OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Ferguson, Adam

​Ferguson, Adam (1723-1816).—Philosopher and historian, s. of the parish minister of Logierait, Perthshire, studied at St. Andrews and Edin. Univ., in the latter of which he was successively Professor of Mathematics, and Moral Philosophy (1764-1785). As a young man he was chaplain to the 42nd Regiment, and was present at the Battle of Fontenoy. In 1757 he was made Keeper of the Advocates' Library. As a Prof. of Philosophy he was highly successful, his class being attended by many distinguished men no longer students at the Univ. In 1778-9 he acted as sec. to a commission sent out by Lord North to endeavour to reach an accommodation with the American colonists. F.'s principal works are Essay on the History of Civil Society (1765), Institutes of Moral Philosophy (1769), History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic (1782), and Principles of Moral and Political Science (1792), all of which have been translated into French and German. F. spent his later years at St. Andrews, where he d. in 1816 at the age of 92. He was an intimate friend of Sir Walter Scott. The French philosopher Cousin gave F. a place above all his predecessors in the Scottish school of philosophy.
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Ferguson, Sir Samuel

​Ferguson, Sir Samuel (1810-1886).—Poet and antiquary, b. at Belfast, the s. of parents of Scottish extraction, he was ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin, from which he received in 1865 the honorary degree of LL.D. He practised with success as a barrister, became Q.C. in 1859, and Deputy Keeper of the Irish Records 1867, an appointment in which he rendered valuable service, and was knighted in 1878. He was a contributor to Blackwood's Magazine, in which appeared his best known poem, The Forging of the Anchor, and was one of the chief promoters of the Gaelic revival in Irish literature. His coll. poems appeared under the title of Lays of the Western Gael (1865), Congal, an epic poem (1872), and his prose tales posthumously (1887), as Hibernian Nights' Entertainments. His principal antiquarian work was Ogham Inscriptions in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland.
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Ferrier, Susan Edmonstoune

​Ferrier, Susan Edmonstoune (1782-1854).—Novelist, dau. of James F., one of the principal clerks of the Court of Session, in which office he was the colleague of Sir Walter Scott. Miss F. wrote three excellent novels, Marriage (1818), The Inheritance [1824), and Destiny (1831), all characterised by racy humour and acute character-painting. Her cheerful and tactful friendship helped to soothe the last days of Sir W. Scott.
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Fawkes, Francis

​Fawkes, Francis (1721-1777).—Poet and translator, b. near Doncaster, and ed. at Camb., after which he took orders. He translated Anacreon, Sappho, and other classics, modernised parts of the poems of Gavin Douglas, and was the author of the well-known song, The Brown Jug, and of two poems, Bramham Park and Partridge Shooting.
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Fergusson, James

​Fergusson, James (1808-1886).—Writer on architecture, b. at Ayr, was engaged in commercial pursuits in India, where he became interested in the architecture of the country, and pub. his first work, Picturesque Illustrations of Ancient Architecture in Hindustan (1840), which was followed by An Historical Inquiry into the True Principles of Beauty in Art (1849), and A History of Architecture in all Countries from the Earliest Times to the Present Day (1865-67). He also wrote Fire and Serpent Worship, etc., and a book on the use of earthworks in fortification.
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Feltham, Owen

​Feltham, Owen (1602?-1668).—Religious writer, author of a book entitled Resolves, Divine, Moral, and Political (c. 1620), containing 146 short essays. It had great popularity in its day. Though sometimes stiff and affected in style, it contains many sound, if not original or brilliant, reflections, and occasional felicities of expression. F. was for a time in the household of the Earl of Thomond as chaplain or sec., and pub. (1652), Brief Character of the Low Countries.
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Ferrier, James Frederick

​Ferrier, James Frederick (1808-1864).—Metaphysician, b. in Edin., and ed. there and at Oxf., he was called to the Scottish Bar in 1832, but devoted himself to literature and philosophy. In 1842 he was appointed Prof. of History in Edin., and in 1845 translated to the Chair of Moral Philosophy and Political Economy at St. Andrews. He pub. in 1854 Institutes of Metaphysics, and ed. the coll. works of his father-in-law, Prof. Wilson ("Christopher North.")
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Field, Nathaniel

​Field, Nathaniel (1587-1633).—Dramatist and actor, was one of "the children of the Queen's Revels," who performed in Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels in 1600. He wrote A Woman's a Weathercock (1612), Amends for Ladies (1618), and (with Massinger) The Fatal Dowry (1632).
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Fergusson, Robert

​Fergusson, Robert (1750-1774).—Scottish poet, s. of a bank clerk, was ed. at the Univ. of St. Andrews. His f. dying, he became a copying clerk in an Edin. lawyer's office. Early displaying a talent for humorous descriptive verse, he contributed to Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine, then the principal Scottish receptacle for fugitive ​poetry. His verses, however, attracted attention by their merit, and he pub. some of them in a coll. form. Unfortunately he fell into dissipated habits, under which his delicate constitution gave way, and he d. insane in his 24th year. His poems influenced Burns, who greatly admired them.
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# A History of British Birds (Yarrell)

A History of British Birds was first published in 1843 in three volumes:
* Volume 1 (index)
* Volume 2
* Volume 3
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Bishop, William

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​BISHOP. (Lieut., 1810. f-p., 11; h-p., 32.)
William Bishop entered the Navy, in May, 1804, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Queen 98, Capt. Manley Dixon, attached to the fleet in the Channel, and afterwards flag-ship in the Mediterranean and off Cadiz of Rear-Admirals John Knight and Sir Rich. Hussey Bickerton, as also, immediately subsequent to the battle of Trafalgar, of Lord Collingwood – previously to joining whom she appears to have had a slight brush with the batteries, and the Argonaute 74, at the entrance of the Bay of Cadiz. In Nov. 1805, Mr. Bishop removed, as Midshipman, to the Royal Sovereign 100, Capt. Fras. Pender; and, in 1806, he proceeded, in the Canada 74, Capt. John Harvey, to the West Indies, where for three years he served with Capt. Wm. Chas. Fahie, in the Ethation 36, and Belleisle, Pompée, and Abercromby 74’s. He witnessed, while in the Ethation, the surrender, 21 and 25 Dec. 1807, of the Danish islands of St. Thomas and Santa Croix – was present in the Belleisle, at the reduction of Martinique, in Feb. 1809 – and, on 17 April ensuing, in the Pompée, assisted at the capture, after an arduous chase of two days, and a close action of an hour and a quarter, in which the latter ship, who was supported by the Castor 32, lost 9 men killed and 30 wounded, of the D’Haupoult, of 74 guns and 680 men, of whom between 80 and 90 were killed and wounded. Mr. Bishop was next transferred in succession, as Master’s Mate, to the Heureux 74, Capt. F. Halliday, with whom he returned home, and Salvador del Mundo, bearing the flag at Plymouth of Admiral Wm. Young; and, on 1 Oct. 1810, was made Lieutenant into the Perlen 38, Capt. Norborne Thompson, employed in the West Indies. His subsequent appointments were – 23 Sept. 1811, to the Fortunée 36, Capts. Henry Vansittart and Geo. Fras. Seymour, under the former of whom, while cruizing on the Home station, he contributed to the capture, 11 Oct. in the same year, of a notorious privateer, Le Vice-Amiral Martin, of 18 guns and 140 men – and 16 Sept. 1813, to the Pactolus 38, Capt. Hon. Fred. Wm. Aylmer, in which frigate he served in the Bay of Biscay and on the coast of North America. He has been on half-pay since 1815. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Bisset, Alexander

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​BISSET. (Lieutenant, 1808. f-p., 15; h-p., 33.)
Alexander Bisset entered the Navy, 16 July, 1799 as Third-cl. Boy, on board the Weazle 16, Capt. Wm. D’Urban, employed on Particular Services off Jersey and in the Mediterranean; attained the rating of Midshipman 28 Aug. 1801; and, in Oct. 1803, removed, with the same Captain, as Master’s Mate, to the Ambuscade 32, in which we find him assisting, towards the close of 1804, at the capture of a Spanish convoy, with troops, stores, &c., on board, intended for the defence of Minorca. In May, 1807, he became attached to the Ocean 98, bearing the flag of Lord Collingwood, and on 9 Jan. 1808, was appointed Acting-Lieutenant of the Delight 16, Capt. Philip Cosby Handfleld. While endeavouring, on 30 of the same month, to recapture four Sicilian gun-boats, the latter sloop grounded under the batteries of Reggio, and, after losing her Captain, was burnt by the surviving crew to prevent her falling into the hands of the enemy; whereupon Mr. Bisset was appointed, also as Acting-Lieutenant, to the Wizard 16, Capt. Abel Ferris. On 1 Aug. following, it having been determined to bring out a convoy of ten deeply-laden coasters lying at anchor, under protection of a gun-boat, close to the beach abreast of the town of Noli, on the coast of Italy, he was detached in command of the Wizard’s boats to co-operate with those of the Kent 74, in effecting their capture. Although the vessels were fastened to the shore by ropes from their keels and mastheads, and were further defended by the fire of two adjacent field-pieces, of a heavy gun in front of the town, and of a continued volley of musketry, yet were they all, together with the gun-boat, boarded and carried by the resistless intrepidity of the British, headed by Lieut. Bisset, and Lieuts. Jas. Lindsay and Fairfax Moresby, of the Kent, while another party, having landed, dislodged a considerable body of regular troops, and took and destroyed the guns. For his gallant conduct on this occasion, Mr. Bisset, on 27 Dec. in the same year, obtained his official promotion. He was subsequently appointed – 19 May, 1809, to the Sabine sloop, Capt. Jas. Donner, also employed in the Mediterranean – 25 Jan. 1810, to the Ulysses 44, Capt. Henry Edw. Reginald Baker, on the Lisbon station, bearing the flag, afterwards, of Vice-Admiral Philip D’Auvergne, Prince de Bouillon, off Jersey – and, 15 Sept. 1812, to be Agent for Transports afloat. He has not been employed since 11 Feb. 1814.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Black, Archibald

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​BLACK. (Retired Commander, 1843. f-p., 16; h-p., 37.)
Archibald Black was born 16 Dec. 1770.
This officer entered the Navy, 30 Dec. 1794, as Midshipman, on board the Canada 74, Capt. Chas. Powell Hamilton, whom he shortly afterwards accompanied into the Prince 98, both ships attached to the fleet in the Channel. He next joined the Queen 98, bearing the flag of Sir Hyde Parker on the Jamaica station, where, from 1797 to 1800, he served as Acting-Master in the Drake 16, Capt. John Parkins, Renommée 44, Capt. Robt. Rolles and Maidstone 32, Capt. Ross Donnelly. On his return to the West Indies in 1801, after having been employed for a few months on board the Cambridge guardship at Plymouth, during which period he passed his examination, Mr. Black became Master’s Mate of the Sans Pareil 80, bearing the flag of Lord Hugh Seymour. He subsequently obtained command, as Acting-Lieutenant, of tiie prison-ship at Port-Royal, and at the peace returned home in a similar capacity on board the Brunswick 74, Capt. Stevenson, but could not procure his commission, in consequence of recent regulations which neutralized his servitude as Acting-Master. In ​1805 Mr. Black resumed his professional duties, as Master’s Mate, in the Hercule 74, flag-ship at Jamaica of Vice-Admiral Jas. Rich. Dacres, from which he was promoted, 26 Feb. 1806, to a Sub-Lieutenancy in the Reindeer 18, Capt. John Fife. Being at length made full Lieutenant, 27 May, 1807, in the Pelican 18, Capts. Wm. Ward, Isaac Hawkins Morrison, and Edw. Henry A’Court, he co-operated in the ensuing bombardment of Copenhagen; and, in 1810, commanded the boats of that sloop in a night-attack on an armed felucca, carrying 50 men, in Campeachy Bay, which vessel, together with all the other craft in the harbour, he succeeded in bringing out, although opposed by the heavy fire of several forts and the small arms of the various crews. He had previously taken part in many expeditions of a similar nature, and on one occasion had been very severely wounded. He was placed on half-pay in 1812; and, unable to procure further employment, accepted the rank he now holds 10 Feb. 1843.
Commander Black married, 13 Aug. 1813, Miss Jane Currie, and has issue a son and three daughters.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Black, John Reddie

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​BLACK. (Lieutenant, 1814. f-p., 16; h-p., 34.)
John Reddie Black, born, 25 Jan. 1787, at Dysart, co. Fife, is son of the late Jas. Black, Esq., R.N.; brother of Lieut. Jas. Black, R.N., who died while serving in the West Indies; and nephew of Lieut. John Black, R.N., who died in 1814, having held a commission for 44 years.
This officer entered the Navy, in 1797, as A.B., on board the Pincher gun-brig, commanded by his father, in which vessel he served on the North Sea station, latterly as Midshipman, until discharged, on the death of that gentleman, in 1802. He reembarked in 1808, in the last-mentioned capacity, on board the Trident 64, Capts. R. B. Campbell and Rich. Budd Vincent, on the Mediterranean station; and afterwards became attached to the Herald sloop, Capt. Geo. Jackson, Dauntless sloop, Capt. Barker, Edinburgh 74, Capt. Robt. Rolles, and Furieuse 36, Capt. Wm. Mounsey. In the latter ship Mr. Black was at the capture of the island of Ponza, 26 Feb. 1813, and for his very meritorious conduct on that occasion, particularly in superintending the debarkation of the 10th Regt., was honourably noticed in the despatches of Capt. Chas. Napier, the Senior Officer. He subsequently served, as Master’s Mate (he had passed his examination in 1811), in the Nereus 42, Capt. Manley Hall Dixon; was in the Tagus 36, Capt. Philip Pipon, at the capture of the 40-gun frigate Cérès, 6 Jan. 1814; became Acting-Lieutenant, 20 June following, of the Isis 50, flag-ship at the Brazils of Rear-Admiral Manley Dixon; and, on 29 Nov., was confirmed into the Albacore 16, Capt. Theobald Jones, in which sloop he served until paid off in 1815. Mr. Black, who till then had taken an active part in many cutting-out affairs, was next appointed – 25 April, 1826, to the Ramillies 74, Capt. Hugh Pigot, lying in the Downs for the purposes of the Coast Blockade, in which service he appears to have been employed for the period of two years. He subsequently officiated from 3 Oct. 1840, until early in 1843, as Agent for Transports afloat, on the Mediterranean, West India, and Cape stations. He has since been on half-pay.
He married, 22 July, 1818, Sophia, daughter of Jas. Hurdis, Esq., of Seaford, co. Sussex, and sister of Capt. G. C. Hurdis, R.N., by whom he has issue two sons. Agent – J. Hinxman.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Black, William

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​BLACK. (Captain, 1814. f-p., 22; h-p., 32.)
William Black entered the Navy, 13 April, 1793, as A.B., on board the Leviathan 74, Capt. Lord Hugh Seymour, in which ship we find him present at the ensuing investment of Toulon, and in Lord Howe’s action of 1 June, 1794. He next served for three years under the flag of the same officer in the Sans Pareil 80, as Midshipman, Master’s Mate, and Second Master, and was with him in Lord Bridport’s action with the French fleet off Ile de Groix, 23 June, 1795. He was subsequently, for a short period in 1798-9, lent, as Acting-Lieutenant, to the Penelope 36, Capt. Hon. Chas. Paget, but eventually rejoined Lord Seymour, who had been nominated Commander-in-Chief in the Leeward Islands, and, on 16 Aug. in the latter year, was appointed in the same capacity to the Unité 38, Capt. John Poo Beresford, under whom he witnessed the surrender of the Dutch colony of Surinam. In March, 1800, he again became attached to Lord Seymour’s flag-ship, the Prince of Wales 98, and, on 13 July, 1801, was confirmed into the Sans Pareil, into which that nobleman had shifted his flag. Mr. Black’s subsequent appointments were – 5 April, 1803, after a short interval of half-pay, to the Prince 98, Capt. Rich. Grindall, in the Channel – 3 July, 1804, to the Aeolus 32, Capt. Lord Wm. FitzRoy, under whom he fought in Sir Rich. Strachan’s action, 4 Nov. 1805 – 6 May, 1806, as First Lieutenant, to the Egyptienne 40, Capt. Hon. Chas. Paget, with the boats of which ship under his orders he took, we are told, a letter-of-marque of greatly superior force – 28 April, 1807, in a similar capacity, to the Cambrian 40, commanded by the same Captain, in which frigate he attended the expedition to Copenhagen in Aug. and Sept. following – and, 27 May, 1808, to the Polyphemus 64, as Flag -Lieutenant to the Rear-Admiral Bartholomew Sam. Rowley, Commanderin-Chief on the Jamaica station. He was promoted to the command, 5 Nov. 1809, of the Racoon sloop, and was employed, for upwards of four years, in cruizing, chiefly on the eastern and western coasts of South America. In Jan. 1815, Capt. Black returned home, and was placed on half-pay, having been previously advanced to Post-rank, 7 June, 1814. He accepted the retirement 1 Oct. 1846.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Bishop, George

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​BISHOP. (Lieut., 1812. f-p., 13; h-p., 29.)
George Bishop entered the Navy, 10 Feb. 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Narcissus 32, Capt. Ross Donnelly. In Jan. 1806, he assisted at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope, and about the same period was present at the destruction of the Napoléon privateer, of 32 guns and 250 men, and capture of the 46-gun frigate Volontaire. Mr. Bishop, who had attained the rating of Midshipman, next accompanied the expedition to the Rio de la Plata, where he witnessed the taking of Buenos ​Ayres, and where he continued to serve, in the Neptune lugger, Capt. John Thompson, Diadem 64, bearing the broad pendant of Sir Home Popham, Snd Leda 38, Capt. Robt. Honyman, until the final evacuation of Spanish America in 1807. We are informed that towards the close of the latter year he was also present at the bombardment of Copenhagen and seizure of the Danish fleet. He became attached, in March, 1808, to the Swiftsure 74, flagship on the North American station of Sir John Borlase Warren; rejoined Capt. Thompson, in June, 1809, as Master’s Mate, on board the Halifax; and in the following October was transferred, with the same officer, to the Colibri 18, of which sloop he acted for some time as Master. At the commencement of the war with the United States in 1812, the Colibri was the vessel that, on 12 July, brought away from New York the formal declaration of hostilities, and, with it, the British Ambassador, Mr. Foster, and Consul, Col. Barclay. In the course of that and the following months she captured six privateers, carrying in the whole 31 guns and 283 men. On 18 Sept. in the same year Mr. Bishop was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant; and, on 16 of the ensuing Nov., he was appointed to the Statira 38, Capt. Hassard Stackpoole. During the pursuit, in April 1813, of four large armed schooners, in the Chesapeake, by the boats of a squadron under Lieut. Jas. Polkinghorne, he commanded that frigate’s cutter, and, supported by Lieut. Matthew Liddon in the launch of the Maidstone, boarded and carried, in most gallant style, the largest of the enemy’s vessels, the Dolphin, of 12 guns and 98 men. On leaving the Statira, in Aug. 1814, he joined the Tiber 38, Capt. Jas. Rich. Dacres, with whom he served on the Cork, Channel, and Newfoundland stations, until 14 Sept. 1817. He has since been on half-pay.
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# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Black, Matthew

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​BLACK. (Lieutenant, 1814. f-p., 8; h-p., 32.)
Matthew Black entered the Navy, 2 Sept. 1807, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Monmouth 64, Capt. Edw. Durnford King, and sailed shortly afterwards for the East Indies with the flag of Rear-Admiral Wm. O’Brien Drury. While subsequently employed in the North Sea, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, from Sept. 1808, to March, 1812, of the Stately 64, and Saturn and Armada 74’s, Capts. Wm. Cumberland, Adam Mackenzie, and John Ferris Devonshire, he assisted at the cutting-out of some Danish gun-boats and the re-capture of a Russian ship. He was next employed for some months with Capt. Devonshire, at the defence of Cadiz, in the St. Albans 64; after which he removed to the Ramillies 74, commanded at Chatham by Sir Thos. Masterman Hardy, and then, in Dec. of the same year, joined the Plover 18, Capts. Colin Campbell and John Skekel. He was promoted to a Lieutenancy in the latter vessel 10 June, 1814, and, previously to being paid off in Jan. 1815, visited Quebec, and served on the African and Newfoundland stations. He has not since been employed.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Blacker, Frederick

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​BLACKER. (Lieutenant, 1830.)
Frederick Blacker entered the Navy 2 July, 1807; passed his examination in 1814; and obtained his commission 22 July, 1830. He has not since been employed.