OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gower, Erasmus

​GOWER, Sir ERASMUS (1742–1814), admiral, eldest son of Abel Gower of Glandoven in Pembrokeshire, entered the navy in 1755, under the care of his maternal uncle, Captain Donkley. After serving through the war on the North American and home stations, he passed for lieutenant in 1762, and was then lent for service in Portugal, against which the allied houses of Bourbon had declared war. After the peace he was appointed as master's mate of the Dolphin with Commodore John Byron [q. v.], and again as lieutenant of the Swallow with Captain Philip Carteret [q. v.] Towards the end of 1769 he was appointed to the Swift with Captain George Farmer [q. v.], with whom he returned to England in the Favourite. He was directly afterwards appointed to the Princess Amelia, going out to Jamaica with Sir George Rodney's flag. In 1777 he served in the Levant frigate with Captain George Murray in the Mediterranean; in 1779 he was selected by Rodney as first lieutenant of his flagship, the Sandwich, and, on the capture of the Spanish convoy off Cape Finisterre on 9 Jan. 1780, was promoted to command the Guipuscoa prize, commissioned as the Prince William. After holding some temporary appointments in the Channel and on the home station, Gower was in November 1781 appointed to the Medea frigate for service in the East Indies. At Cuddalore, on 30 Jan. 1783, she captured the Vryheid, a Dutch ship of 50 guns, lying under the batteries, and apparently trusting for safety to their protection (Beatson, Nav. and Mil. Mem. v. 606), and a few weeks later recaptured the Chaser sloop with important despatches to Suffren. She was afterwards present in the last engagement between Suffren and Sir Edward Hughes [q. v.] off Cuddalore. From 1786 to 1789 Gower served as flag-captain to Commodore (afterwards ​Rear-admiral) Elliot on the Newfoundland station, and from 1792 to 1794 commanded the Lion, taking out to China Lord Macartney and his embassy [see Macartney, George, Earl of Macartney], for which service he was rewarded with the honour of knighthood. In November 1794 he was appointed to the Triumph, one of the ships with Cornwallis in his celebrated retreat, 17 June 1795 [see Cornwallis, Sir William]. During the mutiny at the Nore he hoisted a broad pennant on board the Neptune, one of the ships commissioned for the defence of the Thames, and continued to command her as one of the Channel fleet until his promotion to the rank of rear-admiral on 14 Feb. 1799. He had no further service, but became vice-admiral on 23 April 1804, and admiral on 25 Oct. 1809. He died at Hambledon in Hampshire on 21 June 1814.
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gover, Charles E.

Charles Edward Gover in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
​GOVER, CHARLES E. (d. 1872), folklorist, was son of Thomas Gover of Poplar, Middlesex. In 1864 he was appointed principal and secretary of the Madras Military Male Orphan Asylum at Egmore (Madras People's Almanac, 1869, p. 390). In 1868 he became a member of the Royal Asiatic Society, but withdrew in 1871–2. He died at Madras 20 Sept. 1872. He was a member of the Society of Arts and a fellow of the Anthropological Society. He wrote a pamphlet on ‘Indian Weights and Measures, their condition and remedy,’ 8vo, Madras, 1865. During 1866 he communicated to the Asiatic Society a paper on ‘The Pongol Festival in Southern India’ (Journal, new ser. v. 91–118), where he asserted, without giving any proof, that this festival was a remnant of primitive Aryan life. Another contribution was an account of the moral condition and religious views of the lower classes in southern India, chiefly based on a large collection of popular songs in the ancient Canarese, of which he gave specimens in a poetical English version. He also wrote essays on Indian folk lore for the ‘Cornhill Magazine.’ Under the title of ‘The Folk-Songs of Southern India’ he collected his essays in 1872, 8vo, London. Gover's prose is spirited, but his verse translations are infelicitous. Philologists have discredited his hypothesis that, driven at a very early period into the extreme south, and cut off from intercourse with other peoples, the Dravidian nations have preserved their original vocabulary, and that true Dravidian roots, common to the three great branches, Tamil, Telugu, and Canarese, are pure Aryan.
[Athenæum, 27 July 1872, pp. 111–12, 26 Oct. 1872, p. 531; Annual Reports of Royal Asiatic Society, May 1868 and May 1870, pp. x–xi.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Kitchingman, John

​KITCHINGMAN, JOHN (1740?–1781), painter, was a pupil at Shipley's drawing school and afterwards at the Royal Academy, and was awarded several premiums by the Society of Arts; he exhibited miniatures with the Free Society from 1766 to 1768, and from 1770 was a constant contributor to the Academy exhibitions, sending, besides portraits, figure-subjects and sea-pieces. His ‘Beggar and Dog,’ a subject from Mackenzie's ‘Man of Feeling,’ exhibited in 1775, was mezzotinted on a large scale by H. Kingsbury, and a set of four pictures representing the building, chase, unlading, and dissolution of a cutter, which appeared at the Academy in the last year of his life, was well engraved by B. T. Pouncy [q. v.]; his portraits of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, Mr. Macklin as Shylock, and Mrs. Yates as Alicia in ‘Jane Shore’ have also been engraved. Kitchingman was fond of boating, and in 1777 won the Duke of Cumberland's cup in the annual sailing match on the Thames. He married when very young, but soon separated from his wife and fell into intemperate habits. He died in King Street, Covent Garden, 28 Dec. 1781. Edwards speaks of him as a miniaturist of good abilities.
[Edwards's Anecdotes of Painters; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Graves's Dict. of Artists, 1760–1880; Royal Academy Catalogues.]
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Klitz, Philip

​KLITZ, PHILIP (1805–1854), musician and author, was born at Lymington, Hampshire, 7 Jan. 1805. His father, George Philip Klitz, drum-major of the royal Flintshire militia, and musical composer, was born at Biebrich, Germany, in 1777, and died at Lymington in 1839. In 1801 he married Elizabeth Lane of Boldre (1775–1838), and by her he had a large family, which included six sons, all well-known musicians: (1) Philip; (2) William, organist of St. Michael's Church, Basingstoke, died 31 May 1857; (3) Charles, organist of St. Thomas's Church, Lymington, died 16 Feb. 1864; (4) James Frederick, died at Northampton 2 Oct. 1870; (5) Robert John; (6) John Henry, died 6 Dec. 1880, who by will founded the Widow and Orphans British and Foreign Musical Society. Philip, the eldest, early became a composer of ball-room music. About 1829 he took up his residence at Southampton, where, besides classical music, he produced a variety of ballads, of which the words were frequently his own. He was a brilliant performer on the pianoforte and violin, and in 1831 conducted Paganini's concert in Southampton. His lectures on music, given in literary institutions and other places, were always well attended, and his advocacy of the Hullah system [see Hullah, John Pyke] met with much success. He was first organist of St. Lawrence and St. Joseph's Church, Southampton, and from 1845 to his death of All Saints' Church. In 1838 he printed ‘Songs of the Mid-watch, the Poetry by Captain Willes Johnson, the Music composed for and dedicated to the British Navy.’ These six songs were, by order of the admiralty, reprinted in a work entitled ‘Songs of Charles Dibdin. Arranged by T. Dibdin,’ 1850, pp. 315–20. Besides his musical works, he was the author in 1850 of a book entitled ‘Sketches of Life, Character, and Scenery in the New Forest: a series of Tales, Rural, Domestic, Legendary, and Humorous.’ To the masonic body he gave his support, and his composition, ‘Faith, Hope, and Charity,’ is still introduced at the entertainments of the Hampshire lodges. He was one of the first persons to write songs for the concerts of Ethiopian serenaders. ‘Miss Ginger’ and ‘Dinah Dear,’ both in 1847, became very popular ditties. He died at 24 Portland Place, Southampton, on 12 Jan. 1854. His wife was Charlotte Lyte, a half-sister of the well-known hymn-writer, the Rev. H. F. Lyte. His son, George Klitz, was also a voluminous musical composer.
Klitz's best-known pieces, besides those already mentioned, were: 1. ‘Song of the Spanish Cavalier,’ 1835. 2. ‘I never cast a Flower away,’ 1853. 3. ‘King Alfred in the Danish Camp.’ 4. ‘Napoleon's Grave.’ But it is difficult to distinguish the pieces written by the father, the son, and the grandson.
G. C. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Klose, Francis Joseph

​KLOSE, FRANCIS JOSEPH (1784–1830), musical composer, born in London in 1784, was son of a professor of music, who gave him his first instruction. At a later period Klose studied pianoforte-playing and musical composition under Franz Tomisch, a pupil of Haydn. He was a member of the orchestra of the King's Theatre and of the Concerts of Antient Music, and an instrumental performer of great excellence. But he acquired so large a connection as a teacher of the piano that he gave up most of his public engagements and devoted himself almost entirely to teaching. As a composer he was much esteemed in his day for his pathetic and sentimental ballads; while his pianoforte music was considered excellent for teaching purposes. He died in Beaumont Street, Marylebone, on 8 March 1830, aged 46 (parish register).
Of his numerous published compositions the following proved most popular: 1. Piano, &c. Sonatinas for pianoforte and violin; Instruction book for pianoforte; Grand Sonata for pianoforte, violin, and flute; eight books of selected melodies; Grand Overture and ballets; ‘Les Desguisemens Amoureux,’ for the King's Theatre. 2. Songs.—‘The Rose,’ ‘My Native Land,’ ‘Canst thou bid my heart.’ Klose also published ‘Practical Hints for acquiring Thoroughbass,’ London, 8vo, 1822, which was very popular in its day.
[Dict of Mus. 1824; Georgian Era, iv. 532; Gent. Mag. 1830, pt. i. pp. 472–3.]
R. H. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Kite, Charles

​KITE, CHARLES (d. 1811), medical writer, was a member of the corporation of surgeons in London, and practised at Gravesend, where he died in 1811. Besides contributing to the ‘Memoirs’ of the London Medical Society and other medical journals, he wrote: 1. ‘An Essay on the Recovery of the Apparently Dead,’ 8vo, London, 1788, to which the silver medal of the Humane Society was adjudged. 2. ‘Essays and Observations, Physiological and Medical, on the Submersion of Animals, and on the Resin of the Acoroides Resinifera, or Yellow Resin of Botany Bay. … Select Histories of Diseases. … (Meteorological Tables,’ &c.), 8vo, London, 1795.
[Watt's Bibl. Brit.; Reuss's Alphabetical Reg. of Authors.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Knapp, William

​KNAPP, WILLIAM (1698–1768), musical composer, was born at Wareham, Dorset (Hutchins), in 1698. He was for thirty-nine years parish clerk of Poole, and died there in September (he was buried on the 26th) 1768. He published ‘A Sett of New Psalm Tunes and Anthems in Four Parts, with an introduction to Psalmody after a plain and familiar manner,’ London, 1738, 7th edition, 1762, and ‘New Church Melody,’ London, 1753, with portrait prefixed. To the latter work is added an ‘Imploration to the King of Kings, wrote by Charles I during his captivity in Carisbrook Castle, 1648.’ Both works consist of original compositions, and each contains the long-metre psalm-tune called, after the composer's birthplace, ‘Wareham,’ which constitutes Knapp's chief claim to remembrance. In the first-named publication the tune appears under the title and in the form now known; in the other work it is called ‘Blandford,’ and is printed in common instead of triple time.
[Hutchins's Hist. of Dorset, 3rd ed. 1861–1873, i. 67; Noble's Continuation of Granger, iii. 306; Parr's Church of England Psalmody; information from the rector of Poole.]
J. C. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Knapp, John Leonard

​KNAPP, JOHN LEONARD (1767–1845), botanist, born at Shenley, Buckinghamshire, 9 May 1767, was son of Primatt Knapp, rector of Shenley. Educated at Thame grammar school, Knapp entered the navy, but finding the sea unsuited to his health, resigned and subsequently served successively in the Herefordshire and Northamptonshire militia, becoming a captain in the latter. He lived for a time at Powick, near Worcester, and was then in the habit of making long summer botanical excursions. On one of these he visited Scotland in company with ​George Don [q. v.], and collected several of the rarest species of British grasses. In 1804 he published ‘Gramina Britannica, or Representations of the British Grasses on 119 coloured plates, with Descriptions,’ 4to, the figures being executed by himself. This edition was, with the exception of a hundred copies, destroyed by a fire at Bensley's, the printers, and the book was not reissued until 1842. In 1818 Knapp published anonymously a poem entitled ‘Arthur, or the Pastor of the Village,’ and between 1820 and 1830 a series of articles, under the title of ‘The Naturalist's Diary,’ in ‘Time's Telescope.’ These formed the germ of his most successful work, the ‘Journal of a Naturalist,’ a botanical companion to White's ‘Selborne,’ which was published anonymously in 1829, and went through three editions during his lifetime. He lived till 1813 at Llanfoist, near Abergavenny, and subsequently at Alveston, near Bristol, where he died 29 April 1845. In 1804 he married Lydia Frances, daughter of Arthur Freeman of Antigua, by whom he had seven children; two sons and a daughter survived him.
Knapp became in 1796 a fellow of the Linnean Society, and was also a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. The genus of grasses previously named Mibora by Adanson was called Knappia by Smith, and Rhynchoglossum of Blume was similarly renamed by F. Bauer.
[Proc. Linnean Soc. i. 244; Athenæum, 1845, p. 463; Life-lore, 1889, i. 257.]
G. S. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Masson, Francis

​MASSON, FRANCIS (1741–1805), gardener and botanist, was born at Aberdeen in August 1741. Making his way to London he seems to have obtained some appointment at the Royal Gardens, Kew, for in 1771 or 1772 he was selected by Aiton, the superintendent, as the fittest person to undertake a journey to the Cape for the purpose of collecting plants and bulbs. Masson was the first collector thus sent out by the authorities at Kew.
Making Cape Town his headquarters, he undertook at least three separate journeys into the interior, the first extending from 10 Dec. 1772 to 18 Jan. 1773 ; the second, in company with Thunberg, the Swedish naturalist, lasted from 11 Sept. 1773 to 29 Jan. 1774 ; while the third was begun 26 Sept. and brought to an end on 28 Dec. 1774. Having for the time thoroughly supplied the wants of the gardens from that locality. Masson was sent on a like errand in 1776 to the Canaries, Azores, Madeira, and the West Indies, more especially to St. Christopher. He returned to England in 1781, and remained at home till 1783, when he was despatched to Portugal and Madeira. In 1786, when once more sent out to the Cape, he confined his botanical excursions, by the advice of Sir Joseph Banks, to a circuit of forty miles round Cape Town. He remained there till 1795, when the anticipation of political disturbances drove him home.
Masson spent some two years in England with his friends, and prepared and published in 1796 his well-known book, 'Stapeliæ Novæ, or … new Species of that Genus discovered in the Interior Parts of Africa.' The work was issued in four fasciculi (imp. fol.), and contains many charming coloured plates. In 1798 he set out for North America, where he died at Montreal, about Christmas 1805.
Many plants now common in conservatories were first brought to this country by Masson. The genus Massonia was named after him by Linnæus.
In addition to his work already mentioned, two papers by Masson appeared in the 'Philosophical Transactions:'
* 'An Account of three Journeys from Cape Town to the Southern Parts of Africa,' 1776.
* 'An Account of the Island of St. Miguel,' 1778.
Two papers standing under his name in the Royal Society's list are descriptions of orchidaceous plants sent home by him, which were written by J. Bellenden Ker [q. v.] A collection of his plants and drawings is preserved in the botanical department of the British Museum (Natural History).
A portrait of Masson in oils hangs in the Linnean Society's rooms at Burlington House.
[Rees's Cyclop.; Chalmers's Bio. Dict.; Journ. of Bot.]
B. B. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Massie, James William

​MASSIE, JAMES WILLIAM (1799–1869), independent minister, born in Ireland in 1799, was educated by Dr. David Bogue [q. v.], and began his ministry as a missionary in India. After labouring there from 1822 until 1839, he returned home, and was pastor in Perth, Dublin, and Salford, but subsequently removed to London, where he became secretary to the Home Missionary Society. ​He was an advocate of free trade, the anti-slavery movement, and an ardent member of the union and emancipation societies that were formed during the civil war in America. Massie visited America several times, on the last occasion as one of the deputation appointed to convey to ministers there the address adopted at the ministerial anti-slavery conference held in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, on 3 June 1863. He was also frequently in Ireland in connection with 'revival work.'
Massie died in Kingstown, near Dublin, on 8 May 1869. He was married, and left a son, Milton, and two daughters. He was D.D., LL.D., and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. His portrait by Wageman was engraved by Holl (Evans, Cat. of Engraved Portraits, ii. 274).
Besides numerous pamphlets and sermons Massie published:
* 'Continental India,' 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1840.
* 'Recollections of a Tour: a Summer Ramble in Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland,' 8vo, London, 1846.
* 'The Evangelical Alliance; its Origin and Development,' 8vo, London, 1847.
* 'The American Crisis, in relation to the Anti-Slavery Cause,' 8vo, London, 1862.
* 'America: the Origin of her present Conflict; her Prospect for the Slave, and her Claim for Anti - Slavery Sympathy; illustrated by Incidents of Travel … in … 1863 throughout the United States,' 8vo, London, 1864.
[Massie's Works; Cooper's Regist. and Mag. of Biog. 1869, i. 472, ii. 54; Appleton's Cyclop, of Amer. Biog.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Master, Streynsham

​MASTER, STREYNSHAM (1682–1724), captain in the navy, was the only son of James Master of East Langdon in Kent, by Joyce, only daughter of Sir Christopher Turner, baron of the exchequer. James Master's father, Sir Edward Master (d. 1648), married Audry, eldest daughter and coheiress of Robert Streynsham (Hasted, Hist. of Kent, ii. 803), by whom he had fifteen children, including, besides James, Sir Streynsham Master, governor of Madras [see Langhorne, Sir William]. The name Streynsham is still common in the family (Manchester School Register, Chetham Soc., ii. 33, 263). Master entered the navy under the care of Captain George Byng, afterwards Viscount Torrington [q. v.], who had married his sister, Margaret. He was serving with him as a midshipman of the Ranelagh in 1704, was promoted to be a lieutenant of the Ranelagh, and was severely wounded in the leg by the explosion ​at the capture of Gibraltar. On 5 July 1709 he was promoted by Byng, then commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, to command the Fame, and on 22 March 1709–10 he was posted by Sir John Norris to the Ludlow Castle. In 1712 he was captain of the Ormonde in the Mediterranean; in 1716 and 1717 of the Dragon in the Baltic with Norris and Byng. In March 1718 he was appointed to the Superbe, one of the fleet which went out to the Mediterranean with Byng. In the battle of Cape Passaro, 31 July 1718, Master's share was exceptionally brilliant. The Superbe and Kent together engaged the Real Felipe, the Spanish flagship, till, having beaten her to a standstill, she was boarded and taken by a party from the Superbe, led by Thomas Arnold (1679–1737) [q. v.], her first lieutenant. Master was probably the first ‘private captain who ever had the honour of making a commander-in-chief of so high a rank his prisoner.’ Captain John Macbride [q. v.] had a similar honour off Cape St. Vincent in 1780, as also had Captain Israel Pellew at Trafalgar. After his return to England Master had no further service, dying of a fever, 22 June 1724. He had married, only four months before, Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of Richard, son of Sir Henry Oxenden, first baronet, but left no issue (Wotton, Baronetage, 1771, ii. 428). At the end of last century his portrait was in the possession of Edmund Turner, F.R.S., of Panton House, Lincolnshire.
[Charnock's Biog. Nav. iv. 24; Memoirs relating to the Lord Torrington (Camden Soc.); commission and warrant books in the Public Record Office.]
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Master, Richard

​MASTER, RICHARD, M.D. (d. 1588), physician, was a younger son of Robert Master of Streetend, in the parish of Willesborough, Kent, On 29 Oct. 1533, being fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford, he graduated B.A., proceeding M.A. on 11 May 1537. He was converted from popery by the perusal of the works of Heinrich Bullinger. He seems to have been personally acquainted with Rudolph Walther when Walther visited England in 1537, and Master subsequently corresponded with him. About 1539 lie accepted a benefice in the church of England, but soon afterwards resigned it to the patron because he considered himself ill qualified for the function of a good clergyman. He then betook himself to medical studies at Oxford, and was admitted M.B. with license to practise in 1545 (Foster, Alumni Oxon. 1500-1714, iii. 986). In 1547 lie migrated to Christ Church, proceeded M.D. on 29 July 1555, and was incorporated at Cambridge in 1571. About 1549 he was seized with a fever, which confined him to his bed for more than eighteen months. He was carried in a litter into Kent for a change of air, but while there had a quartan ague of three months' continuance. Admitted fellow of the College of Physicians on 17 March 1553, he was censor in 1556, 1557, 1558, and 1560, elect in 1558, president in 1561, and consiliarius in 1564 and 1583. By patent dated 26 June 1559 he was constituted physician to Queen Elizabeth, with the yearly fee of 100l. 13 March 1562-3 he was made prebendary of York (Le Neve, Fasti, ed. Hardy, iii. 188), and on 6 Jan. 1564-5 the queen by letters patent, for the consideration of 590l. 16s. 4d., granted to him and his heirs the reversion of the site of the late monastery of Cirencester, and of the lands thereto belonging. He was present with the queen at Oxford in September 1566, and was moderator of the physic act kept there before her.
Master died at his house in Silver Street, St. Olave, London, in the enjoyment of a high reputation for professional skill, in January 1587-8 (cf. his will registered in P C. C. 34, Rutland). His wife was Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Fulnetby of Fulnetby, Lincolnshire (Hervey, Visitation of Suffolk, ed. Howard, i. 307), by whom he had seven sons. The eldest son, George (b. 1556 ?), of St. John's College, Oxford, and Lincoln's Inn, M.P. for Cirencester in 1586 and 1588, was father of Sir William Master [see under Master, William]. Thomas (1560-1628), B.D., master of the Temple 1601, was canon of Lichfield 1613, and archdeacon of Salop 1614. Robert (1565-1625), D.C.L., was principal of Alban Hall 1599-1603, chancellor of Rochester and Lichfield, and M.P. for Cricklade 1601. Henry (b. 1566), M.A., was principal of Alban Hall 1603-1614.
Some of Master's letters in Latin and English are among the Lansdowne MSS. in the British Museum (xix. 83, xlvi. 38, cxxi. 19).
[Visitation of Gloucestershire, 1623 (Harl. Soc.), p. Ill; Burke's Landed Gentry, 1886; Cooper's Athenæ Cantabr. ii. 20; Munk's Coll. of Phys. 1878, i. 52; Wood's Fasti (Bliss), i. 122, 143; Lansd. MS. 984, f. 64; Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1500-1714.]
G. G.