OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vankoughnet, Philip Michael Scott

​VANKOUGHNET, PHILIP MICHAEL SCOTT (1822–1869), chancellor of Upper Canada, born on 21 Jan. 1822 at Cornwall, Ontario, was the eldest son of Lieutenant-colonel Philip Vankoughnet by Harriet Sophia, daughter of Matthew Scott of Carrick-on-Suir, co. Tipperary. The family, which was originally named Von Gochnat, emigrated from Colmar in Alsace in 1750, and settled on the site of what is now the town of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Michael Vankoughnet (1751–1832), grandfather of Philip Michael, having been proscribed as a loyalist during the American revolution, took refuge in 1783 at Cornwall in Stormont County, Ontario. Here he died in October 1832, leaving three sons and a daughter, the issue of his marriage with Eve, daughter of John Bolton Empey. The eldest son, Philip Vankoughnet (1790–1873), born on 2 April 1790, served at the battle of Chrysler's Farm, 11 Nov. 1813, and commanded the fifth battalion of the Canadian incorporated militia at the battle of the Windmill, Prescott, 13 Nov. 1837, during Riel's rebellion. He was also for thirty years a member of the legislature of Upper Canada, and upon its union with the Lower Province in 1840 became a member of the Legislative Council. At his death he was chairman of the board of arbitrators for the dominion. He died at Cornwall in Canada on 17 May 1873, leaving eight sons and five daughters.
The eldest son, Philip Michael, served under his father in 1837. He was called to the Canadian bar in 1843, and took silk six years later. He soon acquired the largest practice in Upper Canada, and his entrance on political life was made at a large pecuniary sacrifice. In November 1856 he became the first member of the legislative council for Rideau. In the previous May he had been appointed president of the executive council and minister of agriculture in the Taché administration, on the resignation of Sir Allan Napier Macnab [q. v.] Vankoughnet reorganised his department, made it thoroughly efficient, and, in particular, took effective measures to check the ravages of the Hessian fly and weevil. In September 1858 he became chief commissioner of crown ​lands in the Cartier-Macdonald administration, and held office for four years. During this time he established the system of selling townships en bloc, and opened up some of the best colonial roads. He also acted as leader of the conservative government in the legislative council or upper house of Canada. In 1862 he was appointed chancellor of Ontario or Upper Canada, which office he held till his death, having declined the office of chief justice which Macdonald made him in 1868. Vankoughnet died at Toronto on 7 Nov. 1869. He was a close political and personal friend of Sir John Alexander Macdonald [q. v.], but made his way chiefly through his own abilities. He was a forcible and fluent speaker, and an able lawyer. Vankoughnet married, in November 1845, Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Barker Turner, by whom he had two sons.
G. Le G. N.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vansittart, George Henry

​VANSITTART, GEORGE HENRY (1768–1824), general, born on 16 July 1768, was the eldest son of George Vansittart, M.P., of Bisham Abbey, Berkshire, by Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Sir James Stonhouse, bart., of Radley, Berkshire. Henry Vansittart (1777–1843) [q. v.] was his younger brother. Henry Vansittart (1732–1770) [q. v.] and Robert Vansittart [q. v.] were his uncles. He was educated at Winchester, at a military academy at Strasbourg, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on 7 Nov. 1785.
After obtaining a commission as ensign in the 19th foot on 18 Oct. 1786, he was allowed a year's leave to study military science at Brunswick and attend the Prussian manœuvres. He became lieutenant on 25 Dec. 1787, exchanged to the 38th foot on 12 March 1788, and obtained a company in the 18th foot on 23 June 1790. He joined that regiment at Gibraltar, went with it to Toulon in 1793, took part in the defence, and was one of the last men to leave the place. He became major in the New South Wales corps on 20 Nov. 1793, and lieutenant-colonel of the 95th on 21 Feb. 1794. He took part with it in the expedition to the Cape under Sir Alured Clarke in 1795. He was made colonel in the army on 26 Jan. 1797; but the 95th was broken up in the course of that year, and for the next three years he was on half-pay and in the Berkshire militia, which his uncle, Colonel Arthur Vansittart, had previously commanded.
On 10 April 1801 he became lieutenant-colonel of the 68th foot, went with it to the West Indies, and was present at the capture of St. Lucia in June 1803. On 25 Sept. he was promoted major-general, and served on the staff in England from 1804 to 1806, and in Ireland from 1806 to 1810, when he became lieutenant-general (25 July). While in command of the Oxford district he received the degree of D.C.L. on 26 June 1805. He had been given the colonelcy of the 12th reserve battalion on 9 July 1803, and was transferred to the 1st garrison battalion on 25 Feb. 1805. The colours of this battalion were afterwards presented to him, and now hang in the great hall in Bisham Abbey. He became general on 19 July 1821, and died on 4 Feb. 1824.
On 29 Oct. 1818 he had married Anna Maria, daughter and coheiress of Thomas Copson of Sheppey Hall, Leicestershire. She survived him, with one son, George Henry (1823–1885), and a second son, Augustus Arthur (1824–1882), was born posthumously. There is a portrait of him in uniform, by Sir George Hayter, at Bisham Abbey.
E. M. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Vans, Patrick

Patrick Vaus in the ODNB
​VANS, Sir PATRICK, of Barnbarroch (d. 1597), lord of session and ambassador, was the second son of Sir John Vans of Barnbarroch by Janet, only child of Sir Samuel MacCulloch of Myreton, keeper of the palace of Linlithgow. He was educated for the church, and became rector of Wigton. In 1568 he succeeded to the family estates on the death of his elder brother, and on 1 Jan. 1576 he was appointed an ordinary lord of session on the spiritual side. On 21 Jan. 1587 he was admitted a member of the privy council (Reg. Privy Council, Scotl. iv. 162). In May of the same year he was sent, along with Peter Young, ambassador to Denmark, to arrange for a marriage between James VI and Anne, princess of Denmark (Moysie, Memoirs, p. 64; Sir James Melville, Memoirs, p. 363), and, having arrived home in August (Moysie, p. 65; Melville p. 364), he was on 1 Oct. exonerated for his proceedings in Denmark (Reg. Privy Council, Scotl. iv. 219). When the ships conveying the princess to Scotland in October 1589 were driven back by storm, and the king resolved to send a special embassy to fetch her, Vans was named one of the principal ambassadors for that purpose (ib. iv. 421), and, when the king resolved himself to embark, was especially chosen to accompany him (Calderwood, History, v. 67). After witnessing the marriage, he, on the king's resolving to remain in Denmark until the spring, returned to Scotland to report the marriage to the council, arriving in Scotland on 15 Dec. (Moysie, p. 81). In 1592 he was elected a lord of the articles, and in June of the same year received an annual pension of 200l. He was again chosen a lord of the articles on 16 July 1593, and at the same time was appointed to a commission for the provision of ministers and augmentation of stipends. He died on 22 July 1597, and was succeeded by his son, Sir John Vans, one of the gentlemen of the chamber to King James.
Though the name of Sir Patrick Vans has not by any ballad editor been associated with the old ballad of ‘Sir Patrick Spens,’ the supposition that he is the hero of it is at least as probable as any other theory as to ​the origin of the ballad [cf. art. Wardlaw, Lady Elizabeth].
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Henry Maurice

​HENRY MAURICE of Battenberg, Prince (1858–1896), born at Milan on 5 Oct. 1858, was third son of Prince Alexander of Hesse (1823–1888) and his morganatic wife, the countess Julie von Haucke, daughter of an ex-minister of war for Poland, to whom was granted, in 1858, the title of Princess of Battenberg. His elder brother Alexander was on 29 April 1879 elected first prince of Bulgaria; he abdicated on 6 Sept. 1886 and died on 17 Nov. 1893. His brother, Prince Louis of Battenberg, married, on 30 April 1884, Victoria, eldest daughter of the Princess Alice of Hesse, third daughter of Queen Victoria, and this connection brought Prince Henry, who had received a military education and become lieutenant in the 10th regiment of Rhenish hussars, into contact with the English court. On 23 July 1885 he was married at Whippingham church by the archbishop of Canterbury to the Princess Beatrice, youngest daughter of Queen Victoria. He was naturalised by an act of parliament which passed the House of Lords on 31 July in the same year, was elected K.G. on 22 July, and was granted the title of royal highness; he was also made colonel in the army and captain-general and governor of the Isle of Wight. He took great interest in the Isle of Wight volunteer corps. In November 1895 he volunteered for service with the Ashanti expeditionary force. He sailed on 8 Dec., at first as merely an auxiliary, but he was afterwards made military secretary to the commander-in-chief, Sir Francis Scott. He marched with the force to within thirty miles of Kumasi, when he was attacked by fever; he returned to Cape Coast Castle and embarked on the Blonde cruiser on 17 Jan. 1896. He died at sea on the 20th; his remains were brought to England and interred at Whippingham on 5 Feb. He left issue three sons, Princes Alexander, Leopold, and Maurice, and one daughter, the Princess Victoria of Battenberg.
[Almanach de Gotha, 1895; Times, 23 Jan. to 6 Feb. 1896, passim; Burke's Peerage, 1895; Men of the Time, 14th edit.]
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Haywood, William (1821-1894)

​HAYWOOD, WILLIAM (1821–1894), architect and civil engineer, eldest son of W. Haywood of Camberwell, was born on 8 Dec. 1821. He was educated at the Camberwell grammar school, and then became a pupil of Mr. George Aitchison, R.A., architect and surveyor to the St. Katherine's Dock Company.
He began his professional career as an architect, and was responsible for several important private mansions, among which may be mentioned the seat of the Marquis of Downshire at Easthampstead, Berkshire. Being offered, however, in 1845 the appointment of assistant engineer to the commissioners of sewers for the city of London, he abandoned architecture for civil engineering; a year later he was appointed chief engineer to the commissioners. He became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1853. He was responsible for an enormous number of improvements of various kinds carried out in the central quarter of the metropolis during the forty-nine years he held office. Probably the work by which he will be best remembered is the Holborn Viaduct; this was begun in 1863, and opened by Queen Victoria on 6 Nov. 1869, although at that date the high-level approaches had not been completed. He was also instrumental in the introduction of asphalte for the roadways of the city in 1869. ​In the early part of his career as engineer to the commissioners, in 1850-1, in conjunction with Mr. Frank Forster, chief engineer to the metropolitan commissioners of sewers, he prepared a scheme for diverting the sewage from the Thames; and again in 1854, in conjunction with Mr. (afterwards Sir) Joseph Bazalgette [q. v. Suppl.], he prepared further schemes for the same purpose, and these were practically the plans eventually carried out.
During the time he held his city post he carried on a considerable practice as a consulting engineer, and obtained numerous foreign honours as a reward for the services he rendered. He was a chevalier of the legion of honour, and a knight of the Ernestine house order; a member of the Portuguese order of Christ, and the Belgian order of Leopold.
He was an ardent volunteer, and served in the London rifle brigade, of which he was lieutenant-colonel from 1876 to 1882.
His literary work consists of numerous reports presented to the commissioners of sewers for the city of London, over one hundred in number, dealing with almost every branch of the work of a municipal engineer.
He died at 56 Hamilton Terrace, Maida Vale, on 13 April 1894.
[Men of the Time, ed. 1891; Proc. Inst. Civil Eng. vol. cxvii.]
T. H. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Healy, James

​HEALY, JAMES (1824–1894), Roman catholic divine and humourist, one of twenty-three children of John Healy, provision dealer, by his first wife Mary (Meyler), was born in Francis Street, Dublin, on 15 Dec. 1824. From the Vincentian school, Usher's Quay (entered 1834), he proceeded (1839) to St. Vincent's College, Castleknock, co. Dublin, but quitting the Vincentian rule he matriculated (11 Sept. 1843) at Maynooth, where in 1847 he became a Dunboyne student [see Butler, John, D.D.] under John O'Hanlon, D.D., a critical theologian and a wit, and Patrick Aloysius Murray [q. v.], from whom he learned his admirable elocution. He was not a hard student. Leaving Maynooth in 1850, his first appointment was as reader at St. Andrew's, Westland Row, Dublin, and chaplain to the sisters of mercy in Baggott Street; his next (1852) was to a curacy at St. Michael and St. John's, Dublin. He lived in an attic in the chapel-house, Smock Alley, Essex Street West, and was a model of punctual devotion to his calling, fearlessly risking his life during a visitation of cholera. His appointments were from Daniel Murray [q. v.], archbishop of Dublin, to whose principles
in religion and politics Healy adhered through life. From Dublin he was transferred (1858) by Paul Cullen [q. v.] to a curacy at Bray, co. Wicklow. His intimacy with William Nicholas Keogh [q. v.] stood in the way of his professional prospects.
Becoming more friendly to him, Cardinal Cullen appointed him (1867) administrator of Little Bray, co. Dublin, on the other side of the Dargle. In this cure he remained, without further preferment, till in 1893 he was appointed parish priest of Ballybrack and Killiney, co. Dublin, by archbishop Walsh. His income never exceeded 200l. a year; most of a sum raised for him by his friends was lost in Wicklow copper mines. Beloved by his parishioners, his social charm made him a coveted guest in the highest circles of Dublin society. The spontaneity of his humour, the brightness of his repartee, his manly purity, and the inimitable expressiveness of his voice and gesture made his neat little figure a unique personality. At his Saturday dinners the arrangements were of the simplest (his housekeeper was his only servant); his guests included prominent persons of every rank and section. Latterly he paid almost yearly visits to London; he was much courted, but his keen good sense, equal to his kindness of heart, never failed him. In 1886 he visited America. His health began to break in 1889; he suffered from gall-stones and dyspepsia, and went to Carlsbad. In 1892 he took a prolonged tour in Spain and Italy with his friend Mr. Henry Arthur Blyth. Another visit to Carlsbad in 1894 failed to restore his strength. He died on 28 Oct. 1894, and was buried at Ballybrack.
[Memories of Father Healy, 1898, 3rd edit. : a book full of good stories.]
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Herman, Henry

​HERMAN, HENRY (1832–1894), dramatist and novelist, was educated at a military college in Alsace, emigrated to America, and fought in the Confederate ranks during the civil war, in the course of which he lost an eye. On 15 May 1875 he produced at the Charing Cross theatre 'Jeanne Dubarry,' a drama in three acts, and on 31 Jan. 1876 at the same house, rechristened the 'Folly,' 'Slight Mistakes,' a farce. 'Caryswold,' in four acts, by him and J. Mackay, was played in Liverpool on 21 Sept. 1877. He also gave in 1876 an adaptation called 'My Niece and my Monkey,' presumably 'Ma Niece et mon Ours;' and at the Olympic on 7 Dec. 1882 an adaptation of 'Adrienne Lecouvreur.' His first conspicuous success was obtained on 16 Nov. 1882, with the ' Silver King,' five acts, written in conjunction with Mr. Henry Arthur Jones. To the same conjunction was due 'Breaking a Butterfly' (Ibsen's 'Doll's House'), Prince's, on 3 March 1884, and 'Chatterton' on 22 May, Princess's. In collaboration with William Gorman Wills [q. v.] he (6 Dec. 1884) furnished the Princess's with 'Claudian,' in three acts. The 'Golden Band,' in four acts, Olympic, 14 Jan. 1887, was by Herman and Mr. Freeman Wills. Herman is responsible for two untraceable dramas, 'For Old Virginia' (1891) and Eagle Joe' (1892), and for the 'Fay o' Fire,' a romantic ​opera, with music by Mr. Edward Jones, Opera Comique, 14 Nov. 1885. This he printed. In collaboration with Mr. David Christie Murray he wrote, between 1887 and 1891, the following novels: 'A Dangerous Catspaw,' 'One Traveller returns,' 'The Bishop's Bible,' 'He fell among Thieves,' 'Only a Shadow,' 'Paul Jones's Alias,' and 'Wild Darrie.' His name alone appears to 'A Dead Man's Story, &c.,' 'Between the Whiffs,' 'Crime of a Christmas Toy,' 'Eagle Joe,' 'Great Beckleswaithe Mystery,' 'Hearts of Gold and Hearts of Steel,' 'His Angel,' 'A King in Bohemia,' 'Lady Turpin,' 'Leading Lady,' 'Postman's Daughter,' 'Scarlet Fortune,' and 'Woman the Mystery.' He wrote stories up to his death. He married Miss Eugenie Edwards, who played in two of his pieces. Herman's choice theatrical library was sold at Sotheby's on 23 Jan. 1885, when 234 lots fetched over 16,000l. The high prices were due in great measure to the large number of 'grangerised books.' He died at Gunnersburyon 24 Sept. 1894, and was buried at Kensal Green. His share in the dramas in which he collaborated seems to have been confined as a rule to the stories. He had considerable invention.
[Personal knowledge; Era, 29 Sept. 1894; Scott and Howard's Blanchard; Brit. Mus. Cat.; The English Catalogue of Books.]
J. K.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Corbet, Matthew Ridley

​CORBET, MATTHEW RIDLEY (1850–1902), painter, born on 20 May 1850 at South Willingham, Lincolnshire, was son of the Rev. Andrew Corbet by his wife Marianne Ridley. He was educated at Cheltenham College, and coming to London entered the Royal Academy schools. His first exhibits at the Royal Academy were portraits, among them those of Lady Slade (1875), Mrs. Heneage Wynne-Finch (1877), and Lady Clay (1879). Though he continued to paint occasional portraits, such as those of Lord Northbourne (1886), Mrs. Stuart (afterwards Lady) Rendel (1891), the Hon. Walter James (1892), Lady Morpeth (1895), and Lady Cecilia Roberts (1897), he was concerned from 1883 onwards almost entirely with landscape. Between 1875 and 1902 he exhibited thirty-eight works in all at the Royal Academy, of which he was elected an associate in 1902. After 1880 he also sent several of his important works to the Grosvenor Gallery, and later to the New Gallery. His 'Sunrise' gained a bronze medal at the Paris Exhibition of 1889; and his 'Morning Glory' (1894) and 'Val d'Arno Evening' (1901), bought under the terms of the Chantrey bequest, are now in the Tate Gallery.
As a pupil and devoted follower of Giovanni Costa, Corbet was steeped in the beauty of Italian landscape, and though he found the subject of his 'Morning Glory' near the Severn, he was, as a rule, at his best when painting under Italian skies. The title that he chose from Keats for one of his exhibits in 1890 'A land of fragrance, quietness, and trees and flowers' suggests ​the spirit of the Italian scenes which inspired his brush. In his work there was always a fine sensitiveness to the poetic beauties of nature, and a restful harmony of colour. His sense of beauty was too refined and cultivated to win the masses, and his distinguished talent was just beginning to win appreciation at the time of his death. Among his more important works, besides those already mentioned, are ‘Passing Storm’ (1896), ‘Autumn Rains’ (1896), and ‘Florence in Spring’ (1898).
Corbet died on 25 June 1902 at his residence, 54 Circus Road, St. John's Wood, from an attack of pneumonia, and after cremation his ashes were laid behind a tablet in the wall of South Willingham church. On 17 March 1891 he married Mrs. Arthur Murch (born Edith Edenborough), herself a landscape painter, whose vision and methods were in close sympathy with his own. A bust portrait of Corbet, sculptured by E. Onslow Ford, R.A., and medallion portrait by Alfred Gilbert, R.A., are now in the possession of his widow.
[The Times, 27 June 1902; Mag. of Art, xxvi. 236, 1902; Graves's Academy Exhibitors; private information.]
M. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Coppinger, Richard William

​COPPINGER, RICHARD WILLIAM (1847–1910), naval surgeon and naturalist, born on 11 Oct. 1847 in Dublin, was youngest of the six sons of Joseph William Coppinger, a solicitor of Farmley, Dundrum, co. Dublin, by his wife Agnes Mary, only daughter of William Lalor Cooke, landed proprietor of Fortwilliam, co. Tipperary. The father's family was long settled at Ballyvolane and Barryscourt, co. Cork, and was said to descend from the first Danish settlers in Cork city. Coppinger received his medical education in Dublin, graduating M.D. at the Queen's University in 1870. Entering the medical department of the navy, he was appointed surgeon to H.M.S. Alert, which, with H.M.S. Discovery, left Portsmouth on 29 May 1875 under the command of captain, (afterwards Sir) George S. Nares on a voyage of exploration towards the North Pole. The Alert reached a higher latitude than had ever been touched before, and Coppinger distinguished himself as the naturalist in charge of one of the sledging parties. On the return of the Alert to England in October 1876 he was specially promoted staff-surgeon and awarded the Arctic medal. Coppinger again served as naturalist in the Alert on her four years' exploring cruise in Patagonian, Polynesian and Mascarene waters from 1878 to 1882.
In 1889 he was appointed instructor in hygiene at the Haslar naval hospital at Gosport, where he was a most successful teacher, his knowledge of bacteriology being in advance of the time. On 13 March 1901 he was appointed inspector-general of hospitals and fleets, and was for three years in charge at Haslar. On 15 May 1904 he was placed on half-pay, and being disappointed in not being made director-general of the medical department of the navy, he retired in 1906.
He died at his residence, Wallington House, Fareham, on 2 April 1910, and was buried at Fareham cemetery. He married, on 8 Jan. 1884, Matilda Mary, daughter of Thomas Harvey Browne, landed proprietor of Sydney, N.S.W., and had issue three sons and one daughter.
Coppinger was author of 'The Cruise of the Alert, 1878-82' (1883). He also wrote 'Some Experiments on the Conductive Properties of Ice made in Discovery Bay, 1875-6 ' (Proc. Roy. Soc. 1878, xxvi.); and 'Account of the Zoological Collections made in the Years 1878-1881, during the Survey of H.M.S. Alert in the Straits of Magellan and the Coast of Patagonia' (Proc. Zoolog. Soc., 1881). He contributed to the parliamentary paper containing the report of the committee (1877) on 'Scurvy in the Arctic Expedition, 1875-6,' and to the 'Report on the Zoological Collections of H.M.S. Alert made in 1881-2' (British Museum, Nat. Hist., 1884).
[Brit. Med. Journ., 1910, i. 1090; private information.]
H. D. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Barry, John Wolfe Wolfe-

​BARRY, Sir JOHN WOLFE WOLFE- (1836-1918), civil engineer. [See Wolfe-Barry.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Beach, Michael Edward Hicks

​BEACH, Sir MICHAEL EDWARD HICKS, first Earl St. Aldwyn (1837-1916), statesman. [See Hicks Beach.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Battenberg, Prince Louis Alexander of

​BATTENBERG, Prince LOUIS ALEXANDER of (1854-1921), admiral of the fleet. (See Mountbatten, Louis Alexander.]