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

​CAMERON, JOHN ALEXANDER (d. 1885), war correspondent, was descended from the Camerons of Kinlochiel, and was born at Inverness, where he was for some time a bank clerk. Subsequently he went out to India, and was connected with a mercantile house in Bombay. He began contributing to the Bombay Gazette, and waa for some time acting editor, when on the outbreak of the Afghan war in 1878 he was appointed special correspondent. When towards the close of the following year the war broke out afresh, he became correspondent of the London 'Standard.' Joining the column under General Phayrer sent to the relief of Candahar, he was the first to ride with the news of the victory of General Roberts to the nearest telegraph post, beating all other competitors by a day and a half. Then returning to Candahar he went out to the battlefield of Maiwand (July 1880), his description of which established his reputation as one of the most graphic of newspaper correspondents. On the outbreak of the Boer insurrection (December 1880) he crossed from Bombay to Natal, arriving there long before the correspondents from England. He was present (January 1881 ) at the battles of Loing's Nek and Ingogo, and, though taken prisoner at ​at the fatal fight on Majuba Hill (February 1881), contrived on the following day to despatch his famous message descriptive of the battle. On the conclusion of peace he returned to England, but on the news of the riots in Alexandria (June 1882) he left for Egypt, and was present on board the admiral's ship Invincible at the bombardment of the town. He afterwards continued with the British troops throughout the Egyptian campaign until their arrival in Cairo. After a short interval he set out for Madagascar, his letters from which attracted much attention. As the French delayed their attack on the island, he crossed the Pacific to Melbourne, and thence made his way to Tonquin, and was present at the engagement in which the French failed to carry the defences which the Black Flags had erected. English correspondents not being permitted to remain with the French forces, he was on his way home when Osman Digma's forces began to threaten Souakim, and on reaching Suez he immediately took ship for that port. When Baker Pasha's force was crushed by the Arabs, he narrowly escaped with his life. He accompanied the British expeditionary force in their advance upon Tokar, and witnessed the battles of El Teb and Tamanieb. After a short stay in England he set out to join the Nile expedition in 1884, regarding the progress of which he sent home many telegrams and letters. He was killed 19 Jan. 1885, two days after the first battle at Abu Klea.
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cameron, Julia Margaret

​CAMERON, JULIA MARGARET (1815–1879), photographer, born at Calcutta on 11 June 1815, was the third daughter of James Pattle of the Bengal civil service. In 1838 she married Charles Hay Cameron [q. v.], then member of the law commission in Calcutta. Her other sisters married General Colin Mackenzie [q. v.], Henry Thoby Prinsep [q. v.], Dr. Jackson, M.D., Henry Vincent Bayley, judge of the supreme court of Calcutta, and nephew of Henry Vincent Bayley [q. v.], Earl Somers, and John Warrender Dalrymple of the Bengal civil service. Miss Pattle was well known in Calcutta society for her brilliant conversation. She showed her philanthropy in 1846, when, through her energy and influence, she was able to raise a considerable sum for the relief of the sufferers in the Irish famine. Mrs. Cameron came to England with her husband and family in 1848. They resided in London, and afterwards went to Putney, and in 1860 settled at Freshwater in the Isle of Wight, where they were the neighbours and friends of Lord Tennyson. In 1875 they went to Ceylon; they visited England in 1878, and returned to Ceylon, where she died on 26 Jan. 1879.
Mrs. Cameron was known and beloved by a large circle of friends. She corresponded with Wordsworth; she was well known to Carlyle, who said, on receiving one of her yearly valentines, ‘This comes from Mrs. Cameron or the devil.’ Sir Henry Taylor, a valued friend, says of her in his ‘Autobiography’ (ii. 48): ‘If her husband was of a high intellectual order, and as such naturally fell to her lot, the friends that fell to her were not less so. Foremost of them all were Sir John Herschel and Lord Hardinge. … Sir Edward Ryan, who had been the early friend of her husband, was not less devoted to her in the last days of his long life than he had been from the times in which they first met. … It was indeed impossible that we should not grow fond of her—impossible for us, and not less so for the many whom her genial, ardent, and generous nature has captivated ever since.’ A characteristic story of one of her many acts of persevering benevolence is told in the same volume (pp. 185–8). Her influence on all classes was marked and admirable. She was unusually outspoken, but her genuine sympathy and goodness of heart saved her from ever alienating a friend.
At the age of fifty she took up photography, which in her hands became truly artistic, instead of possessing merely mechanical excellence. She gained gold, silver, and bronze medals in America, Austria, Germany, and England. She has left admirable portraits of many distinguished persons. Among her sitters were the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia, Charles Darwin, Lord Tennyson, Mr. Browning, Herr Joachim, and Sir John Herschel, who had been her friend from her early girlhood. Mrs. Cameron wrote many poems, some of which appeared in ‘Macmillan's Magazine.’ Her only separate publication was a translation of Bürger's ‘Leonora,’ published in 1847.
J. P. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cameron, William

​CAMERON, WILLIAM (1751–1811), Scotch poet, was born in 1751, and educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, where he was a pupil of Dr. Beattie [q. v.] Having been licensed a preacher of the church of Scotland, he was ordained minister of the parish of Kirknewton, Midlothian, on 17 Aug. 1786. Along with the Rev. John Logan and Dr. John Morrison, he assisted in preparing the collection of ‘Paraphrases’ from Scripture for the use of the church of Scotland, and he wrote for the collection Paraphrases XIV and XVII. On the occasion of the restoration of the forfeited estates in the highlands, he wrote a congratulatory song, ‘As o'er the Highland Hills I hied,’ which was inserted in Johnson's ‘Museum’ adapted to the old air, ‘The Haughs o' Cromdale.’ He was also the author of a ‘Collection of Poems,’ published anonymously, 1790; ‘The Abuse of Civil and Religious Liberty,’ a sermon, 1793; ‘Ode on Lochiel's Birthday,’ 1796; ‘A Review of the French Revolution,’ 1802; ‘Poems on several Occasions,’ 1813; and the account of the parish of Kirknewton in Sinclair's ‘Statistical Account.’ His poems are for the most part of a moral and didactic character. He died on 17 Nov. 1811.
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Camidge, John (1735-1803)

​CAMIDGE, JOHN, the elder (1735–1803), organist and composer, was born at York in 1735. His early musical education was obtained as a chorister of York Minster under Dr. Nares, to whom he was articled for seven years, after which he studied in London under Dr. Greene, and received some lessons from Handel. On his return to Yorkshire, Camidge became a candidate for the post of organist at Doncaster parish church, but the Dean of York hearing him play offered him the appointment of organist to York Minster, where he entered upon his duties on 31 Jan. 1756. Camidge was the first cathedral organist to introduce into the service, as anthems, selections from Handel's oratorios, an innovation which at the time was thought very bold, as the style of Handel's music was considered too secular for performance in churches. He was a florid and brilliant organ-player, and his extempore performances were celebrated. Camidge remained at York all his life. His wife was a Miss Mills, daughter of the chapter registrar, by whom he had a son Matthew [q. v.] He resigned his organistship 11 Nov. 1799, and died 25 April 1803.
W. B. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Camidge, John (1790-1859)

​CAMIDGE, JOHN, the younger (1790–1859), organist and composer, grandson of John Camidge the elder [q. v.] was born at York in 1790. He received his musical education from his father, Matthew Camidge [q. v.], and in 1812 graduated at Cambridge as Mus. Bac., taking his doctor's degree in 1819. About 1825 he published a volume of cathedral music of his composition, and he also adapted much classical music for use in the Anglican service, but he was principally known as a masterly executant. From his youth up he played on the organ at York Minster, and was retained at a high salary by the dean and chapter as assistant to his father. After the fire in the cathedral in 1829, Camidge devoted much attention to the construction of the magnificent new organ, which for many years was one of the finest in the world, and which was mainly built under his direction. On his father's retirement he was appointed organist of the cathedral (15 Oct. 1842), a post he held until his death, which took place at Gray's Court, Chapter House Street, York, 29 Sept. 1859. On 28 Nov. 1848 he became paralysed while playing the evening service, and never afterwards touched the organ. Camidge left one daughter and three sons, Charles, John, and Thomas Simpson. The two latter followed their father's profession, Mr. T. S. Camidge, now (1886) organist of Hexham Abbey, having acted as his deputy at York from 1848 until his death. A son of Mr. T. S. Camidge is now organist of Beverley Minster, the fifth generation of organists which this remarkable family has produced.
W. B. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Fletcher, Eliza

​FLETCHER, ELIZA (1770–1858), autobiographer, was born on 15 Jan. 1770, at Oxton, near Tadcaster in Yorkshire, where her father, named Dawson, descendant of a race of yeomen, was a land surveyor, and lived on a little family estate. Eliza was the only child of his marriage with the eldest daughter of William Hill. The mother died ten days after the birth. At eleven years old Eliza, a beautiful, intelligent girl, was sent to the Manor School at York. The mistress (Mrs. ​Forster) was ‘a very well-disposed, conscientious old gentlewoman,’ but incapable of proper superintendence. ‘Four volumes of the “Spectator” constituted the whole school library.’ Miss Dawson had a profound admiration for William Mason the poet, then a York notability, especially on account of his ‘Monody’ upon his wife's death, and was shocked at seeing him ‘a little fat old man of hard-favoured countenance,’ devoted to whist. When she was seventeen accident brought to her father's house a Scotch advocate, Archibald Fletcher [q. v.], ‘of about forty-three, and of a grave, gentlemanlike, prepossessing appearance.’ They carried on a literary correspondence for a year, and after another meeting became engaged, though the father opposed the union, preferring a higher suitor, Lord Grantley. Miss Dawson got a friend, Dr. Kilvington, to tell Lord Grantley of her engagement. On 16 July 1791 the lovers were married in Tadcaster Church. Her father did not sanction the ceremony by his presence, but he could not withhold his blessing. For seven-and-thirty years, at the end of which time her husband died, ‘there was not a happier couple in the three kingdoms.’ Fletcher's steady adherence to his whig principles prevented his getting into practice, and they were often reduced to their last guinea. Her sympathy prevented her from ever regretting the sacrifice to principle. Afterwards success in life set steadily in with little interruption. Mrs. Fletcher died at Edinburgh 5 Feb. 1858. Her ‘Autobiography,’ of which a few copies had been printed for private circulation, 8vo, Carlisle, 1874, was published at Edinburgh the following year under the editorship of her surviving child, the widow of Sir John Richardson, the Arctic explorer. The ‘Life’ also contains a memoir by Mrs. Fletcher of her daughter Grace, and another of her son Archibald, by his widow. It is an attractive book about a most lovable woman, who seems, according to her portraits, at fifteen and eighty, to prove ‘that there is a beauty for every age.’
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Fletcher, George

​FLETCHER, GEORGE (1764–1855), a reputed centenarian, son of Joseph Fletcher, was baptised at Clarborough, Nottinghamshire, 15 Oct. 1764, but according to his own account on 2 Feb. 1747, and worked as a labourer. On 2 Nov. 1785 he enlisted in the 23rd foot, the royal Welsh fusiliers, from which regiment he deserted on 16 March 1792. Under a royal proclamation dated 1793 all deserters were pardoned, and their services restored on certain conditions. Fletcher, taking advantage of this amnesty, re-enlisted into the 3rd foot guards on 14 March 1793, stating that he had originally entered the army in October 1773. This addition of twelve years to his army services he continued to claim throughout the remainder of his life. He remained in his regiment for ten years, and was then pensioned from Chelsea Hospital on 18 April 1803 on 1s. 2½d. a day. By some oversight he was credited with twenty-four and a half years' service, and his age at the time of his discharge was entered as forty-nine instead of thirty-nine. After this period he was in the service of the West India Dock Company for thirty-six years, at the end of which time he retired on a pension. He was a local preacher in the Wesleyan methodist connexion, and in his sermons gave sketches of his own career, when he took credit for his great age, and related details of his services at the battle of Bunker's Hill in July 1775, although he was then only eleven years of age. The fame of his age caused large congregations to attend his preaching, and his portrait as a man of a hundred and six, who had lived in four reigns, was extensively sold in 1853. One of his later announcements says: ‘Finsbury Chapel, Moorfields. Two sermons will be delivered Wednesday, June 21, 1854, by the Venerable George Fletcher, in his 108th year. For the benefit of an aged minister.’ He died at 41 Wade Street, Poplar, London, 2 Feb. 1855, aged 91.
G. C. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Fletcher, Henry (1727-1807)

​FLETCHER, Sir HENRY (1727–1807), politician, a native of Cumberland, was born in 1727. Brought up in the service of the East India Company, he successively commanded two of its vessels, the Stormont and the Middlesex. When he retired from his command, after rendering conspicuous services to the company, he was chosen a director of the East India board, and filled that office for eighteen years (1769–87), being always re-elected when he retired by rotation. He was chairman in 1782–3. Fletcher entered parliament in 1768 for Cumberland, where he had fought successfully against a very powerful influence. He joined the whig opposition in the House of Commons, and on the accession of that party to power was rewarded with a baronetcy, 20 May 1782. In 1783 he gave a general approval to the treaty of peace with France, so far as related to the settlements of the East India Company. When Fox introduced his India Bill, Fletcher, then chairman of the company, was nominated one of the seven commissioners for the affairs of Asia. Fletcher declared in the House of Commons in 1783 that it would have been much better for England, and Europe in general, if the navigation to the East Indies had never been discovered. But having once acquired these Indian possessions, the British must never give them up. Fletcher considered the retention and proper government of India of supreme moment, and sacrificed private interests so as to advocate his views in parliament. Fox's measure, however, was lost, and administrative reform in India was postponed. In 1796 Fletcher voted with the great whig leader for a direct censure upon ministers, on the ground of having advanced money to the Emperor of Germany and the Prince of Condé without the knowledge or consent of parliament. He also supported Grey in the following session in his motion on parliamentary reform. Fletcher continued to represent the county of Cumberland until the general election of 1806. He died on 25 March 1807, and was succeeded in the title by his only son of the same name. The character of Fletcher stood high among his contemporaries for generosity and integrity.
G. B. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Fletcher, John (1792-1836)

​FLETCHER, JOHN, M.D. (1792–1836), medical writer, born in 1792, was the son of Thomas Fletcher, merchant, of London. Finding his father's counting-house irksome, he began the study of medicine at Edinburgh, having already been an occasional hearer of Abernethy and C. Bell in London. He graduated M.D. in 1816. After making a start in practice at Henley-on-Thames, whither his family had retired suddenly in reduced circumstances, he returned to Edinburgh and took private pupils in medicine. His Latin scholarship and systematic methods brought him many pupils. In 1828–9 he joined the Argyll Square school of medicine, having McIntosh, Argyle Robertson, and, for a time, James Syme, as his colleagues. He lectured on physiology, and afterwards on medical jurisprudence. His repute as a lecturer stood very high; in 1836 he gave a course of popular lectures on physiology to large audiences of the educated laity of both sexes, illustrated by preparations and diagrams of his own making. He died of a sudden illness the same year. His earliest publication was ‘Rubi Epistolæ Edinburgenses,’ being a collection of good-humoured satirical pieces on students and professors. In 1822 he published ‘Horæ Subsecivæ,’ a dialogue in Latin, and said to be a very useful little book. His principal work was ‘Rudiments of Physiology,’ in three parts, Edinb. 1835–7, the last part (on sensation, &c.) having been brought out by R. Lewins, M.D. It is distinguished by originality and erudition. His ‘Elements of Pathology,’ published several years after his death (1842) by two of his pupils, John J. Drysdale, M.D., and J. R. Russell, M.D., shows a certain leaning to the teaching of Hahnemann. A paper entitled ‘Vieles Sprechen ist gesund,’ in Behrend's ‘Wöchentl. Repert.’ iv. 175 (1837), is attributed to him. Besides one or two introductory lectures, his only other publication is a tract on the trial of Robert Reid for the murder of his wife, 29 June 1835; Reid was thought to have got off unfairly, on a medico-legal plea urged by Fletcher.
C. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Fletcher, Henry (fl.1710-1750)

​FLETCHER, HENRY (fl. 1710–1750), engraver, worked in London, and produced engravings possessing some merit. He most excelled as an engraver of flowers, notably ‘The Twelve Months of Flowers’ and ‘The Twelve Months of Fruits,’ engraved from drawings by Peter Casteels [q. v.], made in 1730 for a publication by Robert Furber, the well-known gardener. He also engraved ​some fine plates of birds from drawings by Casteels and Charles Collins. He engraved some of the vignettes and tail-pieces to the first edition of Voltaire's ‘Henriade,’ published in London in 1728. Among his other works were ‘Bathsheba,’ after Sebastiano Conca; a set of views of Venice, engraved with L. P. Boitard after Canaletto; ‘A View of Stocks Market in 1738,’ and ‘A View of the Fountain in Temple Gardens,’ after Joseph Nichols; ‘A View of Bethlehem Hospital, Moorfields,’ and portraits of Robert Nelson (1715), after Kneller, Ebenezer Pemberton (1727), and the Rev. Robert Warren.
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Fletcher, Andrew (d.1650)

​FLETCHER, ANDREW, Lord Innerpeffer (d. 1650), judge, was the eldest son of Robert Fletcher of Innerpeffer and Beucleo, Forfarshire, a burgess of Dundee. He succeeded Sir John Wemyss of Craigtoun as an ordinary lord of session, 18 Dec. 1623, and retained his seat in 1626, when many of the lords were displaced. In 1630 he was placed upon a commission upon Scotch law, and in 1633 was a member of commissions to revise the acts and laws of Scotland with a view to constructing a code, a project which was not proceeded with, and to report upon the jurisdiction of the admiral and chamberlain. He was also ordered to examine Sir Thomas Craig's work ‘Jus Feudale,’ with a view to its publication. In 1638 he was a commissioner to take subscriptions to the confession of faith of 1580. He was employed in 1639 in regulating the fees of writers to the signet and others, and parliament adopted the scales which he laid down. On 13 Nov. 1641 he, with others, was appointed to his judgeship afresh by the king and parliament, and his appointment was objected to by the laird of Moncrieff, upon the ground that he was incapacitated by having purchased lands the subject of litigation before him. The matter was referred to the privy council, and as Fletcher retained his seat the charge was presumably disproved. In the same year he was a commissioner for the plantation of kirks, and about this time was elected member for Forfarshire, but his election was avoided for illegality. He represented that county, however, in parliament in 1646, 1647, and 1648. On 1 Feb. 1645 he was appointed a commissioner of the exchequer, was on the committee of war for Haddingtonshire in 1647, and on the committee of estates for Haddingtonshire and Forfarshire in 1647 and 1648. He was fined 5,000l. by the Protector in 1648. Upon the question whether conditions should be obtained from the English army on behalf of Charles I, he was one of the four who voted against abandoning the king, and was removed in 1649 from his offices of judge and commissioner of the exchequer, on account of his accession to ‘the engagement,’ for the carrying on of which he had subscribed in the previous year 8,500l. (Scots), repaid by order of parliament in 1662 after his death to his son Robert. He was also ‘ordained to lend money to the public.’ In March 1650 he died at his house in East Lothian. He married a daughter of Peter Hay of Kirkland of Megginch, brother to George, first earl of Kinnoull, by whom he had a son Robert, afterwards knighted, who was father of Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun.
[Acts Scots Parl.; Books of Sederunt; Brunton and Haig's Senators; Guthrie's Memoirs; Lamont's Diary, p. 14; Gordon's Hist. Scots Affairs (Spalding Club), i. 109.]
J. A. H.