OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wedderburn, John (1704-1746)

​WEDDERBURN, Sir JOHN (1704–1746), bart., of Blackness, Jacobite, born on 4 Aug. 1704, eldest son of Sir Alexander Wedderburn, fourth baronet (cr. August 1704), by Katherine, daughter of John Scott, merchant, of Dundee, was taken prisoner at Culloden. Sir Alexander Wedderburn [q. v.] was his great-grandfather. His father had been deprived of the town clerkship of Dundee in 1717, and on his death in 1741 the family estates had to be sold, and the son lived in great poverty. According to Sir John's own account, he was seized by the rebels and compelled to join them by force; it was clearly proved that he had been concerned in levying excise for their use. He also joined the rebels as a soldier, was present at the battle of Falkirk, was seen on the retreat from Stirling, and in a return of rebel officers and soldiers—prisoners in Inverness, 19 April 1746—his name appears as Sir John Wedderburn of Elcho's lifeguards. He was found guilty of treason, and executed on Kennington Common on 28 Nov. 1746. His title and his estate of Blackness were forfeited. By Jean, eldest daughter of John Fullerton of that ilk, he had three surviving sons and four daughters. His eldest son, John, was father of David of Ballindean, who ​was created a baronet of the United Kingdom in 1803, and became postmaster-general of Scotland.
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wedderburn, Peter

​WEDDERBURN, Sir PETER (1616?–1679), Scottish judge, was the third son of James Wedderburn, town clerk of Dundee. Sir Alexander Wedderburn [q. v.] was his elder brother. He was born at Dundee about 1616, and was educated at St. Andrews, where he graduated M.A. in 1636. He was admitted advocate on 19 Jan. 1642, and speedily attained prominence at the bar. In January 1658–9 he acquired the estate of Gosford, Haddingtonshire, from Sir Alexander Auchmuty, not, as is stated in Douglas's ‘Baronage,’ from his uncle, Sir John Wedderburn [q. v.], who advanced money for the purpose as he had no children and had decided to make Peter his heir. Wedderburn remained firmly attached to the royalists during the civil war; and at the Restoration he was knighted and made keeper of the signet for life, with power to appoint deputies. In July 1661 he was appointed clerk to the privy council, and on 17 June 1668 he was raised to the bench as an ordinary lord of session, with the title of Lord Gosford. He represented the constabulary of Haddington in the conventions almost continuously from 1661 until 1674. He died at Gosford on 11 Nov. 1679. He married, first, in 1649, Christian Gibson, by whom he had one son, who died in infancy; and secondly, in 1653, Agnes, daughter of John Dickson, Lord Hartree of session, and had five sons and four daughters. The second son, Peter (1658–1746), assumed the name of Halkett on marrying Jane, daughter of Sir Charles Halkett, and heiress of her brother, Sir James Halkett; he is represented by Sir Peter Arthur Halkett of Pitfirrane, bart. Sir Peter Wedderburn's third son was grandfather of Alexander Wedderburn, first earl of Rosslyn [q. v.] Lord Gosford published ‘A Collection of Decisions of the Court of Session from 1 June 1668 till July 1677,’ which is still accepted as authoritative. He was regarded as an eloquent advocate and an upright judge, ‘whose deeds were prompted by truthfulness, and whose law was directed by justice and sympathy.’
A portrait of Sir Peter is in the possession of Sir William Wedderburn at Meredith, and is reproduced in ‘The Wedderburn Book.’ Another portrait was at Leslie House, and was sold in 1886.
A. H. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vaughan, Edward

​VAUGHAN, EDWARD (d. 1522), bishop of St. David's, was presumably of Welsh origin, being, according to some, a native of South Wales. He was born about the middle of the fifteenth century, and was educated at Cambridge, where he graduated LL.D. On 21 June 1487 he was instituted to the church of St. Matthew, Friday Street, London, and subsequently became vicar of Islington also. At St. Paul's he was successively promoted to the prebend of Reculverland, 15 April 1493, that of Harleston, 16 Nov. 1499, and was made treasurer 10 Nov. ​1503, holding along with the latter the prebend of Bromesbury in the same church. He built a house near St. Paul's for his successors in the treasurership, and distributed five hundred marks to the poor in London in time of dearth (Leland, Collectanea, 2nd ed. ii. 324). He was made archdeacon of Lewes in 1509, and on 22 July in the same year, vacating his London appointments, he was consecrated bishop of St. David's, to which he was promoted by the pope's bull of provision dated 13 Jan. 1508-9.
To Vaughan has been assigned 'the most prominent place among the prelates who occupied the see of St. David's during the closing days of the ante-reformation era' (Jones and Freeman). Excepting Gower, the see never had a more munificent benefactor. In lieu of what had been, up to his time, a 'vilissimus sive sordidissimus locus,' he erected at St. David's 'the beautiful chapel' which still bears his name. On its walls he placed three coats-of-arms, namely, his own, those of Henry VII, and of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, 'who probably had been once his patron' (Willis, pp. 77, 89), and who spent his latter days at Carew Castle, close to Lamphey, which was then an episcopal residence (Laws, Little England, p. 235). He remodelled and roofed the lady-chapel and its ante-chapel, while the roof of the nave, and probably also the porch and the upper stage of the tower, belong to his period. He also built the chapel at Lamphey, and Leland (loc. cit.) ascribes to him the chapel of St. Justinian (now in ruins), the chapel at Llawhaden Castle, where Vaughan often resided, together with general repairs at the same place, and a great barn (now destroyed) at Lamphey. 'The beautiful interior decoration' of Hodgeston church is supposed to be his (Laws, p. 232).
Vaughan died in November 1522, and was buried in the chapel which he built and which bears his name. Over him was placed 'a plain marble tomb, with his effigy in brass richly engraven,' and underneath an inscription, which is quoted by Browne Willis (p. 20). All that now remains of it is 'a large slab of shell marble, immediately in front of the altar.' His will, dated 20 May 1521, was proved on 27 Jan. 1522-3.
D. Ll. T.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vaughan, Griffith

​VAUGHAN or VYCHAN, Sir GRIFFITH (d. 1447), soldier, was son of Griffith ap Ieuan and his wife Maud. The father was implicated in Glendower's rebellion in 1403 and defended Caus Castle for some time against Henry IV's forces; his deeds of valour were celebrated in a poem by Lewys Glyn Cothi (Gwaith, 1837, pp. 423–5). The son, who in 1406 was styled Sir Griffith (Vaughan or Vychan, meaning simply ‘the younger’), was apparently not involved in the rebellion; he figured on the roll of burgesses in Welshpool in that year, and inherited lands in Burgedin, Treflydau, Garth, Maesmawr, and elsewhere. He accompanied Henry V to France, and fought at Agincourt on 25 Oct. 1415, when he was made a knight-banneret (College of Arms MSS., Prothero, vii. 186, 195, and E. 6, 99). Towards the end of 1417 Sir Griffith and his brother, Ieuan ap Griffith, made themselves notorious by capturing on their ancestral estate at Broniarth Sir John Oldcastle the lollard, upon whose head a price had been set. Various privileges were granted them for this act by a charter from Edward de Charlton, lord of Powys [q. v.], dated 6 July 1419, and still preserved at Garth (‘A Powysian at Agincourt’ in Montgomery Collections, ii. 139). No further notice of Sir Griffith occurs until 1447, when he seems to have given offence to the queen, Margaret of Anjou. He was denounced by proclamation as an open rebel, and five hundred marks were offered for his capture. This was effected by Henry de Grey, lord of Powys, who summoned Sir Griffith to the castle of Pool, and gave what Sir Griffith considered a ‘safe-conduct.’ Immediately on his arrival within the court-yard he was beheaded ‘without judge or jury.’ This event, which took place about April 1447, was the occasion of poetical laments by Lewys Glyn Cothi and David Lloyd of Mathavarn (Gwaith Lewys Glyn Cothi, Oxford, 1837, pp. 418–22; Montgomery Collections, i. 335–6, vi. 92–5). On 20 July 1447 a treasury warrant was issued for the payment of the five hundred marks to Grey (Trevelyan Papers, Camden Soc. pp. 32, 36). The deed has been attributed to jealousy on Grey's part because Sir Griffith was descended from the ancient princes of Powys, and had probably laid claim to some of Grey's lands.
Sir Griffith married Margaret, daughter ​and coheir of Griffith ap Jenkin of Broughton, by whom he had issue three sons and three daughters. The eldest son was David Lloyd of Leighton, ancestor of the Lloyds of Marrington, Marton, and Stockton; the second, Cadwalader, was ancestor of the Lloyds of Maesmawr; and the third, Reginald, was ancestor of the Wynnes of Garth and of the Lloyds of Broniarth and Gaervawr (Sheriffs of Montgomery, pp. 1–7, 376–425, 528–9; Pedigrees of Montgomery Families, 1888, pp. 16–18, 52, 126, 153).
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nicholas le Blund

​NICHOLAS le Blund (d. 1304), bishop of Down, apparently of Norman birth, was, at the death of his predecessor, Thomas Lidell, treasurer of Ulster and prior of St. Patrick's, Down (Sweetman, Cal. Doc. 1252–1284, Nos. 1187, 1327, 1335). The king's license to elect a bishop was granted to the chapter of Down by Edward I on 20 Feb. 1276–1277, and the writ investing Nicholas with the temporalities of the see was issued 29 March 1277. In spite of his Norman birth, he administered his diocese in accordance with Irish customs, and in disregard of English interests. In 1284 he was excommunicated by the Archbishop of Armagh, amerced one hundred marks, and his temporalities were taken into the king's hands (ib. passim). In March 1288–9 he had a suit against the abbot of St. Mary of York concerning some land. In 1297 he was tried on a ‘quo warranto’ for the following offences. It was alleged that he had entered into a combination with Nicholas MacMelissa (d. 10 May 1303), archbishop of Armagh, and agreed on certain constitutions which excluded clergy born in England from the monasteries in their dioceses. This he denied. He was further charged with assuming the administration of justice on his church lands, and following Irish law, by taking ‘eiric,’ a ransom-fine, in commutation of the felony of killing an Englishman. He pleaded that such administration had from time immemorial been the privilege of his predecessors in the see, but the plea was disallowed. In the same year, 1297, the place of abbot of St. John's, Downpatrick, was voided by the cession of William Rede. The prior and con​vent obtained the king's license to elect a successor. Nicholas broke into the monastery, took forcible possession of the license, and himself appointed an abbot. He maintained his hold of his diocese till his death in March 1304–5 (Sweetman, Cal. Doc. 1302–1307, No. 387).
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nicholas (d.1124)

​NICHOLAS (d. 1124), prior of Worcester, was an Englishman of noble birth whose parents were friends of Bishop Wulfstan II (1062–1095) [q. v.] Nicholas was baptised by him and taught by him in Worcester monastery; he soon became the bishop's favourite pupil, and seldom left his side. When he had made some progress in his studies, Wulfstan sent him to Christchurch, Canterbury, to be taught by Lanfranc. William of Malmesbury says that no one was so fond of narrating the words and acts of Wulfstan, and blames Nicholas for not writing the bishop's ​life. He tells the story that the bishop miraculously arrested while he lived the tendency of Nicholas's hair to fall out, but that Nicholas lost all his hair in the week that the bishop died. In 1113, on the death of Thomas, Nicholas succeeded him as prior of Worcester; the monastery, although comparatively small, acquired, through Nicholas's example, fame for its zeal for learning. He died in 1124.
While at Canterbury Nicholas had made the acquaintance of Eadmer [q. v.]; subsequently he appears to have kept up a correspondence with him, and his opinion on historical matters was highly valued. In one letter from Nicholas to Eadmer (Stubbs, Dunstan, p. 422) he answers a question with regard to the mother of King Edward the Martyr, and enabled Eadmer to correct Osbern of Canterbury's errors in his ‘Life of Dunstan.’ Another letter of Nicholas's to Eadmer, dated 1120, is extant (Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, ii. 202); Eadmer had recently been appointed to the see of St. Andrews, and had invited Nicholas's opinion respecting a dispute in regard to his consecration. Nicholas denied that the see of York had any claim to primacy over Scotland; and recommended his friend to secure the support of the ‘barbaric race’ of the Scots, and by the favour of the king of Scots to seek papal consecration. Nicholas was himself prepared to plead in favour of the liberty of the Scottish church at the court of Rome. Eadmer had no sympathy with the liberties of the Scottish church, and did not follow Nicholas's advice.
M. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nicholas of Fakenham

Nicholas Fakenham in the ODNB.
​NICHOLAS of Fakenham (fl. 1400), Franciscan, may have been a native of Fakenham, Norfolk, or one of a family of that name; several Fakenhams were employed in the service of Richard II (e.g. Pat. Roll, 19 Ric. II. pt. i. m. 25). Nicholas enjoyed the favour and patronage of the king. In 1395 he was D.D. of Oxford, and provincial minister of his order. On 5 Nov. of that year he ‘determined’ at Oxford, probably at his inception, on the papal schism, by the king's command. In this lecture he advocated the punishment of the schismatical cardinals as the first measure in restoring unity. He was absolved from the provincialate about 1402, probably at the general chapter at Assisi. In 1405 he was appointed commissioner by the protector of the order, Cardinal-bishop of Sabina, to examine into the charges against John Zouch, then provincial minister, whose arbitrary conduct had produced ‘a great and scandalous schism’ among the English Minorites. The commissioners deposed Zouch, called a chapter at Oxford (3 May 1405), and elected a successor. Zouch was reappointed by the general chapter, at the instance of the protector, and confirmed by the pope; but the commissioners refused to obey him, and seem to have been generally supported by the friars. Bale, referring to ‘a register of the Minorites,’ says that Nicholas died in 1407. He was buried at Colchester.
His ‘Determinatio’ in 1395, with other pieces on the schism by the same writer, are preserved in Harl. MS. 3768.
A. G. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nicholas ap Gwrgant

​NICHOLAS ap GWRGANT (d. 1183), bishop of Llandaff, succeeded Uchtryd in that see in 1148 (Brut y Tywysogion, Oxford edit. p. 315; Liber Landavensis, ed. Evans, p. 314). Some lists, indeed, interpose a Godfrey; but this is due to some confusion with Geoffrey of Monmouth, bishop of St. Asaph, who is erroneously mentioned in the ‘Brut’ as ‘Geffrei escob Llan Daf’ (p. 318). Nothing is known of the parentage of Nicholas, though Dr. Owen Pughe (Cambrian Biography) and others assume him to have been a brother of the chieftain Iestyn ap Gwrgant, who flourished about 1080; and Haddan and Stubbs (Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents, i. 387, 303) conjecture that he was the son of his predecessor, Urban (bishop of Llandaff 1107–34), a conjecture which rests upon the reading ‘Nicol uab Gwrgant escob’ in one manuscript of ‘Brut y Tywysogion’ (ed. Williams, p. 176), and upon the forms ‘Worgan’ and ‘Gwrfau’ assumed by Urban's name in various editions of the same chronicle (‘Brut y Saeson’ in Myvyrian Archaiology, 2nd edit. p. 669; ‘Gwentian Brut’ in Archæologia Cambrensis, 3rd ser. x. 88). Nicholas appears to have owed his promotion to Archbishop Theobald (Letters of Gilbert Foliot, xci.: ‘opus enim manuum vestrarum ipse est et plantatio vestra’). This did not prevent him, however, from showing much independence, and, according to the Gwentian ‘Brut,’ he had much influence both with the Norman conquerors of Glamorgan and their Welsh subjects. He carried on the old boundary dispute with the Bishops of Hereford and St. David's, but with no particular success. Politically he was a supporter of Henry II against Archbishop Thomas Becket, assenting to (though not actually present at) the coronation of Prince Henry in 1170, and incurring suspension in consequence. In 1177 he was again suspended by Archbishop Richard (d. 1184) [q. v.] for abetting the monks of Malmesbury in a contest with their diocesan, the Bishop of Salisbury. He died on 4 June 1183 (Annals of Margam, Rolls edit.)
[Brut y Tywysogion; Brut y Saeson; Gwentian Brut; Liber Landavensis, ed. Evans; Haddan and Stubbs's Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents, i. 351–87.]
J. E. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nicholas de Walkington

The ODNB doubts the attribution by Bale.
​NICHOLAS de Walkington (fl. 1193?), mediæval writer, perhaps a native of Walkington, Yorkshire, entered the monastery of the Regulars at Kirkham in the same county; he was not, as has been frequently stated, a Cistercian. Bale says that he lived about 1193. He was author of ‘Nicolai Walkington de Kirkham brevis narratio de Bello inter Henricum I Regem Angliæ et Ludovicum Grossum R. Francorum; item de Bello contra Scotos quod dicitur de Standardo;’ a manuscript copy of this work, which consists of only one quarto page, written on paper during the 15th century, is Cotton MS. Titus A xix. f. 144. Nicholas has also been credited with the description of the battle of the Standard, including an account of Walter Espec, founder of Rievaulx, really written by Etheldred (1109?–1166) [q. v.], abbot of Rievaulx. Bale also attributes to Nicholas a treatise ‘De virtutibus et vitiis,’ which is not known to be extant.
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Parr, John

​PARR, JOHN (1633?–1716?), dissenting minister, born about 1633, was doubtless related to Dr. Parr, bishop of Man (J. E. Bailey in the Antiquary, ix. 118; Baines, Lancashire, ii. 718; Sir G. F. Duckett, Duchetiana, pp. 24 seq.). In the will of the regicide John Bradshaw, dated 20 March 1653, he is mentioned as ‘my chaplain Mr. Parr,’ to whom the testator allowed ‘24 li yearly for 5 years to enable him in his studies.’ By a codicil of September 1655 Bradshaw revoked the legacy (Earwaker, East Cheshire, ii. 76). At the Restoration Parr was studying at Cambridge, and he proceeded M.A. from Trinity College in 1662. He subsequently repaired to his native county, and on the declaration of indulgence in 1672 ministered for a time to the Darwen nonconformists, in the house of ‘William and Mary Berry’ of Darwen (Nightingale, Lanc. Nonconf. i. 9). Some time before 1687 he left Darwen for Walton chapel, where on one occasion he was arrested for holding a conventicle (Calamy, Account, p. 418; Continuation, p. 573). Refusing to submit himself to the local court, he was bound over to the next assizes (see ib. and Nonc. Mem. ii. 382). The trial ended in a non prosequitur. At another time, about the end of Charles II's reign, he and his wife being invited by a neighbour to stay the night, ‘a few friends were got together in expectation of some religious exercise.’ The meeting was surprised, and all present proceeded against, and Parr himself was forced to compound for a fine of 20l. on his own account, and 4l. for his wife, for holding a conventicle.
During Monmouth's rebellion Parr was kept prisoner five or six weeks without knowing the reason, first at Warrington and afterwards at Chester, where he and eight other ministers were thrust into the common gaol (ib.)
On 20 Oct. 1690 Newcome (Autobiography, p. 272, Chetham Soc.) chronicles a visit ​from Parr. He was then preaching alternately at Preston and Walton, and was at the same time a frequent moderator of worship at Hoghton Tower (Abram, Independency in Blackburn, p. 14).
On the establishment of the meetings of the united brethren in Lancashire, in imitation of the movement in London, Parr attended the meetings as representative of the northern district from 6 Aug. 1695 onwards (Manchester Minutes, p. 355, Chetham Soc.)
Calamy mentions Parr as ‘still living at Preston’ in 1713. He is variously said to have died about 1714 (Nightingale, ubi supra, i. 9) and in 1716. Administration of the goods of John Parr of Preston was granted in 1716 (‘Lancashire and Cheshire Wills proved at Richmond,’ Rec. Soc. Publ. vol. xiii.). The Preston and Walton dissenters elected as their succeeding minister John Turner in 1714.
W. A. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Parr, Elnathan

​PARR, ELNATHAN (d. 1632?), divine, was educated at Eton school, and was thence elected in 1593 to a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1597, M.A. in 1601, and B.D. in 1615. He was afterwards presented to the rectory of Palgrave, Suffolk, a benefice which belonged to the Cornwallis family. Several letters to and from him are printed in the ‘Private Correspondence of Jane, Lady Cornwallis,’ London, 1842, 8vo. He appears to have died about 1632. Tom Martin, the antiquary, notes that a portrait of Parr was preserved at Earl Cornwallis's seat, Broome Hall, Suffolk, and adds that he himself had another at Palgrave.
Parr was the author of: 1. ‘Latin hexameter Verses on the Death of Dr. William Whitaker,’ 1595. Printed at the end of vol. i. of Whitaker's ‘Opera Theologica,’ Geneva, 1610. 2. ‘The Grounds of Divinitie, plainely discovering the Mysteries of Christian Religion, propounded familiarly in divers Questions and Answeres. … To the which is prefixed a very profitable Treatise, contayning an Exhortation to the Studie of the Word,’ London, 1614, 8vo; 3rd edit., corrected and enlarged, London, 1619, 8vo; 5th edit., London, 1632, fol.; 7th edit., London, 1633, 12mo; 8th edit., London, 1636, 12mo. 3. ‘Abba Father: or a plaine and short Direction concerning the framing of Private Prayer. Also sundry Godly Admonitions concerning Time,’ London, 1618, 8vo; 4th edit., London, 1632, fol.; 5th edit., London, 1636, 12mo. Dedicated to Sir Nathaniel Bacon and Jane, his wife. 4. ‘A Plaine Exposition upon the whole eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth Chapters of the Epistle … to the Romanes,’ London, 1620, 4to. 5. ‘A plaine Exposition upon the whole thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth Chapters of the Epistle … to the Romanes,’ London, 1622, 4to. Dr. Edward Williams says this exposition is ‘equally remarkable for soundness of sentiment, familiarity of illustration, and want of taste in style and composition’ (Christian Preacher, 5th edit. 1843, p. 292).
‘The Workes of that faithfull and painefull Preacher, Mr. Elnathan Parr, Batchelour in Divinitie, late Minister in Suffolke,’ appeared in a third edition, ‘enlarged by the authors own hand before his death,’ 4 pts. London, 1632, fol.; 4th edit. corrected and enlarged, London, 1651, fol. Dedicated to Sir Nathaniel Bacon and the Lady Jane Bacon, ‘late his Wife, now Widdow.’
T. C.