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

​MAURICE, WILLIAM (fl. 1640–1680), Welsh antiquary, was a gentleman of good family and landed property, and lived at Cevnybraich, in the parish of Llansilin, Denbighshire, where he built a library in which he spent most of his time studying Welsh literature. He was an industrious collector and transcriber of Welsh manuscripts, and his collection is preserved at Wynnstay; a chronological account of the civil war in North Wales from his notebook was published in the ‘Archæologia Cambrensis,’ i. 33-41. He died between 1680 and 1690.
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Maurice (d.1107)

​MAURICE (d. 1107), bishop of London, chaplain and chancellor to William the Conqueror, was appointed by him to the see of London, vacated by the death of Hugh of Orival, at the memorable council held at Gloucester (Christmas 1085–6). At the same time two other royal chaplains, William Beaufeu [q. v.] and Robert de Limesey were appointed respectively to the sees of Thetford and Chester (Lichfield) (Symeon Dunelm. ii. 213). Maurice was consecrated by Lanfranc at Winchester, 5 April 1086, having been previously ordained priest by him at Chichester, 19 March (Epp. Lanfranc, p. 24). Maurice was an early friend of Ranulf Flambard (ib. p. 135), and his moral character was, like Flambard's, open to grave reproach. Sober with regard to other pleasures, according to William of Malmesbury, his fondness for the female sex was carried to an extent unbefitting a bishop. He excused his licentiousness as a medical prescription, essential to his health (Malmesbury, Gesta Pontiff. p. 145). He attended William Rufus's first court at Westminster at Christmas 1087 (Henry of Huntingdon, p. 211; Freeman, William Rufus, i. 19). In 1094 he had a controversy with Anselm as to his right as metropolitan to consecrate the newly built church of Harrow, in the diocese of London, which by the verdict of Wulfstan of Worcester, then ‘one and alone of the ancient fathers of the English,’ was decided in favour of the primate (Eadmer, p. 22; Anselmi Epp. iii. 19; Freeman, u. s. p. 440). In the absence of Anselm, Maurice, as the highest suffragan of his province, crowned Henry I at Westminster, 5 Aug. 1100 (Hoveden, i. 157; Henry of Huntingdon, p. 233; Orderic, p. 783 B; Freeman, ii. 350), and witnessed the charter he put forth (Stubbs, Select Charters, p. 98; Freeman, u. s. p. 358). He also attended the council at Westminster, 29 Sept. 1102, as one of Anselm's assessors (Malmesbury, p. 118; Symeon Dunelm. ii. 235). The chief work which signalised the episcopate of Maurice was the commencement of his ca​thedral church of St. Paul's, on a scale that rendered it ultimately the vastest of all the cathedrals of England, by which, and by the general efficiency of his rule, his faulty moral character, ‘vir moribus non usquequaque probatissimis,’ was held by his contemporaries to be atoned for (Malmesbury, p. 145). He died 26 Sept. 1107.
[Symeon of Durham, i. 135, ii. 213, 235; Hoveden, i. 157, 160, 164, ii. 213, 235, 239; William of Malmesbury's Gesta Pontiff. pp. 118, 145; Henry of Huntingdon, pp. 208, 211, 233, 236, 316; Diceto, i. 211, 218, 233; Matt. Paris's Hist. Angl. i. 32, 308.]
E. V.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Maurice (fl.1210)

Meurig in the ODNB.
​MAURICE (fl. 1210), epigrammatist, generally styled Morganensis and Morganius, was a native of Glamorgan. Giraldus Cambrensis, who describes him as a resident in Glamorgan and calls him ‘vir bonus et copiose litteratus,’ says he was the brother of Clement, abbot of Neath, and narrates a vision attributed to him (‘De Principis Instructione,’ dist. iii. cap. 28, in Giraldi Camb. Opera, Rolls ed. viii. 310). According to Bale (1st ed. fol. 98a), he wrote a volume of epigrams (cf. Giraldus loc. cit.) and several works ‘in patrio sermone.’
Maurice is probably to be identified with Meuryg (fl. 1250), treasurer of Llandaff, who is said (in Iolo MSS. pp. 222, 638), on the authority of Iago ab Dewi [q. v.], to have been the author of ‘Y Cwtta Cyfarwydd,’ and of a ‘History of the whole Isle of Britain,’ a ‘Book of Proverbs,’ ‘Rules of Welsh Poetry,’ ‘Welsh Theology,’ and a Welsh translation of the Gospel of St. John (with a commentary). Iago ab Dewi declares that the last work was at Abermarlais, Carmarthenshire, a century before his time. No trace of these works has, it is believed, been found. The existing copy of ‘Y Cwtta Cyfarwydd’ (Hengwrt MS. 34; cf. the extracts in Iolo MSS. p. 336, and Y Cymmrodor, ix. 325) was written about 1445, and according to the Glamorgan tradition of the seventeenth century, by Gwilym Tew, the poet (Arch. Cambr. for 1869, p. 218); but it may of course have been largely copied from an older manuscript. Meuryg is improbably said (in Williams, Eminent Welshmen, s.v., but on what authority is unknown) to have died in 1290; the date is far too late.
[Works cited as above; Owen's Pembrokeshire, pt. i. p. 232, pt. ii. note(s).]
D. Ll. T.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Mawe, John

​MAWE, JOHN (1764–1829), mineralogist, was born in Derbyshire in 1764. In early life he appears to have spent fifteen years at sea. About the end of the century he made a tour of most of the mines in England and Scotland, collecting minerals for the cabinet of the king of Spain.
In August 1804 he started on a voyage to Rio de la Plata. He had reached Cadiz when war broke out between England and Spain, and he was blockaded in the town where he was taken ill and nearly died. He sailed from Cadiz in March 1805 for Montevideo, and on reaching that town was imprisoned as an English spy. He procured his liberty soon after, but was interned, and did not obtain his release till the capture of Montevideo by General Beresford in 1806. He accompanied the expedition under General Whitelocke to Buenos Ayres, and on his return to Montevideo purchased a schooner and sailed to Brazil, putting in at various ports on the way. He was well received in Brazil by the prince regent, Dom Pedro, who gave him permission to visit the diamond mines of Minas Geraes and other parts of the interior during 1809-10, and also granted him access to the government archives.
Mawe returned to London in 1811, and opening a shop in the Strand, close to Somerset House, became well known as a practical mineralogist. He died in London on 26 Oct. 1829. A tablet to his memory is in Castleton church, Derbyshire. The business was afterwards carried on by James Tennant [q. v.] the mineralogist.
Mawe's principal work was the account of his South American voyage, 'Travels in the Interior of Brazil,' 4to, London, 1812; Philadelphia, 1816; 2nd edit. 8vo, 1823. He also wrote:
* 'The Mineralogy of Derbyshire,' 8vo, London, 1802.
* 'A Treatise on Diamonds and Precious Stones,' 8vo, ​London, 1813; 2nd ed. 1823.
* ‘A Catalogue of Minerals,’ 12mo, London, 1815.
* ‘A Descriptive Catalogue of Minerals,’ &c., 8vo, London, 1816; 4th edit. 12mo, London, 1821; reissued in 1823.
* ‘Familiar Lessons on Mineralogy and Geology,’ 12mo, London, 1819; 10th edit. 12mo, 1828.
* ‘Amateur Lapidary's Guide,’ 3rd edit. 8vo, London, 1823; 12mo, London, 1827.
* ‘Instructions for the use of the Blow-pipe and Chemical Tests,’ 4th edit. 12mo, London, 1825.
* ‘The Voyager's Companion or Shell-Collector's Pilot,’ 16mo, London, 1821; 4th edit. 1825.
* ‘The Linnæan System of Conchology,’ 8vo, London, 1823.
He edited the 2nd edit, of ‘Wodarch's Introduction to … Conchology,’ 8vo, London, 1822, and wrote a paper on ‘The Occurrence of Diamonds, &c., in Brazil' for Gilbert's ‘Annalen’ lix. (1818), besides one ‘On the Tourmaline and Apatite of Devonshire’ for the ‘Quart. Journ. of Science,’ iv. (1818). He appears also to have issued at some time ‘Directions to Captains of Ships, Officers, and Travellers; particularly to those engaged in the South Sea Fishery’ (for collecting shells). A manuscript paper ‘On a Gold Mine in South America’ is preserved in the library of the Geological Society.
[Appleton's Cyclop, of American Biog.; Mawe's Works, Nos. 1, 8, and Travels in Brazil. Rose and others wrongly give his Christian name as Joseph.]
B. B. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Peterson, Robert

​PETERSON, ROBERT (fl. 1600), translator, was a member of Lincoln's Inn. He published: 1. A translation of ‘Galateo,’ the celebrated treatise on manners written by Giovanni della Casa, archbishop of Benevento. This translation, now very rare, is entitled ‘Galateo of Maister John della Casa, Archbishop of Beneuenta. Or rather a treatise of the manners and behaviours it ​behoveth a man to use and eschewe in his familiar conversation. A worke very necessary and profitable for all Gentlemen or other. First written in the Italian tongue, and now done into English. Imprinted at London for Raufe Newbery,’ 1576. The book is dedicated to ‘my singular good Lord, the Lord Robert Dudley, Earle of Leycester,’ and contains dedicatory verses to the translator in Italian by F. Pucci and A. Citolini; in Latin sapphics by Edward Cradock [q. v.]; in English by Thomas Drant [q. v.], Thomas Browne, and one J. Stoughton. It was reprinted privately in 1892, with introduction by H. J. Reid. 2. ‘A Treatise concerning the Causes of the Magnificence and Greatnes of Cities, Devided into three bookes by Sig. Giovanni Botero, in the Italian Tongue, now done into English. At London, Printed by T. P. for Richard Ockould and Henry Tomes,’ 1606. Dedicated to ‘my verie good Lord, Sir Thomas Egerton, Knight’ (Watt, Bibl. Brit.) The original was published at Milan, 1596. From the dedications it appears that Peterson had received favours from the Earl of Leicester and Lord Ellesmere. Copies of both works are in the British Museum.
E. C. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pether, Abraham

​PETHER, ABRAHAM (1756–1812), landscape-painter, a cousin of William Pether [q. v.], was born at Chichester in 1756. In childhood he showed a great talent for music, and at the age of nine played the organ in one of the Chichester churches. Adopting art as his profession, he became a pupil of George Smith, whom he greatly surpassed. He painted river and mountain scenery, with classical buildings, in a pleasing though artificial style, somewhat resembling that of Wilson; but his reputation rests on moonlight subjects, which earned him the sobriquet of ‘Moonlight’ Pether. He painted with fine feeling and harmony of colour the combination of moonlight and firelight, as in ‘Eruption of Vesuvius,’ ‘Ship on Fire in a Gale at Night,’ ‘An Ironfoundry by Moonlight,’ &c. Pether was a large exhibitor with both the Free and the Incorporated Societies from 1773 to 1791, and at the Royal Academy from 1784 to 1811. His ‘Harvest Moon,’ which was at the Academy in 1795, was highly praised at the time. He had an extensive knowledge of scientific subjects, and in his moonlight pictures the astronomical conditions are always correctly observed. He was also a clever mechanic, constructing optical instruments for his own use, and lectured on electricity. Although his art was popular, Pether was never able to do more than supply the daily wants of his large family, and when attacked by a lingering disease, which incapacitated him for work and eventually caused his death, he was reduced to great poverty. He died at Southampton on 13 April 1812, leaving a widow and nine children quite destitute; and the fact that they were unable to obtain any assistance from the Artists' Benevolent Fund was made the occasion of a fierce attack upon the management of that society. Abraham Pether is known among dealers as ‘Old’ Pether, to distinguish him from his son Sebastian [q. v.], who is noticed separately.
Thomas Pether (fl. 1781), who was probably a brother of Abraham—as, according to the catalogues, they at one time lived together—was a wax modeller, and exhibited portraits in wax with the Free Society from 1772 to 1781.
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Peters, Charles (1690-1774)

​PETERS, CHARLES (1690–1774), Hebrew scholar, born at Tregony, Cornwall, on 1 Dec. 1690, was the eldest child of Richard Peters of that place. The statement in the ‘Parochial History of Cornwall’ (iii. 203–4), that his ancestor was an Antwerp merchant who fled to England to escape persecution, may be dismissed from consideration. He was educated at Tregony school under Mr. Daddo, and matriculated from Exeter College, Oxford, on 3 April 1707, graduating B.A. 27 Oct. 1710, M.A. 5 June 1713, and being a batteler of his college from 8 April 1707 to 20 July 1713. Having been ordained in the English church, he was curate of St. Just in Roseland, Cornwall, from 1710 to 1715, when he was appointed by Elizabeth, baroness Mohun, to the rectory of Boconnoc in that county. He remained there until 1723, and during his incumbency built the south front of the old parsonage-house, with the apartments behind it. On 10 Dec. 1723 Peters was instituted to the rectory of Bratton-Clovelly, Devonshire, and in November 1726 was appointed to the rectory of St. Mabyn in his native county, holding both preferments until his death. To the poor of St. Mabyn he was very charitable; and, being himself unmarried, he educated the two eldest sons of his elder brother. He died at St. Mabyn on 11 Feb. 1774, and was buried in the chancel of the parish church on 13 Feb. A portrait of him in oils belonged to Arthur Cowper Ranyard [q. v.]
Peters knew Hebrew well (by the enthusiastic Polwhele he was called ‘the first Hebrew scholar in Europe’), and at St. Mabyn he was able to pursue his studies without interruption. In 1751 he published ‘A Critical Dissertation on the Book of Job,’ wherein he criticised Warburton's account, proved the book's antiquity, and demonstrated that a future state was the popular belief of the ancient Jews or Hebrews. A second edition, corrected and with a lengthy preface of ninety pages, appeared in 1757; the preface was also issued separately. Warburton, in the notes to the ‘Divine Legation of Moses,’ always wrote contemptuously of Peters. The retort of Bishop Lowth in the latter's behalf, in his printed letter to Warburton (1765), was that ‘the very learned and ingenious person,’ Mr. Peters, had given his antagonist ‘a Cornish hug,’ from which he would be sore as long as he lived. Peters published in 1760 ‘An Appendix to the Critical Dissertation on Job, giving a Further Account of the Book of Ecclesiastes,’ with a reply to some of Warburton's notes; and in 1765 he was putting the finishing touches to a more elaborate reply, which was never published, but descended to his nephew with his other manuscripts.
After the death of Peters, in accordance with his desire—expressed two years previously—a volume of his sermons was printed in 1776 by his nephew Jonathan, vicar of St. Clement, near Truro. Some extracts from the private prayers, meditations, and letters of Peters are in Polwhele's ‘Biographical Sketches’ (i. app. pp. 17–28).
W. P. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Peters, Charles (1695-1746)

​PETERS, CHARLES, M.D. (1695–1746), physician, son of John Peters of London, was born in 1695. He matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford on 31 March 1710, graduated B.A. in 1713 and M.A. not till 1724. ​Dr. Richard Mead [q. v.] encouraged him to study medicine, and lent him a copy of the rare editio princeps, printed at Verona in 1530, of that Latin poem of Hieronymus Frascatorius entitled ‘Syphilis,’ which has provided a scientific name for a long series of pathological phenomena. Peters published an edition of ‘Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus’ in 1720. It is a quarto finely printed by Jonah Bowyer at the Rose in St. Paul's Churchyard, and has a portrait of Frascatorius engraved by Vertue for frontispiece. The contents of the dedication to Mead indicate that the mind of the editor was more occupied with literary than with scientific questions, for the only allusion he makes to the contents of the poem is to offer emendations of three lines (bk. ii. ver. 199 and 428 and bk. iii. ver. 41). He is said to have graduated M.D. at Leyden in 1724, but his name does not appear in Peacock's ‘Index.’ He was elected a Radcliffe travelling fellow on 12 July 1725, and graduated M.B. and M.D. at Oxford, on 8 Nov. 1732. In 1733 he was appointed physician-extraordinary to the king, and was elected a fellow of the College of Physicians of London on 16 April 1739, in which year he was also appointed physician-general to the army. He was physician to St. George's Hospital from April 1735 to February 1746, and was a censor in the College of Physicians in 1744; but illness prevented him from serving his full period. He published in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ (vol. xliii.) in 1744–5, ‘The Case of a Person bit by a Mad Dog,’ a paper on hydrophobia, in which he expresses a favourable opinion as to the usefulness of warm baths in that disease. He died in 1746. There are two letters in his hand to Sir Hans Sloane in the British Museum referring to his fellowship.
N. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Peters, Mary

​PETERS, Mrs. MARY (1813–1856), hymn-writer, daughter of Richard Bowly and his wife, Mary Bowly, was born at Cirencester in Gloucestershire on 17 April 1813. While very young she married John McWilliam Peters, sometime rector of Quenington in the same county, and afterwards vicar of Langford in Oxfordshire. The death of her husband in 1834 left her a widow at the age of twenty-one. She found solace in the writing of hymns and other literary pursuits. She wrote a work in seven volumes, called ‘The World's History from the Creation to the Accession of Queen Victoria.’ It is, however, as a hymn-writer that Mrs. Peters will be best remembered. She contributed hymns to the Plymouth Brethren's ‘Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs,’ London, 1842, 8vo. Her poetical pieces, fifty-eight in number, appeared in 1847 under the title ‘Hymns intended to help the Communion of Saints’ (London). Selections from this volume are found in various hymnals both of the established and nonconformist churches, such as ‘The Hymnal Companion,’ Snepp's ‘Songs of Grace and Glory,’ Windle's ‘Church and Home Psalter and Hymnal,’ ‘The General Hymnary,’ &c. Among her most admired hymns are those beginning: ‘Around Thy table, Holy Lord,’ ‘Holy Father, we address Thee,’ ‘Jesus, how much Thy name unfolds!’ and ‘Through the love of God our Saviour.’ The first and last named are in very general use.
Mrs. Peters died at Clifton, Bristol, on 29 July 1856.
W. B. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Peters, Thomas

​PETERS or PETER, THOMAS (d. 1654), puritan divine, was son of Thomas Dyckwoode, alias Peters, who married at Fowey, Cornwall, in June 1594, Martha, daughter of John Treffry of Treffry, and elder brother of Hugh Peters [q. v.] He matriculated from Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1610, and graduated B.A. on 30 June 1614, M.A. 6 April 1625. For many years, probably from 1628, he was vicar of Mylor in his native county of Cornwall. He emigrated to America, arriving in New England, according to one historian, on 15 July 1639 ​(Felt, Eccl. Hist. New England, i. 410, 564, 592–3, 615); but the more probable statement is that he was driven out of Cornwall by the troops of Sir Ralph Hopton in 1643, and reached America in 1644. Peters was at Saybrook, Connecticut, in the summer of 1645, and afterwards with John Winthrop the younger at Pequot plantation. When this became the permanent settlement of New London, he was appointed in May 1646 its first minister; and, as he ‘intended to inhabite in the said plantation,’ was associated by the court at Boston with Winthrop in its management. A letter from him complaining of the Indian chief Uncus, ‘for some injurious hostile insolencies,’ was read before the commissioners of the United Colonies in September 1646, and in the following July he was reproved; but the commissioners did not think that the complaints justified any stronger proceedings (Records of New Plymouth, ed. Pulsifer, i. 71–3, 99–100). Meantime Peters had been ill; and on an invitation from his old parish in Cornwall had sailed from Boston in December 1646. He returned to England by way of Spain, leaving Nantucket on 19 Dec. 1646, and arriving at Malaga on 19 Jan. 1646–7, after ‘a full month of sad storms.’ Peters again ministered at Mylor, and died there in 1654, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. A gravestone in the churchyard records his memory. His wife, who is said to have been a sister of Winthrop, did not accompany him to New England.
Peters is described by Cotton Mather as ‘a worthy man and a writer of certain pieces’ (Magnalia Christi Americana, bk. iv. chap. i.). He himself, in the preface to his sermon, ‘A Remedie against Ruine,’ preached before the judges at the Launceston assizes, 17 March 1651–2, says that he ‘never before peep'd in the Presse beyond the letters of my name.’ A long preface deals with his differences with the Rev. Sampson Bond, rector of Mawgan in Meneague, Cornwall, whom he had accused of unsoundness, and of having stolen about a fourth of a sermon from the Rev. Daniel Featley [q. v.] The charge resulted in an accusation against Peters of perjury. But the case ended in a victory for him. Letters from Peters are in Winthrop's ‘History of New England,’ 1853 edit. pp. 463–4; the ‘New England Historical and Genealogical Register,’ ii. 63–4; and in the ‘Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections,’ 3rd ser. i. 23–4, 4th ser. vi. 519–20, viii. 428–33. He is said to have been of a milder disposition than his brother Hugh.
W. P. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Petersdorff, Charles Erdman

​PETERSDORFF, CHARLES ERDMAN (1800–1886), legal writer, third son of Christian F. Petersdorff, furrier, of 14 Gough Square, London, and of Ivy House, Tottenham, was born in London on 4 Nov. 1800. He became a student of the Inner Temple on 24 Sept. 1818, and was called to the bar on 25 Jan. 1833. He was for some time one of the counsel to the admiralty, and by order of the lords of the admiralty he compiled a complete collection of the statutes relating to the navy, to shipping, ports, and harbours. He was created a serjeant-at-law on 14 June 1858, and nominated, on 1 Jan. 1863, a judge of the county courts, circuit 57 (north Devonshire and Somerset), an appointment which he resigned in December 1885. He was killed by accidentally falling into the area of his house, 23 Harley Street, London, on 29 July 1886. On 15 Nov. 1847 he married Mary Anne, widow of James Mallock, of 78 Harley Street, London.
He was the author of: 1. ‘A General Index to the Precedents in Civil and Criminal Pleadings from the Earliest Period,’ 1822. 2. ‘A Practical Treatise on the Law of Bail,’ 1824. 3. ‘A Practical and Elementary Abridgment of Cases in the King's Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, and at Nisi Prius from the Restoration,’ 1825–30, 15 vols. 4. ‘A Practical and Elementary Abridgment of the Common Law as altered and established by the Recent Statutes,’ 1841–1844, 5 vols.; 2nd edit. 6 vols. 1861–4; with a ‘Supplement,’ 1870; and a second edition of the ‘Supplement,’ 1871. 5. ‘The Principles and Practice of the Law of Bankruptcy and Insolvency,’ 1861; 2nd edit. 1862. 6. ‘Law Students' and Practitioners' Commonplace Book of Law and Equity. By a Barrister,’ 1871. 7. ‘A Practical Compendium of the Law of Master and Servant, and especially of Employers and Workmen, under the Acts of 1875,’ 1876.
G. C. B.