OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Spratt, Thomas Abel Brimage

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​SPRATT. (Lieutenant, 1841.)
Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt, born 11 May, 1811, at East Teignmouth, is eldest son of Retired Commander James Spratt, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, in June, 1827, as ​Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Victory 104, flag-ship at Portsmouth of Hon. Sir Robt. Stopford; and from 1832 until April, 1846, was almost uninterruptedly employed in the Mediterranean, as Midshipman, Mate (he passed his examination 27 Jan. 1835), and Lieutenant (commission dated 15 Oct. 1841), in the Mastiff and Beacon suryeying-vessels, both commanded by the present Capt. Thos. Graves. On 26 Oct. 1837 he plunged overboard from the Beacon, and at great risk saved the life of a marine, Samuel Turner, who, while scraping the side of the ship, had accidentally fallen into the sea. In a public letter to the Commander-in-Chief Capt. Graves, after detailing this occurrence, says, “His (Mr. Spratt’s) conduct with me during a servitude of upwards of five years having been invariably most exemplary, and his being also most indefatigable and attentive, as well as a valuable assistant in the particular service in which we are employed, will, I trust, lead you to consider his case worthy of the consideration of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.” On the occasion of Mr. Spratt’s advancement to the rank of Lieutenant, Capt. W. A. B. Hamilton, then Private Secretary to Lord Haddington, observes, in a note addressed to his father. Commander Spratt, “His Lordship directs me to make known to you the great satisfaction it has afforded him to recommend to the Board for this promotion a young officer so highly spoken of as your son has been, both by Capt. Beaufort, Hydrographer of the Admiralty, and Capt. Graves.” “Your eldest son,” writes the present Sir Wm. Parker in 1846, “now five years a Lieutenant in the surveying-service, stands decidedly high in that branch of his profession.” From 1 March, 1847, until April, 1848, Mr. Spratt commanded the Volage 22, surveying-vessel, again in the Mediterranean.
In 1838 the Lieutenant communicated to the Geographical Society some ‘Remarks on the Supposed Situation of Minoa and Nissea;’ and in 1846 he published a volume of ‘Travels in Ancient Lycia.’ He married, 27 Feb. 1844, Sophia, only daughter of Edw. Price, Esq., by whom he has issue.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Spencer, Samuel

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​SPENCER. (Lieut., 1806. f-p., 43; h-p., 8.)
Samuel Spencer entered the Navy, 9 Nov. 1796, as A.B., on the Prevoyante, Capts. Chas. Wemyss and John Seater, stationed on the coast of North America. In the following Aug. he attained the rating of Midshipman; and in April, 1800, he removed to the Active frigate, Capt. Dacres. After serving for three years and four months in that ship in the Channel and Mediterranean, he became Master’s Mate, in Aug. 1803, of the Maidstone 32, Capt. Hon. Geo. Elliot, under whom he was wounded while in pursuit of a French privateer. We believe he was also, 11 July, 1804, present in the boats at the cutting-out affair detailed in our memoir of Rear-Admiral Hyde Parker. In the course of the ensuing month he joined the Victory 100, flag-ship of Lord Nelson; and in her, on his return from pursuing the combined squadrons to the West Indies, he was afforded an opportunity of sharing in the glories of Trafalgar. He served subsequently, from Nov. 1805 until April, 1806, in the Queen 98, bearing the flag of Lord Collingwood off Cadiz; and on 18 Oct. in the latter year he was made Lieutenant into the Prince of Wales 98, flag-ship of Sir Jas. Saumarez in the Channel. From July to Sept. 1807 he cruized off Ferroll in the Achille 74, Capt. Sir Rich. King; during the next two years he filled an appointment in the Impress; he then, in Oct. 1809, joined the Rinaldo 10, Capt. Jas. Anderson, on the Downs station; and from March, 1810, until Jan. 1818, and again from July, 1823, until the close of 1837, he was employed in the Transport Service; in which, we are informed, he was present at Algiers. Since 10 June, 1839, he has been officiating as Admiralty Agent on board a contract mail steam-vessel.
Lieut. Spencer was left a widower 1 July, 1835. Agents – Collier and Ince.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Spiers, William

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​SPIERS. (Lieutenant, 1811.)
William Spiers entered the Navy, 4 Feb. 1804, as Ordinary, on board the Conqueror 74, Capt. Israel Pellew, employed in the Channel and Mediterranean. Removing, in July, 1805, to the Canopus 80, Capts. Fras. Wm. Austen, Thos. Geo. Shortland, and Chas. Inglis, he fought in that ship, as Midshipman, under the flag of Sir Thos. Louis, in the action off St. Domingo 6 Feb. 1806, and was Master’s Mate of her at the passage of the Dardanells and in the expedition to Egypt in 1807. He co-operated also in the capture, in June, 1809, of the islands of Ischia and Procida; assisted in causing the self-destruction of the ships-of-the-line Robuste and Lion off Cape Cette 26 Oct. following; and, besides contributing to the annihilation of a gun-boat fiotilla on the coast of Italy, assisted, as Acting-Lieutenant, in the defence of Messina against the French in 1810. He subsequently acted for three months as Lieutenant in the Termagant 18, Capt. Henry Evelyn Pitfield Sturt; and on 3 Jan. 181 1 he was confirmed into the Leyden 64, Capt. Edw. Chetham. In the course of the same year we find him serving off Cadiz in the Columbine 18, Capts. Wm. Shepheard and Geo. Augustus Westphal; and, in Feb. and Nov. 1813, appointed to the Minos 12 and Cornwall 74, Capts. Jas. Aberdour and Edw. W. C. B. Owen, on the Newfoundland and North Sea stations. While in the latter ship, in which he continued until April, 1814, he landed at the head of a division of seamen on the island of South Beveland, and was publicly thanked for the conduct he displayed. Since he left the Cornwall he has been on half-pay.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hay, Peter

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​HAY. (Lieutenant, 1815. f-p., 22; h-p., 24.)
Peter Hay entered the Navy, about April, 1801 , as A.B., on board the Cambridge 74, Capt. Rich. Lane, bearing the flag at Plymouth of Sir Thos. Pasley. In Oct. following he became Midshipman of the Centaur 74, Capt. Bendall Robt. Littlehales, stationed in the Channel; where, in April, 1803, after an unemployed interval of 12 months, he joined the Spitfire sloop, Capt. Robt. Keen. While next attached, between June in the latter year and Nov. 1812, to the Foudroyant 80, successive flag-ship, on the Home, Lisbon, and Brazilian stations, of Admirals Sir Thos. Graves, Sir John Borlase Warren, Albemarle Bertie, Sir Wm. Sidney Smith, and Hon. Mich. De Courcy, we find Mr. Hay, wh6 during a great portion of the period bore the rating of a Master’s Mate, assisting at the capture, 13 March, 1806, of the Marengo 80, bearing the flag of Admiral Linois, and 40-gun frigate Belle Poule; and next, in 1807, witnessing the departure for South America of the Royal Family of Portugal. He subsequently, from Dec. 1812 until within a few weeks of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, which took place 20 Sept. 1815, served under Sir Jas. Lucas Yeo on the Canadian lakes, and participated in many acts of hostility with the American enemy. His after-appointments were – 2 March, 1827, to the Coast Blockade, in which service he remained, with his name on the books of the Ramillies and Talavera 74’s, both commanded by Capt. Hugh Pigot, until Noy. 1830 – and, 1 Nov. 1833, to an Agency for Transports afloat. He resigned the duties of the latter office in the spring of 1834, but, resuming them in Oct. 1835, continued in discharge of them until the close of 1839. He has since been on half-pay.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hay, John (b)

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​HAY. (Commander, 1841. f-p., 22; h-p., 8.)
John Hay, born 23 March, 1804, is second son, we believe, of Jas. Hay, Esq., of Seggieden, co. Perth, and of Killicranky Cottage, in the pass of Killicranky, a Deputy-Lieutenant for that shire, by Margaret, daughter of John Richardson, Esq., of Pitfour. One of his brothers, Jas. Richardson, is a Captain in the Army; and another, Patrick, is a Lieutenant in the Bengal Native Infantry.
This officer entered the Royal Naval College in Jan. 1817, and embarked 12 Oct. 1819, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Phaeton 46, Capts. Wm. Henry Dillon and Sir Wm. Augustus Montagu, of which frigate, employed on the Home and Halifax stations, he soon became Midshipman. On his removal, in 1822, to the Redwing 18, Capt. Hon. Geo. Rolle ​Walpole Trefusis, we find him sharing in the boats of that sloop in an expedition against the pirates in the West Indies, and compelled, during a period of eight days, to subsist on the provisions of two. He afterwards served for about four years in South America, latterly as Mate, on board the Mersey 26, Capt. John Macpherson Ferguson, Jaseur 18, Capt. Thos. Martin, and Cambridge 80, Capt. Thos. Jas. Maling; and he next, in 1827-8, joined the Prince Regent 120, flag-ship at the Nore of Sir Robt. Moorsom, Martial 14, commanded on the coast of Scotland by Lieut. Robt. M‘Kirdy, and Blonde 46, Capt. Edm. Lyons; under whom, towards the close of 1828, he was employed on shore in constructing batteries, and otherwise co-operating with the French army during the siege of Morea Castle. Attaining the rank of Lieutenant 12 Nov. 1829, Mr. Hay, until June, 1831, served in that capacity on board the Meteor bomb, Capt. David Hope, Britannia 120, bearing the flag of Sir Pulteney Malcolm, and Samarang 28, Capt. Wm. Fanshawe Martin. His next appointment was, 27 March, 1837, to the Talavera 74, Capt. Wm. Bowen Mends, stationed, as were the three ships last-mentioned, in the Mediterranean; on his return whence he became, 4 Jan. 1840, First-Lieutenant of the Pylades 18, Capt. Talavera Vernon Anson. Proceeding in that vessel to China, he there commanded her boats, 29 July, 1840, in a severe action with three piratical junks, one of which he succeeded in capturing after a loss of 2 men killed and 8 wounded. With the exception of the attack on the forts at the Boca Tigris, Mr. Hay afterwards shared, and was particularly recommended for the ability he displayed in all the operations which led to the first and second capture of the city of Canton; and on one occasion he rendered himself particularly conspicuous by his exertions at night in cutting through a raft which had been moored across the river, and had efiectually obstructed the passage of the shipping. He was advanced to his present rank by commission dated 6 May, 1841; and since 15 May, 1844 (some months previously to which period he had been admitted a student at the Royal Naval College), has been in command of the Prometheus steam-sloop, on the coast of Africa. Agents— Messrs. Halford and Co.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1828, p. 2201.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1841, pp. 1503, 1505, 2505, 2510.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hay, Robert Sinclair

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​HAY. (Commander, 1827. f-p., 23; h-p., 12.)
Robert Sinclair Hay is second son of Robt. Hay, Esq., of Charterfield, East Lothian, N.B. This officer entered the Navy, 1 Sept. 1812, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Pique 36, Capt. Hon. Anth. Maitland, and sailed for the West Indies, where, we believe, he attained the rating of Midshipman 20 Dec. 1813, and served until Aug. 1815. From 1816 until 1818 we next find him employed, in the Mediterranean, on board the Satellite 16, Capt. Jas. Murray, and Glasgow 50, Capt. Hon. Anth. Maitland. In May, 1820, he became Master’s Mate of the Rochfort 74, flag-ship on the same station of Sir Graham Moore. He was promoted, 4 Oct. 1823, to a Lieutenancy in the Cambrian 48, Capt. Gawen Wm. Hamilton, and he subsequently, in the course of the same month, and on 6 Sept. 1825, joined the Rose 18, Capt. Henry Dundas, and Talbot 28, Capt, Hon. Fred. Spencer. Being Senior of the last-mentioned ship at the battle of Navarin, where he was slightly wounded, Mr. Hay was advanced to the rank of Commander, by commission dated 22 Oct. 1827. He afterwards, from 28 March, 1832, until 1835, and again from 24 June, 1836, until 1839, officiated as an Inspecting Commander in the Coast Guard; in which capacity he has been re-employed since 29 Dec. 1841.
Commander Hay married, in Jan. 1831, Jane, eldest daughter of Andw. Knox, Esq., of Prehen, co. Derry.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hay, John (d)

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​HAY. (Lieutenant, 1832. f-p., 26; h-p., 9.)
John Hay (b), born 22 March, 1802, is brother of Lieut. Wm. Hay, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 20 April, 1812, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Union 98, Capt. Sam. Hood Linzee and Robt. Rolles, in which ship he served at the blockade of Toulon and the reduction of Genoa. In Aug. 1815, after having been employed for a period of 12 months on the coasts of Ireland and France in the Scylla 18, Capt. Allen, and Phoebe 36, Capt. Jas. Hillyar, he was nominated Midshipman of the Podargus 14, Capt. Jas. Wallis, under whom he further served, at the Cape of Good Hope, latterly in the Racoon 26, until Dec. 1818. In July, 1820, we next find him joining the Pigmy schooner, Lieut.-Commander Thos. Hills, in which vessel he cruized for three years with much success against the smugglers of the Channel, the greater part of the time as a passed Midshipman. He then, in Aug. 1820, became attached to the Superb 74, Capt. Adam Mackenzie, in whose tender, the Lyra 10, he was for many months employed; and he subsequently, from March, 1825, until promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 4 April, 1832, officiated as Chief Mate of the Rose, Dolphin, and Harpy Revenue-cutters, Lieut.-Commanders Thos. Strong, Jas. Giffard, John Roche, and Sam. Grandy. Mr. Hay’s commission was presented to him at the especial recommendation of the Board of Customs, for the daring conduct he had evinced in the previous October, in taking a hawser on board H.M. steamer Echo, and thereby enabling that vessel to be hove off from a perilous position under the Hoe at Plymouth, where she had been driven on shore in the night during a violent gale. His last appointments were – 10 Oct. 1832, to the Coast Guard, in which service he continued until 1838 – and, 5 Nov. 1840, to the Howe 120, Capts. Sir Watkin Owen Pell and Robt. Smart, flag-ship for some time of Sir Fras. Mason, on the Mediterranean station. He has been on half-pay since March, 1843.
Lieut. Hay married, 26 Aug. 1824, Miss Mary James Lawrence, and by that lady has issue three children.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hay, John Charles Dalrymple

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​HAY. (Commander, 1846.)
John Charles Dalrymple Hay served as Midshipman of the Benbow 72, Capt. Houston Stewart during the operations of 1840 on the coast of Syria, where, previously to assisting at the bombardment ​of St. Jean d’Acre, he commanded a boat, and was officially reported as deserving of every credit for his spirited conduct in the attack on Tortosa. Passing his examination 17 Feb. 1841, he subsequently, until his attainment of the rank of Lieutenant, 15 Aug. 1844, officiated as Mate, on the Mediterranean and East India stations, of the same ship, and of the Agincourt 72, bearing the flag of Sir Thos. John Cochrane, and Spiteful steam-sloop, Capt. Wm. Maitland. His succeeding appointments were – 12 Nov. 1344, again to the Agincourt, as Flag-Lieutenant – and, 1 March, 1846, to the Vestal 26, Capt. Chas. Talbot, also in the East Indies. He attained his present rank on 28 Aug. in the latter year.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hay, John Baker Porter

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​HAY. (Captain, 1842.)
John Baker Porter Hay entered the Navy, 28 Dec. 1811; and, obtaining his first commission 24 April, 1824, was afterwards appomted Lieutenant – 12 March, 1827, of the Romney 50, armée en flûte, Capt. Nicholas Lockyer, which ship was paid off 12 Oct. following – in 1828, of the Wasp 18, Capts. Rich. Dickinson, Hon. Wm. Wellesley, Thos. Edwd. Hoste, Orlando Geo. Sutton Gunning, and Brunswick Popham, on the Mediterranean station, whence he invalided 15 June, 1831 – 4 May, 1836, of the Cornwallis 74, Capts. Robt. Worgan Geo. Festing, Sir Joshua Ricketts Rowley, and Sir Rich. Grant, stationed at first off Lisbon, but afterwards employed as flag-ship of Hon. Sir Chas. Paget, Commander-in-Chief in North America and the West Indies. On the death of the latter officer, Mr. Hay, who for upwards of three years had officiated as First of the Cornwallis, was advanced to the command, by commission dated 30 Jan. 1839, of the Snake 16, which sloop he brought home and paid off towards the close of the same year. His last appointment was, 26 Nov. 1841, to the Second-Captaincy of the Queen 110, fitting for the flag of Sir Edw. W. C. R. Owen; in honour of Her Majesty’s visit to which ship, when lying at Spithead, and on the eve of her departure for the Mediterranean, he was advanced to his present rank 7 March 1842. Agents—Case and Loudonsack.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hay, Patrick Duff Henry

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​HAY. (Captain, 1833. f-p., 16; h-p., 26.)
Patrick Duff Henry Hay entered the Navy, 16 June, 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Roebuck 44, Capt. Geo. M‘Kinley, on the Leith station; and, in the early part of 1806, became attached, in the North Sea and at Halifax, to the Majestic 74, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Thos. Macnamara Russell, and Milan 38, Capt. Sir Robt. Laurie; in which frigate he attained the rating of Midshipman, 2 July, 1808, and continued to serve until Sept. 1810. In Dec. of the latter year he joined the Barfleur 98, flag-ship of Hon. Geo. Cranfield Berkeley on the Lisbon station, whence, in June, 1812, he returned to England as Acting-Lieutenant of the Regdlos, armée en flûte, Capt. John Tailour. Being confirmed on 31 of the next month, Mr. Hay, towards the close of 1812, was appointed a Lieutenant of the Ramillies 74, Capt. Sir Thos. Masterman Hardy, under whom, on proceeding to North America, he served at the blockade of New London, the capture of the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay, and the bombardment of Stonington. As a Commander, a rank he attained 31 Aug. 1815, Capt. Hay appears to have joined – 10 Nov. 1820, and 3 Dec. 1821, the Redpole and Medina sloops, both on the Mediterranean station – and, 6 March, 1828, the Pylades 18, which vessel he paid off 21 May, 1831. He attained the rank he now holds 15 Nov. 1833, but has not since been employed. Agents – Case and Loudonsack.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hay, John (c)

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​HAY. (Lieutenant, 1814. f-p., 9; h-p., 32.)
John Hay (a) is second son of the late John Hay, Esq., of Morton, by Jane, daughter of Provost Wyllie, of Glasgow.
This officer entered the Navy, 9 Dec. 1806, as L.M., on board the Texel 64, Capt. Donald Campbell, bearing the flag at Leith of Rear-Admiral Jas. Vashon. On his removal, as Midshipman, in 1807, to the Dictator 64, also commanded by Capt. Campbell, he attended the expedition of that year to Copenhagen; after which we find him, while stationed in the Great Belt, sharing, 26 June, 1808, in an action with several Danish gun-boats, whose fire killed 1 and wounded 2 of the Dictator’s people. In Aug. 1809, having followed the same Captain into the Audacious 74, Mr. Hay assisted, as Master’s Mate, at the bombardment of Flushing. On the evacuation of the Walcheren he returned to England in one of the prizes, but he subsequently rejoined the Audacious, and, proceeding off the Tagus, was sent up that river with a flotilla, commanded by the present Capt. Maurice Fred. Fitzhardinge Berkeley, for the purpose of co-operating with the troops occupying the lines of Torres Vedras. Between Nov. 1811 and the date of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, 1 July, 1814, he further served, on the North Sea and Mediterranean stations, in the Warrior and Rivoli 74’s, Capts. Hon. Geo. Byng and Graham Eden Hamond. With the exception of an attachment, from 8 Oct. 1823 until June, 1824, to the Prince Regent 120, flagship of Sir Benj. Hallowell at the Nore, he has not been since afloat.
Lieut. Hay married, 1 June, 1824, his cousin, Marion, eldest daughter of the late David Carrick Buchanan, Esq., of Drumpilear, Lancashire, by whom he has issue.
# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Nicholson, Edward William Byron

See also Edward Nicholson (librarian) on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
NICHOLSON, EDWARD WILLIAM BYRON (1849-1912), English scholar and librarian, was born at St. Helier March 16 1849. Educated at Tonbridge and Trinity College, Oxford, in 1873 he became librarian of the London Institution, and in 1877 founded the international conference of librarians and the Library Association. In 1882 he succeeded H. O. Coxe as Bodley's librarian. He published commentaries on the Gospel according to the Hebrews (1879) and St. Matthew (1881), Keltic Researches (1904), papers on philology, etc., and wrote the article “Mandeville” in the E.B. He died at Oxford March 7 1912.
# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Nicholson, William

See also William Nicholson (artist) on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
NICHOLSON, WILLIAM (1872-), English painter and engraver, was born at Newark Feb. 5 1872, and was educated at the Magnus school, Newark. He studied at the Académie Julien, Paris, and about 1894 began experimenting in wood engraving, producing some admirable work in that medium, characterized by the use of bold masses of black and white or of sombre greys and browns, relieved by touches of bright colour. In this manner he illustrated An Alphabet (1898); An Almanac of Twelve Sports
(with Rudyard Kipling; 1898); London Types (with W. E. Henley; 1898); Characters of Romance (1900); A Square Book of Animals (with A. Waugh; 1900), and engraved some well-known portraits, including that of Queen Victoria. He also collaborated with James Pryde under the name of “The Beggarstaff Brothers” in designing some remarkable posters. To the set of lithographs entitled “Britain's Aims and Ideals,” published during the World War, he contributed “The End of War.” As a painter he is best known for his interiors and still-life pictures, such as “The Hundred Jugs” (1916), “Souvenirs de Babette,” “Miss Simpson's Boots” and “The Striped Shawl”; but his work also includes landscapes for example “The Hill above Harlech” — generally in a low key, and many portraits, including those of W. E. Henley, the painter's mother, Sir W. C. Pakenham (for the Imperial War Museum); Ursula Lutyens, and “The Girl with the Tattered Glove.” He is represented in the Luxembourg, Paris; the Tate Gallery; the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; the Glasgow Gallery; and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Nicholson, William Gustavus Nicholson, 1st Baron

See also William Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
NICHOLSON, WILLIAM GUSTAVUS NICHOLSON, 1st Baron (1845-1918), British field-marshal, was born March 2 1845, and joined the Royal Engineers in 1865. He served in the Afghan War, 1878-80, for which he was given a brevet majority, and he took part in the Egyptian campaign of 1882. For service on the staff in Burma in 1885-6 he was promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel, and he reached the rank of colonel in 1891. He next served as chief of the staff in the Tirah campaign, for which he received the K.C.B., and as adjutant-general in India. In 1899 he went out to South Africa as military secretary to Lord Roberts, but on arrival he was placed at the head of the transport service and was promoted major-general. He was appointed Director of Mobilization and Intelligence at the War Office in 1901 and was shortly afterwards promoted lieutenant-general; this position he held till early in 1904 when he went to the Far East as chief military attaché with the Japanese forces. At the end of 1905 he was appointed quartermaster-general; in 1906 he was promoted general and in 1908 was transferred to the post of Chief of the Imperial General Staff, which he held during the important period of the Haldane reforms. He was promoted field-marshal in 1911 and, on vacating his appointment at the War Office in the following year, was raised to the peerage as Baron Nicholson of Roundhay. In 1913 he went out to the East as chairman of a commission on Indian military expenditure, and in 1916-7 he was a member of the Dardanelles commission; this was his last public service. He died on Sept. 18 1918. Lord Nicholson was a man of high intellectual attainments and, although somewhat given to controversy, a successful military administrator.