Tournament’ is in Harl. MS. 5396. William Bedwell [q. v.] once possessed the Cambridge manuscript of the piece, and printed it in 1631, in the belief that Pilkington was not only the author, but his own predecessor in the vicarage of Tottenham. The latter theory is not confirmed by any contemporary evidence. The title-page of Bedwell's edition runs: ‘The Tvrnament of Tottenham, or the wooing, winning, and wedding of Tibbe, the reev's daughter there. Written long since in verse by Mr. Gilbert Pilkington, at that time, as some have thought, Parson of the Parish. Taken out of an ancient manuscript and published for the delight of others, by Wilhelm Bedwell, now Pastour there. Printed by John Norton, 1631.’ Bedwell appended a description of Tottenham, with a fresh title-page. ‘The Tournament’ was reprinted with Richard Butcher's ‘Survey of Stamford,’ London, 1717, and again, 1718, 8vo; by Bishop Percy in his ‘Reliques’ (ed. Wheatley, ii. 17–28); by Ritson in his ‘Ancient Songs and Ballads,’ 1829; by Mr. W. C. Hazlitt in his ‘Popular English Poetry’ (iii. 82 sq.); and separately by Thomas Wright, with the sequel, ‘The Feest,’ in 1836.
S. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pilkington, Matthew

​PILKINGTON, MATTHEW (1700?–1784), author of the ‘Dictionary of Painters,’ was born in Dublin about 1700. He entered Trinity College, Dublin, as a scholar in 1721, and graduated B.A. in 1722. Shortly afterwards he was appointed vicar of Donabate and Portrahan, co. Dublin, and occupied this benefice until his death about 1784.
Pilkington is known as the author of ‘The Gentleman's and Connoisseur's Dictionary of Painters,’ London, 1770, 4to. This useful work, the first of its kind in England, embraced about fourteen hundred artists, and continued a standard book until the appearance, 1813–16, of Bryan's ‘Dictionary of Painters and Engravers,’ which was to a certain extent based upon it. In the meantime Pilkington's ‘Dictionary’ had been very largely transformed in successive new editions. The first of these, ‘with remarks on the present state of the art by James Barry,’ and a supplement, appeared in 1798 (London, 4to). Another edition by John Wolcott, M.D., 1799, 4to, was followed by a new edition with alterations and additions by Henry Fuseli, 1805, 4to, reprinted in 1810; another, revised and corrected, 2 vols. 8vo, 1824; a sixth edition, revised and corrected by Richard Alfred Davenport [q. v.], 2 vols. 8vo, 1829; a seventh, with introduction and new lives by Alan Cunningham, 1840, 8vo; again by R. Davenport, 1851, 8vo; by Cunningham and Davenport, 1852, 8vo, and 1857, 8vo. A supplement by Edward Shepard appeared in 1803.
The lexicographer is to be distinguished from the husband of Lætitia Pilkington [q. v.] and also from Matthew Pilkington, divine (1705–1765), son of Middlemore Pilkington (1670–1752) of Stanton-le-Dale, Derbyshire, by his wife Hannah (Smith), who was baptised 25 May 1705 and graduated LL.B. from Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1728, was collated to the prebend of Ruiton in Lichfield Cathedral on 25 Jan. 1748 and died in 1765. He was author of ‘A Rational Concordance, or an Index to the Bible,’ Nottingham, 1749, 4to, a volume containing many words not included in Priestley's ‘Index to the Bible,’ 1805; and of ‘Remarks upon several passages of Scripture,’ Cambridge and London, 1759, 8vo (Le Neve, Fasti; Horne, Bibl. Bibl. p. 133; Orme, Bibl. Bibl.; Lowndes, Brit. Lib. 89).
[Webb's Compendium of Irish Biogr.; Taylor's University of Dublin; Ottley's Painters and Engravers, 1875, pref.; Blackwood's Mag. xxiii. 579; Notes and Queries, 8th ser. ix. 264; Allibone's Dict. of English Lit.; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
T. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pilkington, Francis

​PILKINGTON, FRANCIS (1564?–1638), lutenist and musical composer, was probably related to Richard Pilkington of Rivington, Lancashire (whose son, named Francis, died in 1597). Pilkington's father and brother were in the service of Henry Stanley, fourth earl of Derby. The lutenist found a patron in Ferdinand, fifth earl.
After joining the Chester Cathedral choir in 1578 he was admitted Mus. Bac. Oxford, on 10 July 1595, from Lincoln College (Wood). In 1623– ​1624 he was minor canon and chaunter of Chester Cathedral.
His compositions were not distinguished by much originality (Burney, Hist. iii. 326, 347). He published: 1. ‘The First Book of Songs or Ayres of four parts; with Tableture for the Lute or Orpherion, with the Violl da Gamba,’ 1605. 2. ‘The First Set of Madrigals and Pastorals of three, four, and five parts,’ 1613. 3. ‘The Second Set of Madrigals and Pastorals of three, four, five, and six parts, apt for vyolls and voyces,’ 1624. A pavan by a Lord Derby appears in the same volume. Pilkington contributed two sacred songs to Leighton's ‘Teares and Lamentations,’ 1614. His part-song ‘Rest, sweet nymphs,’ has been republished in the collections of Hullah and Stafford Smith. ‘When Oriana walked’ is included in Hawes's ‘Triumphs,’ and five others in Oliphant's ‘Madrigals.’
Pilkington was the father or near relative of Thomas Pilkington (1615?–1650?), also a chorister of Chester Cathedral, and said to be one of the musicians to Henrietta Maria (Wood). Thomas was the inventor of the orphion, and ‘did command all instruments with his unequall'd hand’ (Cokayne). He died during the interregnum, aged about 35, and was buried at Wolverhampton. Sir Aston Cokayne celebrated his merits in an epitaph and an elegy.
L. M. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pilkington, Robert

​PILKINGTON, ROBERT (1765–1834), major-general and inspector-general of fortifications, was born at Chelsfield, Kent, ​on 7 Nov. 1765. He passed through the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, and obtained a commission as second lieutenant in the royal artillery on 27 Aug. 1787. He was transferred to the royal engineers on 5 June 1789, embarked for Canada in July 1790, and was stationed at Quebec. He was promoted first lieutenant on 16 Jan. 1793, captain-lieutenant on 3 June 1797, and captain on 18 April 1801. In 1794 he established a fortified post on the river Miamis in North America. He returned to England in January 1803, and was again stationed in the southern district, whence, in May, he was transferred for special service to the government gunpowder factory at Waltham Abbey.
Pilkington was promoted regimental lieutenant-colonel on 24 June 1809. In this year he accompanied the expedition to Walcheren, as commanding royal engineer of one of the divisions under the Earl of Chatham, and took part in the siege and capture of Flushing, where he was wounded, and in the operations under Lieutenant-generals Sir Eyre Coote (1762–1824) [q. v.] and Sir George Don [q. v.] In November and December he had charge of the work for the destruction of the basin, arsenal, and sea defences of Flushing, previous to the departure of the army, when Captain Moore and six hundred men of the royal navy were employed under his orders. Great credit was given to Pilkington in the despatch of Sir George Don for the skill with which the operations were carried out.
Pilkington returned to England in January 1810, and was stationed first at Woolwich and later at Weedon, where he superintended the erection of the large ordnance store establishment, gunpowder magazines, and barracks. In May 1815 he was appointed commanding royal engineer of the north-western district; and he was promoted regimental colonel on 1 Dec. 1815. In October 1818 he was appointed commanding royal engineer at Gibraltar, and he remained at that fortress for twelve years, having been promoted major-general on 27 May 1825. He was appointed a colonel commandant of the corps of royal engineers on 28 March 1830, when he returned to England. He succeeded General Sir A. Bryce as inspector-general of fortifications on 24 Oct. 1832, and died in London on 6 July 1834.
Pilkington married, in 1810, at Devizes, Wiltshire, Hannah, daughter of John Tylie, by whom he had four daughters and one son.
R. H. V.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Plessis, Joseph Octave

​PLESSIS, JOSEPH OCTAVE (1762–1825), Roman catholic archbishop of Quebec, the son of a blacksmith, was born near Montreal on 3 March 1762. He received a classical education at Montreal College, and for a short time followed his father's trade; but, in 1780, he returned to his studies, entered the Petit Séminaire at Quebec, and became a teacher at Montreal College. Later, becoming secretary to Bishop Briaud, he was ordained a priest on 11 March 1786, and was appointed secretary of Bishop Hubert at Quebec. In 1792 he was made curé of Quebec and professor of ‘humanities’ at the college of St. Raphael, and in 1797 grand vicar and coadjutor to Bishop Denault. His growing power and influence were employed against the English predominance, and the English party, led by Herman Witsius Ryland [q. v.], made vain efforts to hinder his promotion. Consecrated as bishop-coadjutor on 25 Jan. 1801, he became bishop of Quebec in 1806, on the death of Denault, during the height of the discussion about the jesuit estates. An unsuccessful effort was made by Ryland and the protestant party to prevent his taking the oath of allegiance.
Plessis's position was now established. In 1810 he came into collision with the governor, Sir James Henry Craig [q. v.] But in 1812, when war with the United States broke out, he won the goodwill of the government by his efforts to rouse the loyalty of the French Canadians. In 1814 he was accordingly granted a pension of one thousand louis and a seat in the legislative council, where he proved himself an ardent champion of the rights of the Roman catholic population. In 1818 he was made archbishop of Quebec. He set himself vigorously to organise the Roman catholic church, and established mission settlements along the St. Lawrence and in the Red River territory. He was active in furthering education, but insisted on maintaining the integrity of the French tongue in Lower Canada. In 1822 he opposed the union of Lower with Upper Canada in order to avoid the possibility of amalgamating the French and English. He took a great part in the discussions on the education law of 1824. Practical work in the same direction was not neglected. He educated many young men at his own expense, and the colleges of Nicolet and Ste. Hyacinthe were the outcome of his enthusiastic appeals. He died at Quebec on 4 Dec. 1825.
[Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography; Roger's History of Canada, vol. i.]
C. A. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pleasants, Thomas

​PLEASANTS, THOMAS (1728–1818), philanthropist, was born in co. Carlow in 1728. He was educated for the bar, but did ​not enter on the practice of the law, of which, as well as of classical literature, he acquired an extensive knowledge. His affluent circumstances enabled him to gratify a philanthropic disposition, and he made large contributions to benevolent objects. Among his gifts were 14,000l. for a stove- tenter house at Dublin, to facilitate the work of poor weavers; 6,000l. for a Dublin hospital; and 700l. for buildings at a botanic garden. In 1816 Pleasants defrayed the cost of reprinting at Dublin 'Reflections and Resolutions proper for the Gentleman of Ireland' (1738), by Samuel Madden [q. v.].
Pleasants died on 1 March 1818, in Camden Street, Dublin, and bequeathed sums for schools, almshouses, and hospitals in Dublin. A portrait of Pleasants in oil is in the possession of the Royal Dublin Society.
A kinsman, Robert Pleasants, of James river, Virginia, at the sacrifice of more than 3,000. liberated all his negroes in 1786.
J. T. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Plimer, Andrew

​PLIMER, ANDREW (1763–1837), miniature painter, was born at Bridgwater, Somerset, in 1763. He practised in London, residing until 1807 in Golden Square, and was an exhibitor at the Royal Academy from 1786 to 1810, and once more in 1819. Though he never obtained the vogue of his contemporaries Richard Cosway [q. v.] and Maria Cosway [q. v.], Plimer was well patronised, and his miniatures are of the finest quality, admirable both in drawing and colour. They are now much sought for by collectors, and command large prices. Plimer's best-known work is the beautiful group of the three daughters of Sir John Rushout, recently in the collection of Mr. Edward Joseph, and now (1895) the property of Mr. Frank Woodroffe. It has been well engraved by E. Stodart. His portraits of Sir John Sinclair [q. v.] and Colonel Kemeys-Tynte have also been engraved. Two portraits by him of the Right Hon. William Windham are in the South Kensington Museum. Plimer died at Brighton on 29 Jan. 1837.
Nathaniel Plimer (1751–1822), elder brother of Andrew, born at Wellington, Somerset, also practised miniature-painting; but his work is inferior to that of his brother. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1787 to 1815, and died in 1822.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Propert's Hist. of Miniature Painting; Gent. Mag. 1837, pt. i. p. 334; Royal Academy Catalogues.]
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Plesyngton, Robert de

Sir Robert Plessington in the ODNB.
​PLESYNGTON, Sir ROBERT de (d. 1393), chief baron of the exchequer, was no doubt a member of the Lancashire family which derived its name from Pleasington, near Blackburn, and was perhaps a cousin of the first of that name, who owned Dimples in Garstang, Lancashire, where the family survived until the rebellion of 1715 (Chetham Soc. Publ. lxxxi. 61, xcv. 75, cv. 232). Sir Robert himself would appear to have acquired lands in Rutland, though he had charge of certain property at Lancaster in 1376. In early life he probably held office in ​the exchequer, and on 6 Dec. 1380 was appointed chief baron. He is mentioned as levying a fine in 1382–3 (Surrey Fines, Surrey Archæol. Soc.) In November 1383 he pleaded in parliament for confirmation of a pardon lately granted him (Rolls of Parliament, iii. 164 b). Dugdale, through an error, thought that Plesyngton was removed from the bench on 27 June 1383, but this really took place on 5 Nov. 1386. The ostensible reasons for his removal were that he prevented the king from receiving certain fines for marriage, and refused to hear apprentices and others of the law, telling them they knew not what they said, and did more harm than good to their clients, so that pleaders did not dare appear before him against sheriff's escheators, &c., and the king lost many fines (Foss; Deputy-Keeper Publ. Rec. 9th Rep. p. 244). The true reason would, however, appear to be that he was closely attached to the party of Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester [q. v.], and had so incurred the king's enmity. In the parliament of 1387 Plesyngton was spokesman for the Duke of Gloucester and other lords appellant, but he was not restored to his office. He died on 27 Sept. 1393 (Chetham Soc. Publ. cv. 232). But nevertheless, on the fall of Gloucester in September 1397, Plesyngton was condemned for his support of the duke, and his property was declared forfeit; this sentence was reversed in the first parliament of Henry IV in 1399 (Rolls of Parliament, iii. 384, 425, 450). By his wife Agnes he had a son, Sir Robert de Plesyngton, who was twenty-four years of age in 1393, and represented Rutland in the parliament of January 1397 (Return of Members of Parliament, i. 252). This Robert had two sons, Henry and John; his male line became extinct in William, son of Henry. John de Plesyngton was ancestor in the female line of the families of Flowers of Whitwell, Rutland, Stavely of Nottinghamshire, and Sapcott of Burleigh (Visitation of Rutland, pp. 29–30, Harleian Society).
C. L. K.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Duffy, Patrick Vincent

​DUFFY, PATRICK VINCENT (1836–1909), landscape painter, born on 17 March 1836, at Cullenswood, near Dublin, was son of James Duffy, a jeweller and dealer in works of art in Dublin. Patrick studied in the schools of the Royal Dublin Society, where he was often premiated. While still a student he was elected an associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy, and promoted three months later to be a full member. In 1871 he was elected keeper of the academy, a post he retained for thirty-eight years, until his death at Dublin on 22 Nov. 1909. His pictures are very unequal in merit. His better works show that under favourable conditions he might have taken a high place as a painter of landscape. A good example of his art, 'A Wicklow Common,' is in the Irish National Gallery. He married Elizabeth, daughter ​of James Malone, by whom he had one daughter.
[Private information.]
W. A.