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

​WRIOTHESLEY, CHARLES (1508?–1562), herald and chronicler, said by Anstis to have been born on 8 May 1508 at his father's house outside Cripplegate, was fourth son of Sir Thomas Wriothesley (d. 1534) [q. v.], by his first wife, Joan, daughter of William Hall of Salisbury. Thomas Wriothesley, first earl of Southampton [q. v.], was his first cousin. At a very early age he adopted the profession of his father, his grandfather, and his uncle, and obtained a subordinate position in the herald's office. In 1522, when he was only fourteen, if Anstis's date of birth is correct, his property ‘in lands and fees’ was assessed at 38l. 6s. 8d. and in goods at 40l., and on 29 May 1525 he was appointed rouge croix pursuivant (Letters and Papers, iii. 2486, iv. 1377 [28]), and in 1529 he was admitted student of Gray's Inn. He speaks of Lord-chancellor Audley as his ‘master,’ and his cousin, the first earl of Southampton, bequeathed him 20l. on his death in 1550 (Trevelyan Papers, i. 213). He was created Windsor herald on Christmas day 1534, and retained this office until his death in his friend Camden's house in St. Sepulchre's on 25 Jan. 1561–2; he was buried with the usual heraldic pomp in the middle aisle of St. Sepulchre's Church on the 27th (Machyn, Diary, pp. 275, 389). He was apparently twice married; the maiden name of his first wife is said to have been Mallory, and the christian name of his second was Alice; he is not known to have left children.
Wriothesley was author of the chronicle now called ‘Wriothesley's Chronicle.’ The original manuscript is not known to be extant, the only existing copy being a transcript made early in the seventeenth century probably for Henry Wriothesley, third earl of Southampton [q. v.] It passed into the possession of the Percy family by the marriage of Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, fourth earl of Southampton [q. v.], to Josceline Percy, eleventh earl of Northumberland, and belonged to Lord H. M. Percy in 1874, when it was edited by William Douglas Hamilton for the Camden Society (2 vols. 1875). The chronicle is anonymous, but internal evidence points conclusively to Wriothesley's authorship; in the main it may be regarded as a continuation of the chronicle of Richard Arnold [q. v.], whose sister was second wife of Sir John Wriothesley or Writh [q. v.], Charles Wriothesley's grandfather, and the reign of Henry VII and first eleven years of Henry VIII are little more than transcripts from Arnold. After that date Wriothesley becomes an independent authority of great value; in many cases, such as the trial of Anne Boleyn, he supplies new information; and in others, where his differs from generally received accounts, his testimony always merits careful consideration.
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wriothesley, John

​WRIOTHESLEY (more correctly WRITH or WRYTHE), Sir JOHN (d. 1504), Garter king-of-arms, is represented in the pedigree drawn up by his son Sir Thomas as descended from a Wriothesley who lived in the reign of John. That form of the name is, however, an invention by Sir Thomas, and probably the pedigree is also. The family name was Writh or Wrythe, and incidental notices of various members of it occur in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; a Nicholas Wryth (d. 1499) was fellow of Merton College, Oxford (Brodrick, Memorials, pp. 236–7; cf. Brit. Mus. Add. Charters, 26932–3; Cal. Ancient Deeds, P.R.O., i. 558).
Sir John is said to have been brought to the court of Henry V, and made by that king antelope pursuivant extraordinary, but both these statements are practically impossible. He was, however, faucon herald in the reigns of Henry VI and Edward IV, and was made Norroy king-of-arms on 25 Jan. 1477; he was promoted Garter king on 16 July 1479, being the third holder of that office. He was sent to proclaim war with Scotland at Edinburgh in 1480 and on many similar missions, and officiated at the funeral of Edward IV and coronation of Richard III, who renewed his grant. Writh was thus its official head when the College of Heralds was incorporated in 1483, and in ​compliment to him the college adopted his arms, changing only the colour; they were azure, a cross or, between four falcons argent. Writh also officiated at the coronation of Henry VII, who continued his salary of 40l. and gave him a gratuity of 80l. In September 1491 he conveyed the insignia of the Garter to Maximilian, king of the Romans, and three years later to Charles VIII of France.
Writh died in April 1504, on the 30th of which month his will, dated 25 March, was proved. He married, first, Barbara, daughter and heir of John de Castlecomb, a marriage by which he largely increased his fortune, and was father of two sons—Sir Thomas Wriothesley (d. 1534) [q. v.], and William, father of Thomas Wriothesley, first earl of Southampton [q. v.], and two daughters. He married, secondly, Eleanor, daughter of Thomas and sister of Richard Arnold [q. v.], by whom he had a son and two daughters; and thirdly, Anne Mynne, probably a relative of John Mynne, York herald.
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wright, William (1773-1860)

​WRIGHT, WILLIAM (1773–1860), aural surgeon, born at Dartford in Kent on 28 May 1773, was son of William and Margaret Wright. He was educated under John Cunningham Saunders [q. v.], and was therefore in all probability a student of St. Thomas's Hospital. He does not appear to have obtained any medical diploma or ​license, but he proceeded to Bristol, where he began his professional career in 1796. Here Miss Anna Thatcher came under his care. She was almost deaf and dumb, but his method of treatment was so successful that in a year she could repeat words, and in 1817 she had a long audience and conversation with Queen Charlotte. Her majesty thereupon appointed Wright her surgeon-aurist in ordinary. He moved to London and soon acquired a large and fashionable practice. He began to attend the Duke of Wellington in 1823, and remained one of his medical attendants until the death of the duke. Wright died on 21 March 1860 in Duke Street, St. James's Square, London.
Wright's works were:
* ‘An Essay on the Human Ear,’ London, 1817, 8vo.
* ‘On the Varieties of Deafnesses,’ London, 1829, 8vo.
* ‘A few Minutes' Advice to Deaf Persons,’ London, 1839, 12mo.
* ‘Deafness and Diseases of the Ear: the Fallacies of present Treatment exposed and Remedies suggested. From the Experience of half a century,’ London, 1860, 8vo.
[Medical Times and Gazette, 1860, i. 328; additional information kindly given by the Rev. P. E. Smith, M.A., vicar of Dartford, Kent.]
D’A. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Hamilton, Edward Walter

​HAMILTON, Sir EDWARD WALTER (1847–1908), treasury official, born at Salisbury on 7 July 1847, was eldest son of Walter Kerr Hamilton [q. v.], bishop of Salisbury, whose friendship with Gladstone descended to his son. His mother was Isabel Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Lear, dean of Salisbury. Educated at Eton (1860–5) and Christ Church, Oxford (1866–8), he entered the treasury in 1870, before he could take his degree. He was private secretary to Robert Lowe, chancellor of the exchequer (1872–3), to his father's friend, Gladstone (1873–4), and again to Gladstone in his second administration (1880–5). With Gladstone his relations were always intimate. Gladstone wrote to him, on his ceasing to be his private secretary (30 June 1885): 'As to your services to me, they have been simply indescribable' (Morley's Gladstone, iii. 210-1). Hamilton published 'Mr. Gladstone,' a monograph, in 1898, in the preface to which he speaks of himself as 'one who was privileged to know Mr. Gladstone for nearly forty years and still more privileged to have been brought into the closest contact with him for a considerable time,' In June 1885 Hamilton became a principal clerk in the finance branch of the treasury, in 1892 assistant financial secretary, in 1894 assistant secretary, and in 1902 permanent financial secretary and joint permanent secretary with Sir George Murray, until the autumn of 1907, when he was compelled by ill-health to retire from the service. He was made C.B. in 1885; K.C.B. in 1894; G.C.B. in 1906, and a privy councillor in 1908; he also held the honours of K.C.V.O. and I.S.O. He died, unmarried, at Brighton on 3 Sept. 1908, and was buried in Brighton cemetery.
As an official, Hamilton devoted himself to the financial rather than the administrative side of the treasury, and mastered the details of City business and banking. He was thus specially connected with Goschen's great financial measures, and published an account of them in 'Conversion and Redemption: an Account of the Operations under the National Debt Conversion Act, 1889' (1889).
Without striking brilliancy, Hamilton gained to a remarkable degree the confidence and affection of those whom he served. In nearly every case official relations led to private friendship. In personal life he found his chief interest in music, and he was the author of various musical compositions. His colleagues in the treasury presented him with his portrait by Mr. John da Costa in March 1908, after his retirement.
[Who's Who; The Times, 9 and 28 Oct. 1907, 4 Sept. 1908; private information.]
C. P. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Hanlan, Edward

​HANLAN (properly Hanlon), EDWARD (1855–1908), Canadian oarsman, born of Irish parents at Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 12 July 1855, was son in the ​family of two sons and two daughters of John Hanlon, hotel proprietor, and his wife Mary Gibbs. His nephew Edward Durnan was sculling champion of Canada. Educated at George Street public school, Hanlan developed an early taste for rowing, and he gained his first important success at the ago of eighteen, when he became amateur champion of Toronto Bay, Turning professional, he beat all comers in 1876 at the centennial international exhibition at Philadelphia. In that year he took unsuccessful charge of an hotel in his native town. He became champion oarsman of Canada in 1877 and of America in 1878. Further successes in America led him in 1879 to test his powers in England; and on 16 June 1879 he defeated the English champion, W. Elliott of Blyth, rowing the course from Mansion House to Scotswood suspension bridge on the Tyne in the record time of 21 mins. 21 sees. On Hanlan's return to Toronto a public subscription of 4000l. was raised for his benefit. Hanlan revisited England in 1880, and on 16 Nov. beat Edward Trickett of Australia on the Thames for the world's championship. In four subsequent races (1881–4) Hanlan retained the title, but lost it on 16 Aug. 1884 to William Beach, a blacksmith of Illawana, in a race on the Paramatta river, and suffered further defeat from Beach on 28 March 1885 and 26 Nov. 1887. Two further efforts to regain the championship in 1888 were unsuccessful. With Wilham O'Connor he beat Gaudaur and McKay for the double-scull championship of America on 8 Aug. 1898.
During his career Hanlan, who was 5 ft. 8¾ ins. in height and weighed 11 stone, won over 160 races, and as an oarsman was unsurpassed for finish and style. Unlike his English rivals, he used the slide simultaneously with the swing, kept his body weU back, and held his arms straigiit long past the perpendicular before bending them to row the stroke, to which added strength was given by the skilful use of his great leg power.
Hanlan died on 4 Jan. 1908 at Toronto, where he was buried with civic honours. He married on 19 Dec. 1877 Margaret Gordon Sutherland of Picton, Nova Scotia, and had issue two sons and six daughters. A painted portrait of Hanlan, sitting in his boat, by H. H. Emmerson, which has been often engraved, belongs to his widow.
[Sportsman, and The Times, 6 Jan. 1908; Toronto Globe, 4, 6, and 7 Jan. 1908 (by H. J. P. Good); R. C. Lehmann, The Complete Oarsman, 1908, p. 49; Morgan, Canadian Men and Women of the Time; private information.]
W. S. J.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Hanbury, James Arthur

​HANBURY, Sir JAMES ARTHUR (1832–1908), surgeon-general, born at Somerstoun House, parish of Laracor, near Trim, co. Meath, on 13 Jan. 1832, was one of the fourteen children of Samuel Hanbury, a large landowner, by his wife Louisa, daughter of Charles Ingham, rector of Kilmessan and Kilcool, Co. Meath. A brother, William, also in the army medical service, was with the 24th regiment when it was annihilated at Chillianwallah in 1849, assisted Florence Nightingale [q. v. Suppl. II] in establishing the hospital at Scutari, and was in charge of Netley Hospital until his death. Another brother. Fleet-surgeon Ingham Hanbury, R.N., after distinguishing himself at Tel-el-Kebir (mentioned in despatches and the bronze decoration and C.B.), died on his way to India in 1884.
Hanbury graduated M.B. from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1853. He entered the army medical service as an assistant surgeon on 30 Sept. 1853; was promoted surgeon on 20 Feb. 1863; surgeon-major on 1 March 1873; brigade surgeon on 27 Nov. 1879; deputy surgeon-general on 5 May 1881; surgeon major-general on 14 June 1887, and retired from the service on 13 Jan. 1892. He was elected an honorary F.R.C.S. Ireland on 19 July 1883 and F.R.C.S. England, on 14 April 1887 (his diploma of membership being dated 23 Feb. 1859).
Hanbury was quartered for some years at Halifax, Nova Scotia, before he was sent to China and thence to India. He served with the Bazar valley expedition in the Afghan war of 1878–9, and was present during the march from Kabul to the relief of Kandahar. He was under fire in the battle of 1 Sept. in that campaign, was mentioned in despatches, received the medal and clasp, the bronze decoration, and the C.B. (1881). He was principal medical officer under Lord ​Wolseley during the Egyptian campaign of 1882, when he was present at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, and for the first time caused wounds to be dressed on the battlefield. Twice mentioned in despatches, he was made K.C.B. He served as principal medical officer at the Horse Guards and at Gibraltar (1887-8), and was surgeon-general of the forces in Madras (1888-92). In 1905 he received the reward for distinguished service. Tall (6 feet 1 inch in height), alert, and handsome, of great independence and energy, Hanbury was a popular master of hounds at Ootacamund. He died at Bournemouth on 2 June 1908. He married in 1876 Hannah Emily, daughter of James Anderson of Coxlodge Hall, Northumberland, and widow of Colonel Carter, C.B.
[Brit. Med. Journal, 1908, i. 1463; Lancet, 1908, i. 1731; information from the Rev. S. Smartt, vicar of Newry.]
D’A. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Hallé, Wilma Maria Francisca

​HALLÉ [formerly Norman-Neruda], WILMA MARIA FRANCISCA, Lady Hallé (1839–1911), violinist, was third child and second daughter of Josef Neruda (1807–75), organist of the cathedral of Brünn, Moravia, where she was born on 21 March 1839. Almost in infancy Wilma began to play the violin. Her teacher was Leopold Jansa. At the age of seven she played one of Bach's sonatas at Vienna, and her fine rendering excited general astonishment. A tour through North Germany with her family followed. On 30 April 1849 she appeared at the Princess's Theatre, London, and on 11 June played a concerto of De Bériot at the Philharmonic concerts. Other tours through Europe spread her fame. In 1864 she made most successful appearances at Paris, and there she married in the same year Ludwig Norman, a Swedish musician, taking the surname of Norman-Neruda. She returned to London in 1869, appeared at the Philharmonic concerts, and remained till Christmas, leading the quartets at the Monday popular concerts. The favour accorded her brought her back to London] every winter. She was specially distinguished as a quartet-leader. In 1876 Prince Alfred, afterwards duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, joined with Earls Dudley and Hardwicke in presenting her with the celebrated Stradivanus violin that had belonged to Ernst. In 1886 she was left a widow. On 26 July 1888 she married her second husband. Sir Charles Hallé [q. v. Suppl. I], with whom she had long been professionally associated. After his death in 1895 King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, became president of an influential committee which was formed to raise a fund for her benefit. As a result, the title-deeds of a palace at Asolo were presented to Lady Hallé. After the death on 11 Sept. 1898 of her only son (by her first husband) in a mountaineering accident in the Dolomites, Lady Halle settled at Berlin as a teacher, re-visiting England every year and being formally appointed in 1901 violinist to Queen Alexandra. On 25 Jan. 1908 she played at the concert in London in memory of Joachim, who was one of her frequent associates. She died at Berlin from inflammation of the lungs on 15 April 1911. Effective technique, superb bowing, an indefinable touch of genius in her interpretations gave her a unique place among violinists; her tone scarcely yielded in fulness to the greatest male performers.
[The Times, 17 April 1911; Strad, May 1911; Musical Standard, 29 March 1902 (portrait); Grove's Dict. of Music, arts. Neruda, Stradivari, and Violin, and the Appendix; A. Ehrlich, Berühmter Geiger (Engl. edit, with portrait); personal reminiscences from 1872.]
H. D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Jameson, Andrew

​JAMESON, ANDREW, Lord Ardwall (1845–1911), Scottish judge, born at Ayr on 5 July 1845, was eldest son of Andrew ​Jameson, sheriff of Aberdeen and Kincardine, by his wife Alexander, daughter of Alexander Colquhoun Campbell of Barnhill, Dumbartonshire. Educated at Edinburgh Academy, he graduated M.A. from the University of St. Andrews in 1865. He afterwards attended Edinburgh University, and on 19 May 1870 he passed at the Scottish bar, where he gradually acquired a considerable practice. In 1882 he was appointed junior counsel to the department of woods and forests. On 27 April 1886 he was made sheriff of Roxburghshire, Berwickshire, and Selkirkshire. Having taken a prominent part in politics as a liberal unionist, he received from Lord Salisbury's government the office of sheriff of the counties of Ross, Cromarty, and Sutherland on 28 Nov. 1890, and became sheriff of Perthshire on 27 Oct. 1891. On the resignation of Henry James Moncreiff, second Baron Moncreiff [q. v. Suppl. II], he was raised to the bench, on 6 Jan. 1905, with the title of Lord Ardwall. In the same year he was made hon. LL.D. of St. Andrews. After an illness of about six months he died, at 14 Moray Place, Edinburgh, on 21 Nov. 1911, and was buried at Anwoth in Kirkcudbrightshire. In addition to legal and political work Jameson was active in other spheres of public life. He conducted several important inquiries on behalf of the government, frequently acted as an arbiter in industrial disputes, and was for some years, in succession to Lord James of Hereford, chairman of the board of conciliation, between the coalowners and Scottish Miners' Federation. He was keenly interested in Scottish religious affairs, as a member of the Free church, and he supported Dr. Robert Rainy [q.v. Suppl. II] in promoting the union of that body with the United Presbyterians (1900), though he had strongly opposed him during the agitation for disestablishing the Church of Scotland. He was also devoted to country life, and during the later part of his career paid much attention to agriculture. Of frank and boisterous speech, he shared the tastes and pursuits of the Scottish judges of the old school, of which George Fergusson, Lord Hermand [q. v.], was the last survivor (Scotsman, 22 Nov. 1911).
In 1875 Jameson married Christian, daughter of John Gordon Brown of Lochanhead and niece of Walter McCulloch of Ardwall in Kirkcudbrightshire, from whom she inherited the estate after which the judge took his title. There were born of this marriage one daughter and three sons, the eldest and youngest of whom entered the army. The second, John Gordon Jameson, advocate, unsuccessfully contested East Edinburgh, as a unionist, at a by-election in January 1912. There are three paintings of Lord Ardwall by Sir George Reid, two of which are (1912) at 14 Moray Place, Edinburgh, and the third at Ardwall.
[Roll of the Faculty of Advocates; Scotsman, and Perthshire Constitutional Journal, 22 Nov. 1911; personal knowledge.]
G. W. T. O.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Jacks, William

​JACKS, WILLIAM (1841–1907), iron-master and author, born at Cornhill, Berwickshire, on 18 March 1841, was son in a family of six children of Richard Jacks, shepherd, by his wife, Margaret Lamb. After attending the village school of Swinton, Berwickshire, he became an apprentice in Hartlepool shipyard. Presently he was advanced to the counting-house, where his growing knowledge of continental languages and his business tact led to more responsible occupation. Having managed the Seaham engine works at Sunderland for a time, he was appointed in 1869 manager for Messrs. Robinow and Marjoribanks, ironmasters of Glasgow. On 6 Dec. 1880 he established on his own account at Glasgow a concern which speedily developed into the well-known firm of William Jacks and Co., iron and steel merchants, of Glasgow, Middlesbrough, Sheffield, and Grangemouth, In 1893 he was president of the British Iron Trade Association.
Jacks was elected in the liberal interest M.P. for Leith Burghs in 1885. Unwillingness to accept Gladstone's Irish policy cost him his seat at the general election of 1886, but he represented the county of Stirling as a liberal from 1892 to 1895. Thenceforth he gave his leisure to literary work. He had shown scholarship and taste in a translation of Lessing's 'Nathan the Wise,' which appeared in 1894 with an introduction by Dean Farrar. 'Robert Burns in other Tongues' (1896) presented and discussed versions of the Scottish poet in sixteen foreign languages. 'The Life of Prince Bismarck' (1899) and 'James Watt' (1901) are compact biographies. 'Singles from Life's Gathering' (1902; 2nd edit. 1903), with an introduction by Dean Farrar, who suggested the book, is largely autobiographical, 'The Life of his Majesty William II, German Emperor' (1904), brought a hearty acknowledgment from the Kaiser, with a signed portrait.
Jacks was a D.L. for Stirlingshire, and in 1899 he was created LL.D. of Glasgow University. He died on 9 Aug. 1907 at The Gart, Callander, and was interred in Callander cemetery. He bequeathed 20,000l. to Glasgow University, for the endowment of a chair of modern languages to be named after him. To the Glasgow Athenæum Commercial College and the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce respectively he left 1000l., and he bequeathed 1000l. each to the Edinburgh Border Counties Association and the Glasgow Border Counties Association to establish scholarships to be called by his name. Jacks married on 23 Oct. 1878 Matilda Ferguson, daughter of John and Emily Stiven, Glasgow. His wife survived her husband, but there was no family.
[Information from Mr. H. Arnold Wilson, of Messrs. William Jacks and Co.; Who's Who, 1906; Glasgow Herald, 10 Aug. 1907; Chambers's Journal, April 1902; Scottish Field, Dec. 1906; personal knowledge.]
T. B.