OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Merriman, Samuel (1731-1818)

​MERRIMAN, SAMUEL, M.D. (1731–1818), physician, born on 29 Dec. 1731 at Marlborough, Wiltshire, was third son of Nathaniel Merriman, grocer there, by his wife Elizabeth Hawkes. Being intended for the medical profession he was sent to Edinburgh in 1748, and graduated there as M.D. in 1753, his thesis ‘De Conceptu,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1753, being of so much value that it was reprinted by William Smellie in the second volume of his ‘Thesaurus Medicus’ (1779). Merriman first settled as a physician in Bristol, and afterwards removed to Andover, Hampshire; but coming to London in April 1757, he commenced practice in Queen Street, Mayfair, as an apothecary or general practitioner, in partnership with Oakley Halford, who was about to retire. He remained an apothecary for about twenty years, when he acted on his diploma, and practised only as a physician, finally retiring in 1812. His speciality was midwifery. The number of labours which he attended amounted to rather more than ten thousand; in one year alone he attended 362. His leisure was devoted to literature and biblical studies.
Merriman died at his son-in-law's house, 26 Half Moon Street, on 17 Aug. 1818. In 1753 he married one of the daughters and coheiresses of William Dance, surgeon, of Marlborough, and by her, who died in 1780, he had fourteen children; of these one alone, Ann, wife of his nephew Samuel Merriman [q. v.], survived him.
There is an excellent miniature of him painted by Richmond and engraved by Corner.
[Information from John J. Merriman, esq.; Gent. Mag. 1818, pt. ii. p. 189; Lancet, 30 Nov. 1850, p. 610.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Merriot, Thomas

​MERRIOT, THOMAS (1589–1662), grammarian, born in 1589 at Steeple Langford in Wiltshire, entered Winchester College in 1601, and matriculated at New College, Oxford, on 14 Oct. 1608, where he devoted himself to the study of law, and was fellow from 1610 to 1624, and B.C.L. on 22 Nov. 1615. He taught for some time in the grammar school which then adjoined the college, until he was made vicar of Swalcliffe near Banbury, by the warden and fellows of New College on 15 Jan. 1623–1624. Previous to 1637 he appears to have had misunderstandings with his parishioners, who, in consequence, assessed him at a high rate for ship-money. Against this ‘very hard measure’ he petitioned the council of state on 10 May 1637. In 1642 his royalist sympathies brought him into difficulties with the parliament, and he was summoned to appear before the House of Commons on 26 July. His living was sequestered by the Westminster assembly, and on his petitioning the Committee for Plundered Ministers, he was granted (31 Aug. 1646) ‘a full and legal hearing’ by the committee of his own county. He resigned the vicarage of Swalcliffe on 10 March 1658–9 (cf. Collectanea Topographica et Genealog. iii. 184, 347). He died at Swalcliffe on 19 July ​1662, and was buried in the church, where a brass tablet to his memory still remains.
Merriot was a good latinist and an orator. He taught grammar at Swalcliffe till he was of an advanced age. On some points he dissented from Lily, whose grammar he had studied so assiduously at Winchester. He published: 1. ‘Vulgaria, sive Miscellanea prosaica hinc inde decerpta,’ Oxford, 1652. 2. ‘Adagia Selectissima,’ Oxford, 1652. 3. ‘Grammaticall Miscellanies,’ Oxford, 1660. Wood also mentions ‘several Latin copies of verses, dispersed in books.’
[Wood's Athenæ (Bliss), vol. iii. cols. 589–90; Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1500–1714; Kirby's Winchester Scholars, p. 159; Clark's Reg. Univ. Oxf. i. 272, ii. 302, iii. 342; Cal. State Papers, Dom. Ser. 1637, p. 90; Commons' Journals, ii. 692; Hunter's Chorus Vatum, Addit. MS. 24491, v. 437; Minutes of Committee for Plundered Ministers, Addit. MS. 15670 fol. 198; Halkett and Laing's Dict. of Anon. and Pseudon. Lit.; information from the Rev. Dr. Wilkinson of Swalcliffe.]
B. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Griffith, Moses (1724-1785)

The ODNB considers this article confuses two physicians of the same name.
​GRIFFITH, MOSES (1724–1785), physician, son of Edward Griffith, was born at Lapidon, Shropshire, in 1724, and educated at Shrewsbury School. He entered at St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1742, and afterwards studied medicine at Leyden, where he graduated M.D. in 1744. He practised for many years in London, but in 1768 retired to Colchester, where he died in March 1785. He wrote ‘Practical Observations on the Cure of the Hectic and Slow Fevers, and the Pulmonary Consumption,’ 1776. Griffith is credited with the invention of the useful compound iron mixture of the Pharmacopœia.
[Munk's Coll. of Phys. ii. 164.]
G. T. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Griffith, Moses (fl.1769-1809)

​GRIFFITH, MOSES (fl. 1769–1809), draughtsman and engraver, was born 6 April 1749 at Trygain House in the parish of Bryn Groer in Llein, Carnarvonshire. His parents were of humble station, and he received a very elementary education ; but, being clever with his pencil, he was taken into service by Thomas Pennant [q. v.] about 1769. Pennant helped him to study drawing and engraving, and Griffiths became his constant companion on his tours and excursions, making the drawings and engravings for Pennant's numerous works. Griffiths obtained some proficiency both as a draughtsman and engraver. On leaving Pennant's service he settled at Wibnant, near Holyhead, where he obtained plenty of employment as an engraver, He was alive in 1809, when he wrote a letter defending himself from an attack to the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ (Gent. Mag. 1809, pt. ii. 1112). Francis Grose [q. v.] employed him to engrave some of the plates in his ‘Antiquities.’
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Pennant's Literary Life.]
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Griffith, John (fl.1553)

​GRIFFITH or GRIFFIN, JOHN (fl. 1553), præmonstratensian, was a Welshman, and a monk of the order of Cistercians in the, monastery of Halesowen in Worcestershire. He was educated at Oxford in the Cistercian college of St. Bernard, now St. John's College, but what degree he took is uncertain. He was a learned and pious man, but ‘being unacquainted with the dealings of the world, had like to have been drawn over to the reformed religion’ (Wood); he was, however, ‘fastened in his faith again,’ much to the joy of the Roman catholics. He preached eloquently in English and in Latin. He wrote in Latin ‘Conciones Æstivales’ (‘modicum etiam non videbitis mel’), and ‘Conciones Hyemales’ (‘cum appropinquasset Iesus lerosolymam’). The time of his death and his place of burial are both uncertain, as he had been expelled from his monastery several years before the dissolution of the religious houses; but he was still living in the reign of Edward VI, and perhaps in that of Queen Mary.
[Wood's Athenæ Oxon. i. 62; Pits, Angl. Theol. i. 739, ed. 1619; Tanner's Bibl. Brit.]
N. D. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Griffith, Piers

​GRIFFITH, PIERS (d. 1628), naval adventurer, son of Sir Rees Griffith of Penrhyn, sheriff of Carnarvonshire in 1567, by his second wife, Katharine, daughter of Piers Mostyn of Talacre in Flintshire, and grandson of Sir William Griffith, chamberlain of North Wales, is said by writers two hundred years later (Pennant, Tour in Wales, 1781, ii. 285; Thomas, in Williams's Observations on the Snowdon Mountains, 1802, p. 177), and apparently on no other grounds than local tradition, to have fitted out a ship against the Spanish Armada in 1588, to have sailed from Beaumaris on 20 April, to have arrived at Plymouth on 4 May, to have been honourably received by Sir Francis Drake, and to have shared in the honour of defeating the Armada. It is stated that he afterwards went with Drake and Ralegh to cruise upon the Spanish coast, and parted from Sir Francis Drake at the mouth of the Gulf of Magellan. In the reign of James I complaints are said to have been laid against him by Gondomar that he had continued his attacks on Spanish ships and possessions after the proclamation of peace, and he is said to have been obliged to sell or mortgage his estate in order to purchase his pardon or to defray the expense of his prosecution.
The story seems mainly fictitious, but portions may have a possible but unknown substratum of truth. His name has no place in the official or any other list of commanders of ships against the Spanish Armada (Western Antiquary, vii. 307), nor does he figure in any of the accounts of the fighting. Drake and Ralegh made no joint expedition either to the coast of Spain or to the West Indies, nor was Drake near the Straits of Magellan after 1588. Griffith does not seem to have been with Drake in the voyage round the world (Notes and Queries, 7th ser. iv. 186); but it is of course possible and not improbable that he may have served both against the Armada and in some other of Drake's expeditions before or after; in any case it was in some quite subordinate capacity, or as a volunteer whose name has not been distinguished. The only part of the story that receives any historical confirmation is the last. We read (Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 28 Feb. 1603) that ‘Griffith, a Welsh pirate, is taken at Cork, and his lands, worth 500l. a year, some say, are given to Lord Grey.’ As this is only a private newsletter, the details may very well be inaccurate; but if this Welsh pirate may be identified with Piers Griffith, the certain date puts an end to the story about Gondomar's complaints after the proclamation of peace. The story of his estate seems better authenticated. After being mortgaged Penrhyn was sold out-right in 1616. Griffith died on 18 Aug. 1628, and was buried in the broad aisle of Westminster Abbey. The name is variously written; but the Welsh form, Pyrs Gruffydd, is probably the most correct. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Mostyn of Mostyn (who in a second marriage had married Griffith's mother), and by her had issue three sons, who all died in their infancy, and four daughters.
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Griffith, Richard (1635?-1691)

​GRIFFITH, RICHARD, M.D. (1635?–1691), physician, born about 1635, was educated at Eton, though not on the foundation. On the recommendation of Cromwell and the council of state, he was appointed by the parliamentary visitors to a fellowship at University College, Oxford, on 1 Sept. 1654 (Register, Camd. Soc. p. 399). He graduated B.A. 7 July 1657, M.A. 3 May 1660, and had thoughts of becoming a preacher, but ‘being not minded to conform he left the college, and applied his mind to the study of physic’ (Wood, Fasti Oxon., ed. Bliss, ii. 198, 224). He took the degree of M.D. at Caen in Normandy on 12 June 1664, was admitted an honorary fellow of the College of Physicians in the following December, and having been created a fellow by the charter of James II, was admitted as such on 12 April 1687. He was censor in 1688 and 1690, and registrar for 1690. For some years he practised at Richmond, Surrey, but died in the parish of St. Nicholas Acons, London, in September 1691 (Probate Act Book, P.C.C.1691,f.152), and was buried in the church of Datchet, Buckinghamshire, near his deceased wife and child. In his will, dated on 4 Sept. 1691, and proved on the 8th (P.C.C. 138, Vere), he mentions property at various places in Surrey and houses in Old Street, St. Luke's, London. He married, first by license dated 18 Jan. 1678-9, Miss Jane Wheeler of Datchet (Chester, London Marriage Licences, ed. Foster, col. 591). By her, who died in 1680 (Letters of Administration, P.C.C., 7 June 1680), he had a son Richard, baptised at Richmond on 13 March 1679-80 (parish register), and buried with his mother at Datchet. His second wife, Mary, daughter of Richard Blackman, apparently of Punchins, near Stoke-next-Guildford, Surrey, survived him without issue. Griffith was the author of a somewhat venomous treatise entitled ‘A-la-Mode Phlebotomy no good fashion; or the copy of a Letter to Dr. [Francis] Hungerford [of Reading], complaining of…the phantastick behaviour and unfair dealing of some London physitians… Whereupon a fit occasion is taken to discourse of the profuse way of Blood-Letting,’ &c, 8vo, London, 1681. The immediate cause of Griffith's wrath was the supercilious treatment recommended by a London physician (formerly a 'journeyman' to Dr. Willis), who on being summoned to see an aged lady patient of his at Richmond, insisted on her being let blood, which no doubt accelerated her death. Wood (loc. cit.), followed by Harwood (Alumni Eton. p. 229), confuses Griffith with another Richard Griffith, a native of Abinger, Surrey, who passed from Eton to King's College, Cambridge, in 1629, and died in college at the close of 1642 (cf. Addit. (Cole} MS. 5816, ff. 121, 174).
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Griffith, Maurice

​GRIFFITH, GRIFFYTH, or GRIFFYN, MAURICE (d. 1558), bishop of Rochester, was born in Wales, and educated, as Wood says, in the south suburb of Oxford, among the Dominicans. He was admitted to the reading of the sentences in July 1532, and became Bachelor of Canon Law on the following 15 Feb., and afterwards took his degree of B.D. 5 July. In 1537 he succeeded Nicholas Metcalfe in the archdeaconry of Rochester, and in 1554 was made bishop of that see, to which he was consecrated with five other bishops at St. Saviour's, Southwark, 1 April (not by Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, as Wood seems to imply, but by Bonner, assisted by Tunstall of Durham and Gardiner). He was at the time of his consecration rector of St. Magnus, a piece of preferment which he held till his death, which took place on 20 Nov. 1558. Little is known ​of him, except that he took part during the reign of Mary in several consecrations of bishops, and notably in that of Cardinal Pole, 22 March 1556. His name does not appear in any of the state papers of the period. He signed the articles of 1536 as a member of convocation for the diocese of Rochester.
[Wood's Athenæ Oxon, ed. Bliss, ii. 786; Stubbs's Registrum.]
N. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Newenham, Frederick

​NEWENHAM, FREDERICK (1807–1859), portrait-painter, born in 1807, appears to have been a member of the family of Newenham residing in co. Cork. He practised in London as an historical and portrait painter, and exhibited in 1838, at the Royal Academy, ‘Parisina.’ He was selected in 1842 to paint a portrait of Queen Victoria for the Junior United Service Club (exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1844), and also a companion portrait of the prince consort. Subsequently he became a fashionable painter of ladies' portraits, some of which, with occasional subject pieces, he exhibited at the Royal Academy and British Institution. Newenham died on 21 March 1859, aged 52.
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Newdigate, Richard

​NEWDIGATE, Sir RICHARD (1602–1678), judge, born on 17 Sept. 1602, was younger son of Sir John Newdigate of Arbury, in the parish of Chilvers Coton, Warwickshire, by Ann, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Fitton of Gawsworth, Cheshire, bart. John Newdegate [q. v.] was his grandfather. Matriculating at Trinity College, Oxford, on 6 Nov. 1618, he left the university without a degree, and entered in 1620 Gray's Inn, where he was called to the bar in 1628, elected an ancient in 1645, and a bencher in 1649.
Newdigate was counsel with Prynne and Bradshaw on behalf of the state in the proceedings taken against Connor Maguire, second baron of Enniskillen [q. v.], and other Irish rebels in 1644–5. He was also one of the counsel for the eleven members impeached by Fairfax in June 1647. On 9 Feb. 1653–4 he was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law, and on 31 May following was made a justice of the upper bench, in which capacity he was placed on the special commission for the trial of the Yorkshire insurgents on 5 April 1655. He declined to serve, on the ground that levying war against the Protector was not within the statute of treason, and in consequence was removed from his place (3 May), and resumed practice at the bar. He was, however, reinstated before 26 June 1657, when he attended, as justice of the upper bench, the ceremony of the reinvestiture of the Protector in Westminster Hall.
Newdigate was continued in office during Richard Cromwell's protectorate, and after his abdication, and on 17 Jan. 1659–60 was advanced to the chief-justiceship of the upper bench. Anticipating his dismissal on the Restoration, he suffered himself to be returned to the Convention parliament. On 5 April 1660 he was among the ‘old serjeants remade.’
Thenceforward his life, if uneventful, was prosperous. His professional gains enabled him in 1675 to add to the manor of Arbury, to which he had succeeded in 1642 on the death of his elder brother, that of Harefield, Middlesex, the ancient seat of his family, which had been alienated in the preceding century [see Anderson, Sir Edmund, ad fin.] On 24 July 1677 a baronetcy was conferred upon him without payment of the ordinary fees. He died at Harefield Manor on 14 Oct. 1678, and was buried in Harefield parish church, where a splendid monument was raised to his memory.
Newdigate married, in 1631, Juliana, daughter of Sir Francis Leigh, K.B., of King's Newnham, Warwickshire, and had issue six sons and five daughters. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Richard (d. 1710), whose son, Sir Richard, third baronet, was father of Sir Roger [q. v.]
J. M. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Newell, Robert Hasell

​NEWELL, ROBERT HASELL (1778–1852), amateur artist and author, born in Essex in 1778, was son of Robert Richardson Newell, surgeon. After attending Colchester school he was admitted pensioner of St. John's College, Cambridge, on 22 April 1795, and was elected scholar on 2 Nov. following. He graduated B.A. in 1799 as fourth wrangler, and proceeded M.A. in 1802, and B.D. in 1810. On 1 April 1800 he was admitted fellow, was lecturer from 1800 to 1804, and acted as dean of the college from 1809 to 1 June 1813, when he was presented to the college rectory of Little Hormead, Hertfordshire (Registers of St. John's College). He was also twenty-six years curate of Great Hormead. He died on 31 Jan. 1852, aged 64 (cf. Cussans, Hertfordshire, ‘Edwinstree Hundred,’ p. 79).
Newell was a good amateur artist, having studied under William Payne (fl. 1800) [q. v.] His edition of Goldsmith's ‘Poetical Works’ (1811 and 1820), in which he attempted to ascertain, chiefly from local observation, the actual scene of ‘The Deserted Village,’ is embellished with drawings by him, engraved in aquatint by Samuel Alken [q. v.] He likewise illustrated his ‘Letters on the Scenery of North Wales’ (1821), the drawings being engraved in aquatint by T. Sutherland. In 1845 he published a little book entitled, ‘The Zoology of the English Poets corrected by the Writings of Modern Naturalists.’
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Swinnock, George

​SWINNOCK, GEORGE (1627–1673), nonconformist divine, born at Maidstone in Kent in 1627, was son of George Swinnock of Maidstone, whose father was mayor of the borough. Owing to the death of his father, George Swinnock, jun., was brought up in the house of his uncle Robert, a zealous puritan. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, whence he removed on 7 Oct. 1645 to Jesus College (Addit. MS. 5820, f. 162); he graduated B.A. in 1647–8, and then proceeded to Oxford to obtain preferment, entering as a commoner at Magdalen Hall. On 19 Jan. 1648–9 he became chaplain at New College, and on 6 Oct. following he was made a fellow of Balliol College by the parliamentary visitors. He was incorporated B.A. on 29 Nov. 1650, and graduated M.A. on the next day. In the same year he resigned his fellowship, and was appointed vicar of Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire. In 1655 he was appointed to St. Leonard's chapel at Aston-Clinton in Buckinghamshire, and on 10 Jan. 1661 was presented to the vicarage of Great Kimble in the same county by Richard Hampden, to whom he was then chaplain. In the following year he was ejected for nonconformity, both from St. Leonard's and from Great Kimble, and took up his abode with the Hampden family at Great Hampden. Upon the issue of the Declaration of Indulgence in 1672 he retired to Maidstone, where he became pastor to a large congregation. He died on 10 Nov. 1673, and was buried in the parish church.
Swinnock was the author of: 1. ‘The Door of Salvation Opened,’ London, 1660, 8vo and 4to; 3rd edit. 1671. 2. ‘The Christian Man's Calling,’ London, 1661–5, 4to. 3. ‘Heaven and Hell Epitomised,’ London, 1659, 8vo. 4. ‘The Incomparableness of God,’ London, 1672, 4to. 5. ‘The Sinner's last Sentence,’ London, 1675, 8vo. 6. ‘Life of Thomas Wilson,’ 1672, 8vo. A collective edition of Swinnock's ‘Works’ was published in 1665, London, 4to, containing Nos. 2 and 3, as well as several shorter treatises and sermons.
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Swinny, Owen Mac

​SWINNY, OWEN MAC, otherwise known as Owen MacSwinny (d. 1754), playwright, was born in Ireland, and came to London in 1706 to manage the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket, which he leased from Sir John Vanbrugh [q. v.] The theatre opened under his management on 15 Oct. (Genest, Hist. of Drama and Stage, ii. 357). He had been promised assistance by Christopher Rich [q. v.], patentee of Drury Lane, but in the following year a quarrel broke off the connection. Swinny desired to obtain the services of Colley Cibber, whom Rich wished to retain in his own company. The affair was terminated by Cibber deciding to throw in his lot with Swinny, and, owing to his assistance, the season of 1707 proved extremely successful. On 31 Dec. the lord chamberlain, in the interest of Rich, ordered that the Haymarket should be used for opera only. In May 1709 Swinny engaged Nicolini, the singer, for a period of three years, and at first was so fortunate that in one winter, according to Cibber, he gained ‘a moderate younger brother's fortune.’ On Rich's eviction from Drury Lane by William Collier in 1709, Swinny was permitted to engage most of the Drury Lane actors and to perform plays as well as operas at the Haymarket. But Collier in 1710, finding that this interfered with his own success, employed his influence at court to bring about a renewal of the former arrangement, by which the Haymarket Theatre was reserved for opera. He took over the management of that theatre himself, and transferred Swinny, now in partnership with Cibber, Wilkes, and Doggett, to Drury Lane (ib. ii. 441, 469). In the next year Collier, having failed at the opera, brought his court influence into play once more, and transferred Swinny back to the Haymarket (ib. ii. 485). He found the opera there in a sinking condition, and by the end of the season he was bankrupt and compelled to take refuge abroad. After some twenty years' residence in France and Italy he returned to England, where he obtained a place in the custom-house, and was appointed storekeeper at the king's mews. On 26 Feb. 1735 he had a benefit at Drury Lane, at which Cibber played for his old friend (ib. iii. 448). Swinny died on 2 Oct. 1754, considerably over seventy years of age, and left his fortune to Mrs. Woffington.
His portrait was engraved from life in 1737 by Peter Van Bleeck, and in 1752 another, after Van Loo, was executed by John Faber, jun., in mezzotint. ​He was the author of: 1. ‘The Quacks, a Comedy,’ London, 1705, 4to, a translation of Moliére's ‘L'Amour Médecin;’ it was altered and brought out as a farce in 1745 for Mrs. Woffington's benefit. 2. ‘Camilla, an Opera,’ London, 1706, 4to. 3. ‘Pyrrhus and Demetrius,’ London, 1709, 4to; translated from the Italian of Scarlatti.
E. I. C.