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

​FORANNAN, Saint and Bishop (d. 982), was, according to the 'Book of Leinster,' eighteenth in descent from Fiacha Suidhe, brother of Conn the Hundred Battler [q. v.] His clan held the plain of Magh Feimhin, near Clonmel. Forannan was chosen bishop by popular election, and consecrated, according to his 'Life,' in 'the city called in the barbarous dialect of the Irish Domhnach mor,' i.e. Donoughmore, which, it is added, is the metropolis of Ireland. From this Lanigan erroneously inferred it to have been in Armagh. But the 'Book of Leinster,' the 'Lebar Brecc,' and the 'Martyrology of Donegal' all term him of 'Donoughmore in Magh Feimhin,' the territory of his family. In obedience to a vision directing him to go to the Meuse, Forannan, with twelve companions, left Ireland about 969, and, as usual with Irish saints, was miraculously conveyed across the sea. While in search of the appointed place they met Count Eilbert, who had built many churches, and among them one dedicated to St. Patrick. He then led them to Rome, that they might obtain the instruction in monastic learning which they sought for. There Forannan received the episcopal dignity and the title of abbot ; he was ordered to turn aside for further instruction in the Benedictine rule to a monastery named Gorzia. Thence he went to Walciodorus, now Wassor, between Dinant and Givet. The pious emperor Otto heard of his fame, and, after some hesitation in acknowledging Forannan's rank, took the abbey under his protection. Walciodorus had been founded in 945 by Eilbert, and Macallen, an Irishman, was the first abbot. Macallen, on leaving Ireland, had first gone to Peronne, the Irish monastery founded by St. Fursa [q. v.], and there won the patronage of Hersendis, the wife of Count Eilbert. Walciodorus was one of a group of such monasteries supplied with inmates from Ireland. By Forannan's influence a place called Hasteria (now Hastieres) was added to his monastery. He also obtained a village called Gruthen, which he made over to the monastery, in order that its vineyards might supply the monks with wine. Several interpretations of the name Walciodorus have been proposed; some taking it to be from 'vallis decora,' the beautiful valley, others from 'waltz-dor,' the torrent of the wood. Seven years after his arrival Count Eilbert died. He was attended during his illness by Forannan, and was buried in the Basilica ​of Walciodorus. Forannan died in 982. His day is 30 April.
T. O.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Forbes, Alexander (d.1448)

​FORBES, ALEXANDER, first Lord Forbes (d. 1448), was the eldest son of Sir John de Forbes of that ilk. The lands of Forbes in Aberdeenshire gave name to the family, who trace back their ancestors in it to the time of King William the Lion (1165–1214). Sir John de Forbes was justiciar and coroner for Aberdeenshire in the time of Robert III, and leaving four sons was the common ancestor of the families of the Lords Forbes, Forbes Lord Pitsligo, and the Forbeses of Tolquhoun, Foveran, Watertoun, Culloden, Brux, &c. The eldest son, Sir Alexander de Forbes, succeeded to the estates in 1405, on his father's death, and during his time both added considerably to their extent and obtained their consolidation into a barony, with his own elevation to the peerage as a baron of parliament. In 1407 he was one of four knights who went to England to hold a friendly tournament with an equal number of English knights. Wyntoun calls him a knight of Mar, and praises the worthy manner in which he and his comrades upheld the honour of their country on the field of chivalry. In 1419 he formed one of the contingent of Scottish knights who with their followers responded to the appeal of Charles, dauphin of France, to Scotland for help against the English. He took part in the war then going on, and was present at the battle of Beaugé, 22 March 1421. During the same year he visited James I in his captivity in London, and afterwards returned to Scotland, but came again into England as far as Durham in 1423, to convoy James I into his kingdom. Between 1436 and 1442 he was created by James II a lord of parliament, under the title of Baron Forbes. He died in 1448. He married about 1423 Lady Elizabeth Douglas, only daughter of George, first earl of Angus [q. v.], and granddaughter of Robert II. By her, who afterwards became the wife of David Hay of Yester, he left issue two sons and three daughters: (1) James, second lord Forbes, (2) John, provost of the church of St. Giles, Edinburgh, (3) Annabella, who married Patrick, master of Gray, (4) Margaret, who married the laird of Fyvie, and (5) Elizabeth, who married Irvine of Drum. Through his marriage to Elizabeth Douglas his children were heirs of entail to the earldom of Angus.
H. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Forbes, Charles Fergusson

​FORBES, Sir CHARLES FERGUSSON, M.D. (1779–1852), army surgeon, was born in 1779 and educated to the medical profession in London. He joined the army medical staff in Portugal in 1798, was gazetted next year assistant-surgeon to the royals, served in Holland, at Ferrol, in Egypt, the Mediterranean, the West Indies, and through the Peninsular war, having been appointed to the staff in 1808 and made deputy inspector-general of hospitals in 1813. He retired in 1814 with that rank and the war medal with five clasps, and commenced practice as a physician in Argyll Street, London. He had graduated M.D. at Edinburgh in 1808, and joined the College of Physicians of London in 1814, becoming a fellow in 1841. In 1816 he was appointed physician to the newly founded Royal Westminster Infirmary for Diseases of the Eye in Warwick Street, Golden Square, having George James Guthrie [q. v.] as his surgical colleague. In 1827 some difference of opinion arose between Forbes and Guthrie as to the treatment of inflammatory affections of the eye; the subject was noticed in the ‘Lancet’ adversely to Guthrie, who commenced an action for libel against the journal, but abandoned it on learning that Forbes had been subpœnaed as a witness. Having been insulted at the hospital by one Hale Thomson, a young surgeon in Guthrie's party, Forbes challenged the former to a duel. It was fought with pistols on Clapham Common at half-past three in the afternoon of 29 Dec. 1827; when each had fired twice without effect, the seconds interposed, but another encounter was demanded by the principals, which was also harmless. The seconds then declared the ​duel at an end, against the wishes of the parties. Forbes resigned his appointment at the hospital, carrying a number of its subscribers with him. He declined an offer by Guthrie to give him the satisfaction of a gentleman and an officer of the same service, on the ground that the offer was not made until after events at the hospital had been allowed to take their course. He had a considerable practice among a number of families of the nobility, and was much esteemed. His only writings are two small pamphlets of correspondence, &c., on the Guthrie affair (1828), and a brief record of a case of fatal thrombosis of the thigh veins in the ‘Medico-Chirurgical Transactions,’ xiii. (1827). He was a knight of the Crescent, in 1837 was made a Guelphic knight of Hanover, and in 1844 an English knight. He died at Argyll Street on 22 March 1852.
C. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gee, Edward (1565-1618)

​GEE, EDWARD, D.D. (1565–1618), divine, son of Ralph Gee of Manchester, was born in 1565. He entered as servitor of Merton College, Oxford, on 22 Feb. 1582–3, and was afterwards at Lincoln and Brasenose Colleges. He graduated B.A. in 1586, and two years after was elected fellow of Brasenose College. In 1590 he proceeded M.A., in 1598 was chosen proctor of the university, in 1600 took the degree of B.D., and in 1616 that of D.D. On 19 Sept. 1599 he was instituted rector of Tedburn St. Mary, Devonshire, on the presentation of Queen Elizabeth. He was also chaplain in ordinary to James I and a fellow of Chelsea College, appointed to the latter office by Dr. Matthew Sutcliffe, the ​founder. Lord-chancellor Egerton made him his chaplain, and presented him in 1616 to a prebend in Exeter Cathedral. He is characterised by Wood as ‘a person well known for his sincerity in conversation, generality of learning, gravity of judgment, and soundness of doctrine.’ In Prince's ‘Worthies’ and Polwhele's ‘Devonshire’ there is quoted a long epitaph on his wife Jane, who died at Tedburn in 1613. The brass containing the epitaph was removed from the church on rebuilding the chancel, and is now in the possession of the rector. He married again, for at his death, which took place at Tedburn in the winter of 1618, he left a widow named Mary.
Wood ascribes to him a manual of prayers entitled ‘Steps of Ascension to God; or a Ladder to Heaven,’ and states that this was printed in 24mo size, and that the twenty-seventh edition came out in 1677. It is, however, by his nephew, John Gee [q. v.], author of ‘The Foot out of the Snare.’ The first edition is dated 1625, and the initials of the author are on the title-page. After his death his brothers, John, vicar of Dunsford, Devonshire, and George, a minister in Lancashire, edited and published his ‘Two Sermons: One, The Curse and Crime of Meroz. Preached at the Asises at Exon. The Other, a Sermon of Patience, at St. Maries in Oxford,’ London, 1620, 4to. The second of these sermons was preached when he was fellow of Brasenose College.
C. W. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gedy, John

​GEDY, JOHN (fl. 1370), abbot of Arbroath, ‘the worthy abbot of Aberbrothock’ of Southey's ‘Inchcape Bell,’ was in office in 1370 when he entered into an engagement regarding the judge or doomster of the regality. His seal is appended to the act of parliament which regulated the succession to the crown in 1371. The contract between him and the burgesses of Arbroath, dated 2 April 1394, sets forth that, on account of innumerable losses and vexations suffered for want of a port, the abbot and convent shall make and maintain at their expense, in the best situation, a safe harbour for the burgh. The burgesses engage, on the other hand, to clear away the stones and sand, to execute other parts of the work, and to provide a certain portion of the tools required. The burgesses agree to pay to the abbot yearly on the completion of the work three pennies sterling from each rood of land within the burgh in addition to three pennies then paid. The pope's bull conferring on the abbot the privilege of wearing the mitred crown and pontifical vestments was dated 6 July 1396. There is no evidence in the burgh records, or in those of the abbey or elsewhere, that makes any allusion to a bell being placed on the Bell Rock by Gedy or another abbot.
J. G. F.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Geeran, Thomas

​GEERAN or GUERIN, THOMAS (d. 1871), reputed centenarian, was, according to his two credulous biographers, son of Michael Geeran, a farmer, and was born at Scarriff, co. Clare, on 14 May 1766. The same authorities make the following doubtful statements respecting him. He remained at school until his twentieth year, during which time he learnt a little French and Latin, and became a master of arithmetic. On the death of his father he removed to Limerick, where he lived some years, until he enlisted in the army in March 1796. After a voyage of twelve months and two days he landed at Madras, joined the 71st highlanders, and was present in 1799 at the siege of Seringapatam. In 1801 his regiment was sent to Egypt. In 1809 he was present with his regiment at the battle of Corunna, and in 1815 at Waterloo. He returned to England in 1819, and was discharged from the army at Gosport, but without any pension. After this he worked at his trade of a sawyer in various parts of the country. Finally he settled at Brighton, where he made a living by relating his military experiences and dilating on his great age. He died in the infirmary of the Brighton union on 28 Oct. 1871, aged, according to his friends, 105 years and five months.
Mr. W. J. Thoms, F.S.A., investigated this case, and at the Public Record Office, London, obtained access to the original muster-rolls, pay-sheets, and description-rolls of the 71st regiment. From these he established the facts that Geeran had never served abroad with that regiment, and that the regiment had not been in many of the places as mentioned by him. Geeran's case was, on his own applications for a pension, investigated several times by the authorities of Chelsea Hospital, who failed to find any record of his services. However, from the pay-sheets of the regiment it appeared that a Michael Gearyn or Gayran enlisted on 3 March 1813, and deserted on 10 April following. If this were the same person as T. Geeran, as is most likely, he was in the army for about a month only, and at the time of his death was probably about eighty-three. Two lives of Geeran ​were written. The first, published by subscription for his benefit, was entitled ‘Life of Thomas Geeran, a Centenarian, with photograph and autograph. [By H. R. Williams, M.A., Ph. D.] London; Brighton Circulating Library,’ 1870. The second was called ‘Longevity, with Life, Autograph, and Portrait of Thomas Geeran, a Centenarian, Brighton,’ 1871. In these two works, published within two years, appear many notable contradictions.
G. C. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gee, Edward (1657-1730)

​GEE, EDWARD, D.D. (1657–1730), protestant writer, son of George Gee of Manchester, shoemaker, was born in 1657, being baptised at the Manchester collegiate church on 29 Aug. that year. After attending the Manchester grammar school he was admitted a sub-sizar at St. John's College, Cambridge, on 9 May 1676, graduated B.A. in 1679 and M.A. in 1683. He was incorporated in his master's degree at Oxford 4 March 1683–4. Subsequently, after December 1701, he is styled D.D., but the source of that degree is uncertain. He took a prominent part in the ‘popish controversy’ towards the end of James II's reign, in which contest he wrote the following quarto tracts: 1. ‘Veteres Vindicati, in an expostulatory letter to Mr. Sclater of Putney,’ &c., 1687. 2. ‘An Answer to the Compiler of the Nubes Testium,’ 1688. 3. ‘A Vindication of the Principles of the Author of the Answer,’ &c., 1688. 4. ‘The Primitive Fathers no Papists,’ 1688. 5. ‘The Judgment of Archbishop Cranmer concerning the People's Right to, and discreet Use of, the Holy Scriptures,’ 1689. 6. ‘A Letter to Father Lewis Sabran’ (on Invocation of Saints), 1688. 7. ‘A Second Letter to Sabran,’ &c., 1688. 8. ‘A Third Letter to Sabran,’ 1688. 9. ‘A Letter to the Superiours who approve and license the Popish Books in England,’ 1688. 10. ‘The Texts Examined which Papists cite out of the Bible for the Proof of their Doctrine concerning the Worship of Images and Reliques,’ 1688. 11. ‘The Texts examined concerning the Seven Sacraments,’ 1688. 12. Part II. of the same, 1688. 13. ‘The Catalogue of all the Discourses published against Popery during the Reign of King James II,’ 1689. Several of these are reprinted in Gibson's ‘Preservative against Popery,’ and Cardwell's ‘Enchiridion.’ He also published ‘The Jesuit's Memorial for the intended Reformation of England: with an Introduction and some Animadversions,’ 1690, 8vo. This ‘Memorial’ was written by Robert Parsons [q. v.] In 1692 he printed ‘Of the Improvement of Time, a Sermon,’ 1692, 4to.
In May 1688 he was appointed rector of St. Benet's, Paul's Wharf, London, and soon after he was called chaplain in ordinary to William III and Queen Mary. On 6 Dec. 1701 he was installed prebendary of Westminster. Twenty years afterwards, on 9 Dec. 1721, he was instituted dean of Peterborough, but he resigned that office for the deanery of Lincoln, to which he was presented by the crown on 30 March 1722. A few days later he was installed prebendary of Lincoln. At the time of his death he was also incumbent of St. Margaret's, Westminster, and rector of Chevening, Kent. He died on 1 March 1729–30, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
He married, on 25 Jan. 1702–3, Jane, daughter of Henry Limbrey of London and Hoddington in Upton-Gray, Hampshire, and by her had several children, whose names are recorded in the Westminster Abbey registers.
C. W. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Geikie, Walter

​GEIKIE, WALTER (1795–1837), painter and draughtsman, son of Archibald Geikie, a perfumer, was born in Charles Street, George Square, Edinburgh, on 9 Nov. 1795. A nervous fever, which attacked him before he was two years old, left him deaf and dumb for life. His father gave him his earliest education, and afterwards placed him under Thomas Braidwood [q. v.], a successful teacher of the deaf and dumb, with whom he made rapid progress. His path in life was soon indicated by his passion for sketching. Accordingly at the age of fourteen he began to learn drawing from Patrick Gibson, and in 1812 was admitted a student of the Trustees' Academy, of which John Graham was then master. He took to painting in oil with great enthusiasm, but without much success. He began to exhibit in 1815, and contributed largely to the Royal Scottish Academy from its first exhibition in 1827. He was elected an associate of that body in 1831, and an academician in 1834. Most of his pictures are deficient in colour, but those in which he confined himself to groups of figures are less objectionable than his landscapes. There is one, a ‘Cottage Scene, with figures,’ in the National Gallery of Scotland; but his best paintings are a ‘Scene in the Grassmarket,’ 1828, ‘All-Hallow Fair,’ 1829, and ‘Itinerant Fiddlers,’ painted for the Earl of Hopetoun, and now at Hopetoun House, Linlithgowshire. His reputation rests chiefly on his clever sketches and etchings of everyday scenes in and around his native city, which he sought assiduously sketch-book in hand. These are executed with a spirit and dexterity which well convey the humour of the subjects. His first etching was that of ‘John Barleycorn,’ which was executed as a tail-piece to the ballad in David Laing's ‘Fugitive Scottish Poetry,’ 1825. He afterwards etched several other plates for the works of the Bannatyne Club. The first fourteen plates which he etched on his own account were published by himself, but others were sold to publishers, and the whole were eventually collected into a volume of ‘Etchings illustrative of Scottish Character and Scenery,’ with explanatory text, and a biographical introduction by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, and published in 1833. They were republished with additional plates in 1885. Although deaf and dumb, Geikie possessed great social qualities, and his mirthful spirit and love of mimicry made him a great favourite among his brother artists. He died at Edinburgh, after a few days' illness, on 1 Aug. 1837, and was buried in the Greyfriars' churchyard. He left an immense collection of sketches in pencil and Indian ink, the greater number of which passed into the hands of Mr. James Gibson Craig and Mr. Bindon Blood.
R. E. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Farquhar, Robert Townsend

​FARQUHAR, Sir ROBERT TOWNSEND (1776–1830), politician, second son of Sir Walter Farquhar [q. v.], a well-known physician, was born 14 Oct. 1776. Shortly after attaining his majority he was appointed commercial resident at Amboyna, and after holding this post for several years he was named lieutenant-governor of Pulo Penang. At the peace of Amiens in 1802 he was appointed commissioner for adjusting the British claims in the Moluccas, and for the transference of those islands to the Batavian Republic. In 1807 he published ‘Suggestions for Counteracting any Injurious Effects upon the Population of the West India Colonies from the Abolition of the Slave Trade.’ The writer formulated a scheme for supplying the demands of the colonies with agricultural labourers, chiefly by the encouragement of the Chinese to extend their migration to the West Indies, the expense to be met either by the wealthy planters or the government. In 1812 Farquhar was appointed governor and commander-in-chief of the island of Mauritius. He drew up a chart of Madagascar and the north-eastern archipelago of Mauritius, and in issuing this chart to the public anticipated the discoveries of a later period by drawing attention to new fields for British trade. He showed the necessity which existed for ‘penetrating into the great countries of the Mozambique channel and the east coast of Africa.’ During his stay in the Mauritius, Farquhar made determined and successful efforts to grapple with the evils of the slave trade. The traffic was carried on, not by the respectable inhabitants, but by a number of French adventurers, concerned in privateering. Farquhar took vigorous measures to put an end to the traffic, and concluded treaties with Radama, prince of Madagascar, and the Imaum of Muscat. These treaties were scrupulously observed, and the slave trade was eventually suppressed in the Mauritius, though it continued to be carried on in the isle of Bourbon. Farquhar resigned the government of the Mauritius in 1823, and on the voyage home visited Madagascar, to take leave of the chiefs. He was received with great ceremony, and thousands of the natives from the interior brought free-will peace-offerings, as a recognition of the efforts of the ex-governor in behalf of the native population. Upon his return to England, Farquhar was elected to parliament in 1825 for the borough of Newton in Lancashire. In 1826 he was returned for Hythe, and this constituency he continued to represent until his death on 16 March 1830. Farquhar, who was a director of the East India Company, was created a baronet ​in 1821. He married in 1809 a daughter of J. Francis-Louis Latour, esq., of Madras, and was succeeded by his son, Walter Minto Farquhar, M.P. for Hertford, who was born 26 Oct. 1809, graduated at Christ Church, Oxford, and died 18 June 1866 (Foster, Alumni Oxon.)
G. B. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Farquharson, John

​FARQUHARSON, JOHN (1699–1782), jesuit, born in the valley of Braemar, Aberdeenshire, on 19 April 1699, entered the Society of Jesus at Tournay. He completed his theology at the Scotch College, Douay, in 1729, and in October that year landed at Edinburgh to serve the mission. He was stationed at Strathglass, Inverness-shire, where he acquired a thorough knowledge of the Gaelic language. On 2 Feb. 1735–6 he made profession of the four vows. About 1745 he was taken prisoner while celebrating mass, and conveyed to Edinburgh in his sacerdotal vestments. After enduring many sufferings he was restored to liberty. Subsequently to the suppression of his order he lived principally in the valley of Braemar, where he died on 13 Oct. 1782.
He formed an immense collection of Gaelic poetry. The original folio manuscript in his own handwriting he deposited in 1772 in the Scotch College at Douay. Instead, however, of its being carefully preserved, it was suffered to be thrown aside and to perish. The whole of the poems of Ossian were in this collection, and other compositions not known to Macpherson, or, at least, not published by him.
T. C.