OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thompson, John (1647-1710)

​THOMPSON, Sir JOHN, first Baron Haversham (1647–1710), born in 1647, was the son of Morris or Maurice Thomson of Haversham in Buckinghamshire, by his wife Dorothy, daughter of John Vaux of Pembrokeshire. Morris, like his brother, George Thomson (fl. 1643–1668) [q. v.], was a prominent member of Cromwell's government. He made his peace at the Restoration, but ​was accused of supplying information to the enemy during the war with Holland (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1665–6, p. 457). He died in 1671.
His son John was created a baronet on 12 Dec. 1673, and returned to parliament as member for Gatton, Surrey, on 23 March 1684–5. He inherited his father's political and religious opinions, and, throwing himself heartily into opposition to James II, was one of the earliest subscribers to the invitation to William of Orange. He retained his parliamentary seat until his elevation to the peerage on 4 May 1696, as Baron Haversham of Haversham (Returns of Members of Parliament, i. 555, 562, 569, 576). On 2 June 1699 he was appointed a lord of the admiralty, and retained the post until December 1701, when, learning that Thomas Herbert, eighth earl of Pembroke [q. v.], was to be made lord high admiral, he took umbrage and resigned (Luttrell, Brief Historical Relation, 1857, iv. 520, v. 121). Until that time he had been a strenuous whig, and a few months before had espoused the cause of Somers and Montagu with sufficient warmth to provoke the commons to decline further conferences with the lords until he had been punished (ib. v. 60, 61, 64, 66). On resigning office, however, he joined the opposition, and was instrumental in inducing the upper house persistently to reject the Occasional Conformity Bill, which passed the commons three times. On 23 Nov. 1704 he introduced a discussion on Scottish affairs, opposing any concessions to Scottish wishes (ib. v. 490, 492). On 15 Nov. 1705 he compromised both himself and his party by moving the ill-advised address to the queen praying her to call to England the heir-presumptive, Sophia of Brunswick. This step completed her alienation from the tories (ib. v. 612; Stanhope, p. 205). In 1709, although still himself in the position of an occasional conformist, he vehemently opposed the impeachment of Sacheverell, and supported the cry of the church in danger. Haversham died on 1 Nov. 1710 at Richmond, Surrey, and was buried at Haversham.
He was twice married: first, on 14 July 1668, to Frances, daughter of Arthur Annesley, first earl of Anglesey [q. v.], and widow of John Wyndham. She died on 3 March 1704, leaving a son Maurice and six daughters. On the death of Maurice, on 11 April 1745, the titles became extinct. Haversham married, secondly, Martha Graham, a widow, who was buried at Haversham on 13 March 1724.
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thompson, John (fl.1382)

John Tompson in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
​THOMPSON, THOMSON, or TOMSON, JOHN (fl. 1382), Carmelite, was probably born, as Pits suggests, at Thompson, near Watton in Norfolk, where a family of Thompsons was settled (Blomefield). He was educated at the Carmelite house at Blakney, Norfolk, whence he proceeded to Oxford (cf. Wood, Hist. et Antiq. 1674, p. 103, col. 1). He graduated B.D. and attained some fame as a theologian before 1382, when he was one of the two Carmelite members of the provincial council summoned to meet in the Black Friars, London, in May to pronounce judgment on Wyclif's doctrines (Wilkins, Concilia, iii. 158, 165; Netter, Fasciculi Zizaniorum, Rolls Ser., pp. 287, 500). Subsequently he is said to have graduated D.D. and to have devoted himself to the study of philosophy and theology. Villiers de St. Etienne (Bibl. Carmel. ii. 127–8) gives a list of fifteen works by Thompson, and says he wrote 'plura alia,' all of which were preserved in Bale's time (circa 1550) in the house of the Carmelites at Norwich. None are now known to be extant, with the possible exception of a work, 'Ex Trivetho de transformatis,' attributed to Thompson by Bale, and beginning 'Abbas a monacho veneno occiditur;' a manuscript with this incipit is extant in Merton College MS. lxxxv. f. 111, and its full title is 'Tabula Nicolai Trivet super allegorias libri Ovidii de transformatis' (Coxe, Cat. MSS. in Coll. Aulisque Oxon. i. 46; cf. art. Trivet, Nicholas). There is nothing to identify the Carmelite with the John Thomson who died vicar of Leeds in 1430, bequeathing his books to Gonville Hall, Cambridge (Venn, Biogr. Hist. of Gonville and Caius College, p. 5).
[Authorities cited; Lezana's Annales Minorum, iv. 706; Bale's Scriptt. vi. 66; Pits, pp. 449, 526; Lelong's Bibl. ii. 987, 991; Fabricius's Bibl. Lat. Medii Ævi, iv. 445; Tanner's Bibl. Brit.-Hib. p. 718, s.v. 'Tompson;' Villiers de St. Etienne's Bibl. Carmel. ii. 127–8; Blomefield's Hist. of Norfolk.]
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thompson, Matthew William

​THOMPSON, Sir MATTHEW WILLIAM (1820–1891), railway director, born at Manningham in the West Riding of Yorkshire on 1 Feb. 1820, was the son of Matthew Thompson of Manningham Lodge, Bradford, by Elizabeth Sarah, daughter of the Rev. William Atkinson of Thorparch. He was educated at private schools and at Trinity College, Cambridge, whence he matriculated in 1840, graduating B.A. in 1843 and M.A. in 1846. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1847, and for ten years practised as a conveyancing counsel. Having married on 10 May 1843 Mary Anne, daughter of his uncle, Benjamin Thompson of Parkgate, Guiseley, who possessed the controlling influence in the old brewery, Bradford, he retired from the bar in 1857 and went to Bradford to take a part in the management and development of the brewery. Almost immediately he began to take an active share in the conduct of municipal affairs, becoming a town councillor in 1858, an alderman in 1860, and mayor of Bradford in 1862. In 1865 he was elected a director of the Midland railway, and in 1867 was returned as a liberal-conservative borough member for Bradford, with William Edward Forster [q. v.] as his colleague. He was no ardent politician, and did not stand at the general election in 1868; but on the unseating of the conservative member, Henry William Ripley, in March 1869, he again contested the constituency, but was defeated. In 1871 and 1872 he was re-elected mayor of Bradford, and in October 1873 was publicly entertained and a presentation of plate made to him in recognition of his services. In 1879 Thompson became chairman of the Midland railway company, which concern immediately began to reap benefit from his prudent and energetic management. He was also chairman of the Glasgow and South-Western railway, and a director and some time chairman of the Forth Bridge railway company. The sanction of parliament for the erection of the Forth Bridge had been obtained in 1873, but the work was not begun till 1882, when the direction of the policy of the Midland railway company was greatly influenced by Thompson. The shareholders of the Forth Bridge company were guaranteed 4 per cent. on their capital by the North British, Midland, Great Northern, and North-Eastern companies, and the great work was completed in January 1890, and formally opened by the Prince of Wales on 4 March 1890. On this occasion a baronetcy was conferred upon Thompson, in recognition of the ability with which he had helped forward the undertaking.
Thompson resigned the chairmanship of the Midland railway company in 1890, owing to failing health. He died at Guiseley on 1 Dec. 1891, and was buried on 5 Dec. in the churchyard, Guiseley. By his wife, who survived him, he left three sons and two daughters. There is a portrait of Thompson by Mr. Herkomer, R.A., in the possession of the Midland railway company.
[Yorkshire Post; Bradford Observer; Times; Ann. Reg.; Burke's Peerage and Baronetage; private information.]
W. C.-r.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pettyt, Thomas

​PETTYT, THOMAS (1510?–1558?), military engineer, born about 1510, known as the ‘Surveyor of Calais,’ was employed at Calais during the reign of Henry VIII. In 1547 he went to Scotland to report on the condition of some of the castles and fortified places. He was then sent to strengthen the defences of Berwick.
In April 1548 Pettyt accompanied Lord ​Grey, as his chief engineer, when he marched with a strong force to Edinburgh, and thence to Haddington. Pettyt had barely time to place the fortifications of Haddington in a proper state of defence when a combined force of French and Scots fourteen thousand strong attacked the place. The siege was obstinate and protracted. Pettyt had no pioneers nor any skilled labour, and was compelled to trust entirely to the troops composing the garrison for the repair of the old and the execution of the necessary new works of defence. His arrangements, however, were successful. Although the ramparts were much injured, the assailants never ventured to storm; and at length a relieving army, under Lord Shrewsbury, forced the allies to retire, and raised the siege. But Pettyt, who in his zeal had too much exposed himself, was taken prisoner, and his services were so highly valued that Lord Grey exchanged for him the brother of the Lady Buccleuch.
In 1549 Pettyt was employed with Sir R. Cotton in the north of England, under the orders of the Earl of Rutland. In 1553 he was back at Calais, and remained there for the next four years, superintending the important defences of Calais and Guisnes. He was apparently killed at Guisnes when captured by the French in 1558.
The following plans and drawings by Pettyt are in the British Museum: ‘Platt of the Lowe Country at Calais, made in 37 Henry VIII’ (1545–6); ‘Map roughly drawn of the Country of Guynes and Bolenois;’ ‘Map of Fields near Guisnes;’ ‘Map of Town and Castle of Guisnes.’
R. H. V.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pettingall, John

​PETTINGALL or PETTINGAL, JOHN (1708–1781), antiquary, born in 1708, was son of the Rev. Francis Pettingal of Newport, Monmouthshire. He matriculated at Jesus College, Oxford, on 15 March 1725, and graduated B.A. in 1728. He was afterwards incorporated at Cambridge, probably at Corpus Christi College, whence he graduated M.A. in 1740, and D.D. at a later date.
He was for some years preacher at Duke Street chapel, Westminster, and on 3 June 1757 was appointed prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral. On 28 July 1758 he was installed prebendary of Lincoln. On 16 Jan. 1752 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (see list in Bibl. Topogr. Brit. vol. x.), and read three papers before it, viz. ‘On the Courts of Pye Powder,’ ‘On the Gule of August,’ and ‘Observations on an Altar with Greek Inscription at Corbridge, Northumberland’ (Archæologia, i. 190, ii. 60, 92). He died in the autumn of 1781.
Pettingall also published: 1. ‘A Dissertation on the Origin of the Equestrian Figure of the George and of the Garter,’ 1753 (cf. Blackwood's Magazine, xli. 744). 2. ‘The Latin Inscriptions on the Copper Table discovered in the year 1732, near Heraclea … more particularly considered and illustrated,’ 1760, 4to. 3. ‘A Dissertation upon the Tascia or Legend on the British Coins of Cunobelin, and others,’ 1763, 4to. 4. ‘An Enquiry into the Use and Practice of Juries among the Greeks and Romans, from whence the origin of the English Jury may probably be deduced,’ 1769, 4to.
He also translated A. C. F. Houtteville's ‘Discours Historique et Critique sur la Méthode des Principaux Auteurs qui ont écrit pour ou contre le Christianisme,’ with a preface and notes, 1739. Appended to it is ‘A Dissertation on the Life of Apollonius Tyaneus, with some Observations on the Platonists of the latter [sic] school.’
G. Le G. N.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Petty-Fitzmaurice, Henry Thomas

​PETTY-FITZMAURICE, HENRY THOMAS, fourth Marquis of Lansdowne (1816–1866), under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, was the second and only surviving son of Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, third marquis of Lansdowne [q. v.], by his marriage with Lady Louisa Emma Fox-Strangways, fifth daughter of Henry Thomas, second earl of Ilchester. He was born on 5 Jan. 1816 at Lansdowne House, London, and was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He sat in the House of Commons for Calne from 1847 to 5 July 1856, and was a junior lord of the treasury in Lord John Russell's administration from December 1847 to August 1849. In July 1856 he was summoned to the House of Lords in his father's barony of Wycombe, and became under-secretary of state for foreign affairs under Lord Palmerston from 1856 to 1858. In 1859 he was elected chairman of the Great Western Railway Company, which position he resigned shortly after the death of his father on 31 Jan. 1863. He was made knight of the Garter in 1864. He received an offer of office from Lord Derby the day before his death, which took place suddenly on 5 July 1866; he was seized with paralysis at White's Club, and died within a few hours afterwards at Lansdowne House. He was buried in the mausoleum at Bowood.
Lansdowne, unlike his father, took small interest in politics; he possessed, however, an admirable capacity for administrative work, which well fitted him for the post of chairman of the Great Western Railway Company.
He married, first, on 18 Aug. 1840, Lady Georgiana Herbert, daughter of George Augustus, eleventh earl of Pembroke; and, secondly, Emily Jane Mercer Elphinstone de Flahault, baroness Nairne in her own right, eldest daughter of the Comte de Flahault and the Baroness Nairne and Keith, by whom he had two sons. The elder succeeded him as fifth Marquis, and has served the offices of governor-general of Canada, viceroy of India, and secretary of state for foreign affairs. Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice is the second son.
W. C.-r.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Turner, Richard (1753-1788)

​TURNER, RICHARD (1753–1788), author, born in 1753, was the second son of Richard Turner (1724?–1791) [q. v.], by his wife Sarah, only sister of James Greene, barrister-at-law. He matriculated from Magdalen Hall (now Hertford College), Oxford, on 9 Feb. 1773. In 1778 he published ‘An Heretical History, collected from the original authors,’ London, 8vo, a compilation setting forth the origin and doctrines of the various heretical sects of the early Christian world. This was followed in 1780 by ‘A New and Easy Introduction to Universal Geography’ (London, 12mo), issued in the form of a series of letters. The work, which was of an elementary character, reached a thirteenth edition in 1808. Encouraged by the success of this sketch, he brought out three years later ‘An Easy Introduction to the Arts and Sciences’ (London, 1783, 12mo), which was equally popular, and, with various additions and alterations, continued a standard school textbook for some time, reaching a fourteenth edition in 1811. Turner died without issue at Bath on 22 Aug. 1788. He married the widow of Colonel Farrer.
Besides the works mentioned, he was the author of: 1. ‘A View of the Earth as it was known to the Ancients,’ London, 1779, 8vo. 2. ‘An Epitome of Universal History,’ London, 1787, 12mo.
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Turner, Robert (fl.1654-1665)

1904 Errata appended.
​TURNER, ROBERT (fl. 1654–1665), astrologer and botanist, was born at ‘Holshott’ and matriculated from Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1636, graduating B.A. in 1639–40. In 1654 he published ‘Mikrokosmos. A Description of the Little-World. Being a Discovery of the Body of Man,’ London, 8vo. In 1657 he issued ‘Ars Notoria: the Notary Art of Solomon,’ London, 8vo, an astrological treatise, and in 1664 ‘Botanologia. The Brittish Physician: or, The Nature and Vertues of English Plants,’ London, 8vo, a work chiefly devoted to the medicinal virtues of herbs, but containing much curious incidental information. A new edition with a portrait of Turner appeared in 1687. Turner's latest preface is dated from London in 1665, and it is possible that he was one of the victims of the plague in that year.
He was the author of the following translations:
* ‘Ἔσοπτερον Ἀστρολογικόν. Astrologicall Opticks. Compiled at Venice by Johannes Regiomontanus and Johannes Angelus,’ London, 1655, 8vo.
* ‘Henry Cornelius Agrippa his Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy,’ London, 1655, 4to.
* ‘Paracelsus of the Supreme Mysteries of Nature,’ London, 1656, 8vo.
* ‘The Compleat Bonesetter, written originally by Frier Moulton,’ London, 1656, 8vo; 2nd ed. 1665, with portrait [see Moulton, Thomas].
* ‘Sal, Lumen, et Spiritus Mundi Philosophici. Written originally in French, afterwards turned into Latin by Lodovicus Combachius,’ London, 1657, 8vo.
* ‘Paracelsus of the Chymical Transmutation, Genealogy, and Generation of Metals,’ London, 1657, 8vo.
[Granger's Biogr. Hist. iv. 89; Pulteney's Progress of Botany in England, i. 180; Notes and Queries, 1st ser. xi. 467.]
E. I. C.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.268 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 354 | i | 7-8 | Turner, Robert (fl. 1654-1665): for and educated at Cambridge University. read near Saffron Walden, and matriculated from Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1686, graduating B.A. in 1639-40. |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Turner, Matthew

​TURNER, MATTHEW (d. 1788?), chemist and freethinker, was a man of unusual attainments. ‘A good surgeon, a skilful anatomist, a practised chemist, a draughtsman, a classical scholar, and a ready wit, he formed one of a group of eminently intellectual men, who did much to foster a literary and artistic taste among the more educated classes at Liverpool’ (Meteyard, Life of Wedgwood, 1865, i. 300). In 1762, while residing at John Street in Liverpool, and practising as a surgeon, he was called on to attend Josiah Wedgwood [q. v.], and introduced him to Thomas Bentley (1731–1780) [q. v.] He afterwards supplied Wedgwood with ‘varnishes, fumigations, bronze powders, and other chemical appliances’ for his establishment at Burslem (ib. ii. 16, 80). He also introduced Joseph Priestley [q. v.] to the subject of chemistry in a series of lectures delivered at Warrington about 1765 (Rutt, Memoirs of Priestley, 1831, i. 76). He was one of the founders of the Liverpool Academy of Art in 1769, and in that year and afterwards, upon the two revivals of the academy in 1773 and 1783, he delivered lectures upon anatomy and the theory of forms (Hist. Soc. Lancashire and Cheshire, Proceedings and Papers, 1853–4, v. 147, vi. 71, 72).
Turner was a man of powerful and original mind. In politics he was not merely a whig, but a republican, and openly sympathised with the American colonies. He was also an atheist, and, though he did not venture to display his religious views with the same frankness, yet in 1782 he published ‘An Answer to Dr. Priestley's Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever,’ London, 8vo, under the pseudonym of ‘William Hammon,’ in which he attacked Priestley's argument from design with considerable cogency. A new edition was published by Richard Carlile [q. v.] in 1826. Turner's attack drew from Priestley ‘Additional Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever,’ 1782; 2nd edit. 1787. In 1787 Turner attested a codicil in the will of his friend John Wyke (ib. p. 75). His name does not appear in the Liverpool ‘Directory’ for 1790, so that it is possible he died between these two dates.
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Turner, Peter (1542-1614)

​TURNER, PETER, M.D. (1542–1614), physician, son of William Turner (d. 1568) [q. v.], the botanist, was born in 1542. He graduated M.A. at Cambridge, then proceeded M.D. at Heidelberg in 1571, and was incorporated M.D. in his own university in 1575 and 10 July 1599 at Oxford. He practised his profession in London, where, on 4 Dec. 1582, he was admitted a licentiate of the College of Physicians. He was promised on 4 May 1580 the reversion to the office of physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He succeeded Dr. Roderigo Lopez [q. v.], and was in 1584 succeeded by Dr. Timothy Bright [q. v.] He represented Bridport in several of Elizabeth's parliaments (Off. Return), and is said to have zealously advocated the cause of the puritans in the House of Commons (Strype, Whitgift, i. 347). In 1606 he attended Sir Walter Ralegh in the Tower (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1603–1610, p. 307). He married Pascha, daughter of Henry Parry, chancellor of Salisbury Cathedral, and sister of Henry Parry [q. v.], bishop of Worcester, and died in London on 27 May 1614. He is buried near his father in the church of St. Olave's, Hart Street, London, in a coloured tomb of the Jacobean style, on which his effigy kneels in a scarlet gown. Peter Turner (1586–1652) [q. v.] and Samuel Turner (d. 1647) [q. v.] were his sons. He was the author of a pamphlet, ‘The Opinion of Peter Turner, Doct. in Physicke, concerning Amulets, or Plague Cakes,’ London, E. Blount, 1603, 4to (Brit. Mus.), and probably of ‘A Spirituall Song of Praise’ appended to Oliver Pygge's ‘Meditations,’ 1589, 4to.
[Munk's Coll. of Phys. i. 84; manuscript Journal of St. Bartholomew's Hospital; Stow's Survey of London, 1633.]
N. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Turner, Richard (1724?-1791)

​TURNER, RICHARD (1724?–1791), divine and author, born in 1723 or 1724, was the son of Thomas Turner of Great Webly, Worcestershire. He matriculated ​from Magdalen Hall (now Hertford College), Oxford, on 14 July 1748. He became chaplain to the Countess Dowager of Wigton, and on 11 June 1754 was instituted vicar of Elmley Castle in Worcestershire. On 19 June of the same year he was appointed rector of Little Comberton. In 1785 he received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Glasgow University. He died on 12 April 1791 and was buried at Norton-juxta-Kempsey in Worcestershire. He married Sarah, only sister of James Greene, a barrister, of Burford, Shropshire. She died in 1801. By her he had three sons—Thomas and Richard, who are separately noticed, and Edward, a general in the Indian army—and two daughters.
Turner was author of: 1. ‘The Young Gauger's best Instructor,’ London, 1762, 8vo. 2. ‘A View of the Earth: a short but comprehensive System of Modern Geography,’ London, 1762, 8vo. 3. ‘Plain [sic] Trigonometry rendered easy and familiar by Calculations in Arithmetic only,’ London, 1765, fol.; new ed. 1778. 4. ‘View of the Heavens, being a System of Modern Astronomy,’ London, 1783, fol. 5. ‘The Young Geometrician's Companion,’ London, 1787, 12mo. 6. ‘An Account of a System of Education,’ London, 1791, 8vo.
Turner's portrait, painted by Albert, was engraved by Stainier in 1787.
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sherington, William

​SHERINGTON or SHERRINGTON, Sir WILLIAM (1495?-1553), vice-treasurer of the mint at Bristol. [See Sharington.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sherley

​SHERLEY. [See also 'Shirley'.]