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

​BRIGGS, Sir JOHN THOMAS (1781–1865), accountant-general of the navy, of an old Norfolk family, a direct descendant of Dr. William Briggs [q. v.], and, in a collateral line, of Professor Henry Briggs [q. v.], was born in London on 4 June 1781. He entered early into the civil service of the admiralty, and at the age of twenty-five was appointed secretary to the 'commission for revising and digesting the civil affairs of the navy,' under the presidency of Lord Barham, in which capacity he was the virtual author of the voluminous reports issued by the commission, 1806-9. When the work of this commission was ended, Briggs was appointed assistant-secretary of the victualling board, a post which he held till, in 1830, he was selected by Sir James Graham, then first lord of the admiralty, as his private secretary; but was shortly afterwards advanced to be commissioner and accountant-general of the victualling board. That board was abolished in 1832, and Briggs was appointed accountant-general of the navy. He held this office for the next twenty-two years, during which term many and important improvements were made in the system of accounts, in the framing of the naval estimates, in the method of paying the seamen, and, more especially, in enabling them to remit part of their pay to their wives and families. In 1851 Briggs received the honour of knighthood in acknowledgment of his long and efficient departmental service, from which he retired in 1864. He died at Brighton on 3 Feb. 1886. His wife, to whom he was married in 1807, survived him several years, and died at the age of ninety, on 24 Dec. 1873. His son, Sir John Henry Briggs, chief clerk at the admiralty, was knighted on his retirement in 1870, after a service of forty-two years.
[Gent. Mag. 3rd ser. xviii. 305; obituary notice, Morning Post, 8 Feb. 1865, and of Lady Briggs. ib., 3 Jan. 1874; leading art. in Daily Telegraph, 6 Jan. 1874; information contributed by Sir J. H. Briggs.]
J. K. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Briggs, William

​BRIGGS, WILLIAM (1642–1704), physician and oculist, was born at Norwich, for which city his father, Augustine Briggs, was four times M.P. At thirteen he was entered at Corpus Christi, Cambridge, under Tenison, became a fellow of his college in 1668, and M.A. in 1670. After some years spent in tuition and in studying medicine, he went to France and attended the lectures of Vieussens at Montpellier, under the patronage of Ralph Montagu (afterwards Duke of Montagu), then British ambassador to France. To him Briggs dedicated his 'Ophthalmographia,' an ​anatomical description of the eye, published at Cambridge in 1676, on his return from France. He proceeded M.D. at Cambridge in 1677, and was elected a fellow of the London College of Physicians in 1682. In the latter year the first part of his 'Theory of Vision' was published by Hooke (Philosophical Collections, No. 6, p. 167); the second part was published in the 'Philosophical Transactions' in 1683. The 'Theory of Vision' was translated into Latin, and published in 1685 by desire of Sir Isaac Newton, who wrote a commendatory preface to it, acknowledging the benefit he had derived from Briggs's anatomical skill and knowledge. A second edition of the 'Ophthalmographia' was published in 1687. Several points in Briggs's account of the eye are noteworthy, one being his recognition of the retina as an expansion in which the fibres of the optic nerve are spread out ; another, his laying emphasis upon the hypothesis of vibrations as an explanation of the phenomena of nervous action. Briggs practised with great success in London, especially in diseases of the eye ; was physician to St. Thomas's Hospital 1682-9, physician in ordinary to William III from 1696, and censor of the College of Physicians in 1685, 1686, 1692. In 1689, according to a curious memorial on one sheet preserved in the British Museum, Dr. Briggs was at great expense in vindicating the title of the crown to St. Thomas's Hospital, but was himself dismissed from his post, owing, as he states, to the machinations of a rival physician. From the same sheet we learn that, although he attended the royal household with great zeal for five years, he could get no pay ; and notwithstanding that in 1698 William III promised that he should be considered, this was of no avail. In consequence of these circumstances, apparently early in Anne's reign, he begs for consideration in regard to the hospital appointment. He died 4 Sept. 1704, at Town Mailing in Kent. His son, Henry Briggs, chaplain to George II, and rector of Holt in Norfolk, erected a cenotaph to his father's memory in Holt church in 1737. The inscription is quoted by Munk. His portrait, by R. White, was engraved by Faber.
G. T. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bright, Henry (1814-1873)

​BRIGHT, HENRY (1814–1873), watercolour painter, was born at Saxmundham, Suffolk, in 1814. His talent for drawing was early exhibited, but little encouraged. He was apprenticed by his father to a chemist and druggist at Woodbridge. After serving his time he went to Norwich, and became dispenser to the Norwich Hospital. Whilst yet at Woodbridge he seems to have given to drawing whatever time he could get. The removal to Norwich, throwing him as it did into the company of the then famous artists of that city, was fortunate, as well for the world as for him. The influence of such painters as John Crome, Cotman, the elder Ladbrook, Stark, and Vincent was soon sufficient to make him abandon his bottles for the brush. He gave up his place at the hospital, and came to London to study. Here his talents introduced him to Prout, David Cox, J. D. Harding, and other well-known London painters, and he soon became a member of the Institute of Painters in Water Colours, and later of the Graphic Society. To the exhibitions of the former society he contributed in 1841 and 1844. He then seceded from it, and 'from that time till 1850 was an exhibitor of landscapes in oil to the Royal Academy exhibitions.' He spent more than twenty years in London, and then, his health failing, he retired to Ipswich, where he died on 21 Sept. 1873. During the time of his residence in London he spent a part of each year in travelling, when he painted scenery on the Rhine, the coasts of France and Holland, the Isle of Arran, and the Yorkshire Moors. On one of the continental trips he met J. W. M. Turner, and formed an acquaintance with him which ripened into friendship. The first painting in oil which he exhibited was hung at the Academy in 1845. It was bought by Clarkson Stanfield, R. A. The result of this purchase was an enduring friendship between the two painters. Prout and Harding were admirers of Bright's pictures and sketches. The queen and the prince consort were among his earliest patrons. In 1844 a water-colour painting called 'Entrance to an old Prussian Lawn - Winter - Evening effect' was bought by her majesty, who now possesses several others of Bright's works. As a teacher of his art Bright was for some years very popular, and derived nearly 2,000l. a year from this branch of his profession. Bright's pictures are varied in subject, and usually masterly in manipulation. His colouring is rich and deep. The largest and finest of his pictures (Suffolk Chronicle, 27 Sept. 1873), amongst which is 'Orford Castle,' are in the possession of Mr. Charles T. Maud of Bath.
E. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Briggs, John (1788-1861)

​BRIGGS, JOHN, D.D. (1788–1861), catholic bishop, was born at Manchester on 20 May 1788. He was educated first at Sedgeley Park, and afterwards at St. Cuthbert's College, Ushaw, which he entered 13 Oct. 1804. ​There he began his theological studies, and by 14 Dec. 1804 had received the tonsure and the four minor orders. He was ordained sub-deacon on 19 Dec. 1812, and deacon on 3 April 1813, being advanced to the priesthood on 9 July 1814. For several years he held his place at St. Cuthbert's College as one of the professors. In 1918 he was first sent on the mission to Chester. There he remained in charge for fourteen years until his nomination on 28 March 1832 as president of St. Cuthbert's, when he returned to Ushaw. In January 1833 he was raised to the episcopate as coadjutor of Bishop Penswick, and was consecrated on 29 Jan. 1833 as bishop of Trachis in Thessalia. On the death of Bishop Penswick, 28 Jan. 1836, Bishop Briggs succeeded him as vicar apostolic of the northern district. On 30 July 1840 the four vicariates, created in 1888 by Innocent XI, were newly portioned out into eight by Gregory XVI, Bishop Briggs's diocese being then restricted to Yorkshire, and his title thenceforth being vicar-apostolic of the Yorkshire district. Ten years afterwards, when Pius IX called the new catholic hierarchy into existence, Bishop Briggs was translated on 39 Sept. 1860 to Beverley. Having held that see for ten years, he at length, by reason of his increasing infirmities, resigned it on 7 Nov. 1860, and two months later, on 4 Jan. 1861, died in his seventy-third year at his house in York. On 10 Jan. he was buried in the old parochial church of St. Leonard at Hazlewood, Tadcaster, which among all the parish churches of England has the exceptional peculiarity of having remained uninterruptedly a catholic church ever since its foundation in 1286 by Sir William de Vavasour. The bishop was a count of the holy Roman empire, and a domestic prelate of his holiness, as well as assistant at the pontifical throne, He was remarkable for his lofty and commanding stature, and in his later years had a peculiarly noble and patriarchal presence. His chosen motto, which was justified by his years of episcopal rule, was characteristic, 'Non recuso laborem.'
[Brady's Episcopal Succession, 280. 341, 396-398; Annual Register for 1861, 407; Gent. Mag. January 1861, 232; Hull Advertiser, 12 Jan. 1861, 4-5; Tablet, 12 Jan. 1861, 17, 21.]
C. K.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brent, John

​BRENT, JOHN (1808–1882), antiquary and novelist, was born at Rotherhithe on 21 Aug. 1808, and was the eldest son of a father of the same name, a shipbuilder there, who about the year 1821 removed to Canterbury, and became thrice mayor of the city ​and deputy-lieutenant of the county. His mother was Susannah, third daughter of the Rev. Sampson Kingsford of Sturry, near Canterbury (Gent. Mag. vol. lxxvii. pt. ii. 1074). In his early days he carried on the business of a miller, occupied for many years a seat on the council of the Canterbury corporation, and was elected an alderman, but resigned that position on being appointed city treasurer. Brent died at his house on the Dane John, Canterbury, 23 April 1882. During the course of a long life, he was indefatigable in his attempts to throw light on the past history of the city and county in which he dwelt. He became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in April 1853, and was also a member of the British Archaeological Association and of the Kent Archaeological Society. His contributions to antiquarian literature are mostly to be found in the various publications of these societies. To the forty-first volume of the 'Archæologia' (pp. 409–20) he communicated a paper of value to ethnological science, being an account of his 'Researches in an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Stowting, in Kent, during the autumn of 1860.' In 1855 he had published a revised edition of Felix Summerly's 'Handbook for Canterbury,' and in 1875 there appeared his 'Catalogue of the Antiquities in the Canterbury Museum,' of which he was honorary curator. His work 'Canterbury in the Olden Time,' 8vo, (enlarged edition in 1879), from its research and originality, bears testimony to his unwearied industry and his ability as an antiquarian topographer. Brent also claims notice as a poet and novelist, having published
* 'The Sea Wolf, a Romance,' 12mo, London, 1834.
* 'Lays of Poland,' 12mo, London, 1836.
* 'Lays and Legends of Kent,' 12mo, Canterbury, 1840; second edition, 1851.
* 'Guillemette La Delanasse,' a poem, 12mo, Canterbury, 1840.
* 'The Battle Cross. A Romance of the Fourteenth Century,' 3 vols 12mo, London, 1845.
* 'Ellie Forestere, a novel,' 3 vols. 12mo, London, 1850.
* 'Sunbeams and Shadows,' poems, printed for private circulation, 1853.
* 'Village Bells, Lady Gwendoline, and other Poems,' 8vo London, 1865; second edition, 1868.
* 'Atalanta, Winnie, and other Poems,' 12mo, London, 1873.
* 'Justine,' a poem, 12mo, London, 1881.
A collected edition of his poems was published in 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1884. Numerous tales, poems, and miscellaneous articles from his pen are also to be found in the various magazines devoted to light literature. At the time of the insurrection in Poland, Brent became the local secretary of the Polish Association.
[Information from Mr. Cecil Brent, F.S.A. Journal of the British Archæological Association, xxxviii. 235–6; Guillaumet's Tablettes Biographiques; Kentish Chronicle, 29 April 1882; Times, 29 April 1882; Roach Smith's Retrospections, i. 159.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brendan (490?-573)

​ BRENDAN or BRENAINN, Saint (490?–573), of Birr, which was so called from the abundance of wells there (birr, birra, water), now Parsonstown, in the King's County, was born about A.D. 490. He was son of Neman, a poet, and Mansenna, and belonged to the race of Corb Aulam, great-grandson of Rudhraighe, from whom were the Clanna Rudhraighe. A disciple of St. Finnian of Clonard, he is described in the Life of St. Finnian as 'a prophet in those schools.' He belonged, like the other Brendan (of Clonfert), to the second order of Irish saints, and is sometimes distinguished as Brendan the Senior. He was present at the council in which St. Columba was excommunicated, but was his intimate friend, and is said to have been consulted by him as to the place he should choose for his exile, on which occasion he recommended Hy. The foundation of his monastery of Birr is placed by some immediately before 563, but by others somewhat earlier. In the 'Felire' of Oengus Céle Dé" he is referred to at Nov. 29 as follows:
The royal feast of Brenann of Birr, Against whom burst the sea-level.
Fair diadem, much enduring,
White head of Ireland's prophets.
'Much enduring' is explained 'very great was he in enduring tribulations and troubles, or, in supporting the poor and needy for God's sake.' The note from the 'Lebar Brecc' explains the incident in the second line thus : 'The surge of the sea rose against him when he went thereon, and Brenainn, son of Findloga, caught him by the hand.' The term 'white head' seems to refer to the meaning of his name, for it may be observed that in the popular form of the name (Brendan) the termination is not the word ān, 'noble,' usually the suffix to Irish ecclesiastical names, as Colm-ān, Aid-ān, for the correct form in all Irish authorities is Brenann or Brenainn, of which Brenaind is a later form ; this is interpreted Braen-fhind, or Braen the Fair (Felire, lxxxvi).
His death, which took place in the eightieth year of his age, the night before 29 Nov., has been assigned by Ussher to 571, but by Tighernach to 573, which Dean Reeves thinks more likely. St. Columba is represented as having been aware of his death at the time of its occurrence, and to have seen his soul entering heaven accompanied by angels. 'Get ready the sacred service of the eucharist immediately' (he said to his attendant), 'for this is the natal day of Brendan.' 'Why,' said the attendant, 'do you order the sacred rites to-day, for no messenger has come from Ireland with tidings of that holy man's death ?' 'Go,' said Columba, 'and obey my orders, for last night I saw heaven open and choirs of angels descending to meet the soul of St. Brendan, and the whole world was illuminated by their brilliant and surpassing radiance.' His day in the calendar is 29 Nov.
T. O.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brentford, Earl of

​BRENTFORD, Earl of. [See Ruthven]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brereley, John

​BRERELEY, JOHN. [See Anderton, James.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brenan, –

Beaumont Brenan in the ODNB.
​BRENAN, – (fl.. 1756), is the author of the 'Painter's Breakfast;' a dramatic satire, Dublin, 1756, 12mo. He is also credited with the production of a comedy, entitled 'The Lawsuit,' which Burke is said to have intended to publish by subscription, but which never saw the light. Of his life nothing whatever, is known, except that he was a painter in Dublin. The 'Painter's Breakfast' is a clever work. Pallat, a painter, asks to breakfast some known patrons of art. He then, with the aid of Dactyl, a poet, and Friendly, a comedian, sells by auction as original works some copies of paintings executed by his acquaintance. The proceeds of the sale, after the deduction of the cost of the breakfast and the true value of the paintings, are to be devoted to a fund for the relief of lunatics. The intention is of course to ridicule would-be connoisseurs of art, who neglect modern work, and will hear only of the antique. The characters of Sir Bubble Buyall, Formal (a connoisseur), Lady Squeeze, Bow and Scrape (two hookers-in), and others are well drawn, and the piece has some humour.
J. K.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cross, Michael

​CROSS, MICHAEL (fl. 1630–1660), painter, obtained great renown as a copyist in the reign of Charles I. He is doubtless identical with Miguel de la Cruz, a painter at Madrid, who in 1633 executed copies for Charles I of the principal pictures in the royal galleries at Madrid, in memory of Charles's visit to Spain. According to some authorities he died early, but he was employed by Charles I to copy pictures in Italy, and a story has been handed down that while at Venice he copied a Madonna by Raphael in San Marco so accurately that he was able to substitute his copy for the original picture and bring the original back to England as his own handiwork. There does not seem, however, to be any record of any such picture by Raphael at Venice, and it is not likely that Charles I would be so easily duped. This picture is stated to have been sold at the dispersal of the king's collection to the Spanish ambassador. From the fact of his name being anglicised it would appear that he resided in England, and it is on record that he made copies of Vandyck's ‘Charles I on a Dun Horse,’ Titian's ‘Europa,’ Titian's ‘Venus and Adonis,’ &c. In the catalogue of Charles I's collection there is mentioned ‘A piece of our Lady, copied at the Escurial in Spain, after Raphael Urbin, by Mich. de la Croy.’ This picture may have given rise to the story alluded to above. After the Restoration Cross petitioned Charles II to redeem a promise made to the petitioner while at Caen in Normandy, for the renewal of a pension of 200l. per annum granted him by Charles I during twenty-eight years for services, ‘both in Spaine in coppying of old peeces of famous painters, and in Italie in making newe collections.’
[Redgrave's Dict. of English Artists; Nagler's Künstler-Lexikon; De Piles's Lives of the Artists; Stirling's Annals of the Artists of Spain; Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting; Catalogue of King Charles I's Collection; Fine Arts Quarterly Review, Jan.–June, 1867.]
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cross, Nathaniel

​CROSS, NATHANIEL (18th cent.), was one of the best English violin-makers. He worked at the sign of the Bass Viol in St. Paul's Churchyard, and in Aldermanbury, in the early part of the eighteenth century. He long worked in partnership with Barak Norman, probably from about 1720 to 1740, when the latter died. Their joint label reads, ‘Barak Norman and Nathaniel Cross, at the Bass Violin, St. Paul's Churchyard, London, fecit 172–.’ Prior to this he used a printed label, of which Sandys and Forster record a specimen, which reads: ‘Nathanaeli Crosso Stainero, fecit, No. 2417.’ It is absurd to suppose that he could have made 2417 instruments in his life, and chronology renders it impossible that he should have been a pupil of Stainer. He was principally a maker of violoncellos, which are of a small size, and are varnished a greyish yellow colour, the varnish being of a thin and chippy substance. His work is very good, and most of his instruments have the monogram N. B. (which is found in all Barak Norman's instruments) inlaid in the centre of the back and on the breast under the finger-board. For this reason his instruments are often sold as Norman's; but the work is quite different, and cannot be confused. The monogram may, in fact, be either Barak Norman or their two christian names, Nathaniel and Barak. In the few violins by Cross which we know we find the cross which he printed on his labels stamped in the wood, and as a rule the letters N. C. are branded inside the back. His violins are rather large, and of a high model, resembling that of Jacob Stainer, whom he professed to copy. The bass bar is often made in one piece with the breast instead of cut separately and affixed; his edges are always well sunk in and finished. He was alive in 1751, but the exact date of his death is not known.
[J. M. Fleming's Old Violins; Sandy's and Forster's History of the Violin; instruments exhibited at Inventions Exhibition, 1885.]
E. H.-A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cross, Nicholas

​CROSS, NICHOLAS (1616–1698), Franciscan friar, was a native of Derbyshire. He joined the order of St. Francis in 1641, and was so highly esteemed by his brethren that he was selected four times for the office of provincial, in 1662, 1671, 1680, and 1689; but in consequence of ill-health he could not complete the latter triennium, and accordingly he sent in his resignation on 12 May 1691. For a time he was chaplain to Anne, duchess of York. He suffered imprisonment three times in this country, but ended his days at Douay on 21 March 1697–8, and was buried before the high altar of the old conventual church.
He is the author of: 1. ‘The Cynosura; or a Saving Star which leads to Eternity, discovered amidst the celestial orbs of David's Psalms, by way of Paraphrase on the 50th Psalm,’ London, 1670, folio. Dedicated to Anne, countess of Shrewsbury. This is wrongly ascribed by Dodd to John Cross, D.D. ​(1630–1689) [q. v.] 2. ‘A Sermon [on the Joys of Heaven] preach'd before her Sacred Majesty the Queen, in her chapel at Windsor on 21 April 1686,’ London, 1686, 4to; reprinted in ‘A Select Collection of Catholick Sermons’ (London, 1741), ii. 121.
[Oliver's Catholic Religion in Cornwall, p. 549; Dodd's Church Hist. iii. 490.]
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cross, John (1766-1842)

​CROSS, Sir JOHN (1766–1842), judge in bankruptcy, second son of William Cross of Scarborough, was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1791 he entered at Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the bar on 16 Nov. 1795. He was appointed a serjeant-at-law in Hilary term, 1819, and enjoyed a considerable practice in the court of common pleas. In Trinity term, 1827, he was appointed a king's serjeant, and he succeeded Lord Abinger in the office of attorney-general of the duchy of Lancaster. On 2 Dec. 1831 he was appointed by letters patent a judge of the court of bankruptcy, and was knighted. Subsequently he became chief judge, and held that office until 5 Nov. 1842, when, on his return home from his court at Westminster, he suddenly died. On his death the separate court of bankruptcy was abolished, and its jurisdiction transferred to the court of chancery, Vice-chancellor Sir James Knight-Bruce becoming chief judge.
[Jurist, vol. vi. pt. ii. p. 466; Annual Register, 1842.]
J. A. H.