OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, Theyre Townsend

​SMITH, THEYRE TOWNSEND (1798–1852), divine, son of Richard Smith of Middlesex, was born in 1798, and was brother of William Henry Smith [q. v.] He was originally a presbyterian, and studied at Glasgow University, but being convinced by reading Hooker that episcopacy was the scriptural form of church government, he resolved to enter the English church. He accordingly matriculated from Queens' College, Cambridge, on 4 Jan. 1823, graduating B.A. in 1827, and M.A. in 1830. After serving a curacy in Huntingdonshire and another in Essex, he was appointed assistant preacher at the Temple in 1835. In 1839 and 1840 he filled the post of Hulsean lecturer at Cambridge, and in 1845 he was presented to the living of Newhaven in Sussex. In March 1848, when Louis-Philippe took refuge in England after his deposition, Theyre Townsend received him on his landing at Newhaven. In the same year Thomas Turton [q. v.], bishop of Ely, who had expressed great admiration of his lectures, collated him to the vicarage of Wymondham in Norfolk. In 1850 he was appointed honorary canon of Norwich. He died on 4 May 1852 at Wymondham.
He married Rebecca, second daughter of Thomas Williams of Coate in Oxfordshire. Smith was the author of: 1. ‘Sermons preached at the Temple Church and before the University of Cambridge,’ London, 1838, 8vo. 2. ‘Hulsean Lectures for the Year ​1839,’ London, 1840, 8vo. 3. ‘Hulsean Lectures for the Year 1840,’ London, 1841, 8vo. 4. ‘Remarks on the Influence of Tractarianism in promoting Secessions to the Church of Rome,’ London, 1851, 8vo. 5. ‘The Sacrifice of the Death of Christ,’ London, 1851, 12mo.
[Gent. Mag. 1852, ii. 97, 317; English Review, xvii. 445; Burke's Landed Gentry, ed. 1850, ii. 1599; information kindly supplied by the master of Queens' College, Cambridge.]
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, Samuel (1584-1662?)

​SMITH, SAMUEL (1584–1662?), ejected divine, born near Dudley about 1584, was the son of a clergyman. In the beginning of 1603 he entered St. Mary Hall, Oxford, as a batler, but left the university without a degree. He was presented to the living of Prittlewell in Essex on 30 Nov. 1615 by Robert, lord Rich [see under Rich, Penelope, Lady Rich]. On the outbreak of the civil war Smith retired to London for safety, and identified himself with the presbyterians. He became famed as a preacher, and in 1648 received from parliament the perpetual curacy of Cound and Cressage in Shropshire, on the death of Richard Wood, the rector, sequestered for delinquency (Hist. MSS. Comm. 7th Rep. i. 26 a). On his settlement in the county he was appointed an assistant to the commission for the ejection of ‘scandalous and ignorant ministers and schoolmasters.’ In 1654 he was temporarily appointed to preach in Hereford Minster and the adjacent country, in place of Richard Delamain (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1654, p. 224). On the Restoration he was ejected from his living at Cound. The date of his death is uncertain. Wood says that he was living in 1663, but if he be identical with Samuel Smith of Sandon in Essex, as Calamy believes, he was buried on 2 April 1662 (Obituary of Richard Smyth, ed. Ellis, p. 55).
Besides many separate sermons, Smith published: 1. ‘David's Repentance, or a plain and familiar exposition of the Fifty-first Psalm,’ London, 1618, 12mo, which went through many editions. About 1765 a so-called thirty-first edition was printed at Newcastle-on-Tyne, which bears no resemblance to the original work. 2. ‘Joseph and his Mistress: five Sermons,’ London, 1619, 8vo. 3. ‘Christ's Last Supper, or the Doctrine of the Sacrament: five Sermons,’ London, 1620, 8vo. 4. ‘The Great Assize; or the ​Day of Jubilee,’ London, 1628 (4th ed.); 1642, 12mo; 47th ed. 1757, 12mo. 5. ‘The Ethiopian Eunuch's Conversion, the sum of Thirty Sermons,’ London, 1632, 8vo. 6. ‘David's Blessed Man: a short exposition of the First Psalm,’ London, 1635, 8vo; several editions. 7. ‘Malice Stript and Whipt,’ an attack on the Quakers, which called forth in answer ‘Innocency cleared from Lyes, in Reply to “Malice Stript and Whipt,”’ by I. B., London, 1658, 4to, and as a counter rejoinder, ‘Innocents no Saints, or a Pair of Spectacles for a dark-sighted Quaker,’ London, 1658, 4to. 8. ‘A Fold for Christ's Sheep,’ 32nd ed. London, 1684, 8vo.
Wood says he had seen many editions of Smith's ‘Christian's Guide, with Rules and Directions for a Holy Life.’
[Wood's Athenæ Oxon. ed. Bliss, iii. 656; Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1500–1714; Calamy's Nonconformist's Memorial, ed. Palmer, ii. 214, iii. 144; Chambers's Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire, p. 115; Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. iv. 501, xii. 200, 501; Bodleian Library Cat.]
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, Stephen Catterson

​SMITH, STEPHEN CATTERSON (1806–1872), portrait-painter and president of the Royal Hibernian Academy, born at Skipton in Craven, Yorkshire, on 12 March 1806, was son of Joseph Smith, artist and coach-painter, and Anne, his wife, daughter of Stephen Catterson of Gawflat, Yorkshire. His parents removed early in his life to Hull, and at the age of about sixteen Smith came up to London to support himself by the practical study of art. Obtaining admission to the schools of the Royal Academy, he distinguished himself in the competitions there, and afterwards studied in Paris. He first attracted notice by his skill in drawing portraits in black chalk, many of these being published in lithography by Richard James Lane, A.R.A. [q. v.] He made drawings of this class for H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent, of Queen Victoria (as princess), the duchess herself, the King of Hanover, and other members of the royal family. He then removed for a few years to Yeovil in Somersetshire, returning, however, to London about 1838, when he exhibited some portraits at the Royal Academy. About 1840 he received some commissions to paint portraits in Ireland, which led him to settle first at Londonderry, and afterwards at Dublin, where he spent the remainder of his life. At Dublin Smith quickly became the leading portrait-painter of the day, and was considered very successful with his likenesses both in male and female portraits, painting something in the manner of Sir Thomas Lawrence [q. v.] Nearly every distinguished person in Ireland sat to Smith during his career in Dublin, including all the lord-lieutenants of Ireland for thirty years. In 1854 he painted from the life a full-length portrait of Queen Victoria for the corporation of Dublin. Many of his portraits were engraved. Smith was elected an associate of the Royal Hibernian Aca​Academy of Arts on 11 May 1844, a full member on 13 Sept. following, and was elected president on 7 March 1859, holding this post until 1864. He was re-elected in 1868, but held the post for only a few months. He continued to paint up to the time of his death, which occurred suddenly on 20 May 1872.
Smith married, in 1845, Anne, daughter of Robert Titus Wyke, an English artist, residing at Wexford. She was herself a miniature-painter. By her Smith left six sons and four daughters, of whom Stephen Catterson Smith (a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy and practising in Dublin) and Robert Catterson Smith (practising in London) also adopted art as a profession.
L. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, Stephen (1623-1678)

​SMITH, STEPHEN (1623–1678), quaker, born on 19 Sept. 1623, was a foreign merchant, and in the early part of his life lived for a time at Scanderoon, the port of Aleppo in Asia Minor. Returning to England, he married, and lived at Pirbright. There, in 1665, he became a quaker through the preaching of George Whitehead [q. v.] His brother, John Smith of Worplesdon, Surrey, was first convinced. Stephen was imprisoned at Southwark with Whitehead and others for a month in 1668 for holding a meeting at Elsted. In 1670 he was fined 24l. for preaching in the street at Guildford, the quakers being at the time barred out of their meeting-house. George Fox stayed with Smith soon after, and speaks of his losses (Journal, ed. 1891, ii. 130). A few months later, while preaching at Ratcliffe, Smith was arrested by soldiers and sent to Newgate for six months. In 1673 Fox held a meeting of several hundreds of persons at his house. Gabriel or Giles Offley, the vicar of Worplesdon, in which parish he held land, sent him to the Marshalsea prison for six months for non-payment of tithes. Offley also seized his five head of cattle in 1677, in lieu of 50s. tithe due. A few years later Smith travelled with Fox in Somerset, where they drew up ‘a breviat of sufferings’ for that county to present to the judges at Gloucester. Smith died on 22 Sept. 1678; he was buried at Worplesdon on the 26th. His wife Susanna survived him. Three or four children predeceased him. He was author of:
* ‘A Trumpet sounded in the Ears of Persecutors,’ 1670, 4to.
* ‘A Proclamation to all the Inhabitants of England concerning Fasting and Prayer,’ 1672–3, 4to.
* ‘The Blessed Works of the Light of God's Holy and Blessed Spirit,’ 1673, 4to.
* ‘Wholesome Advice and Information,’ 1676, 4to; here he contrasts the conduct of the Turks with that of some Christians.
[Whitehead's Christian Progress, pp. 291, 319, 320; Whiting's Persecution Exposed, p. 12; Marsh's Early Friends in Surrey and Sussex, p. 20; Besse's Sufferings, i. 431, 699, 700; Fox's Journal, ed. 1891, pp. 203, 264, 318; Smith's Cat. of Friends' Books, ii. 599; Registers at Devonshire House.]
C. F. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, Robert Vernon

​SMITH (afterwards Vernon), ROBERT VERNON, Baron Lyveden (1800–1873), who was the nephew of Sydney Smith [q. v.], the witty canon of St. Paul's, was the only surviving son of Robert Percy Smith (‘Bobus’ Smith) [q. v.] He was born on 23 Feb. 1800, and, having spent several years at Eton, matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford, on 2 Feb. 1819, graduating B.A. (second class in classics) 1822, and the same year became a student of the Inner Temple, but was never called to the bar. Smith married, on 15 July 1823, Emma Mary, daughter of John, second earl of Upper Ossory, and, being attracted by a political career, was chosen at a by-election for Tralee in June 1829, and re-elected ​the following year. On the accession of the whigs to power under Earl Grey, he accepted office as a junior lord of the treasury in November 1830, and discharged its duties until the fall of Melbourne's first administration in November 1834. In Melbourne's second ministry he was joint secretary to the board of control for the affairs of India, April 1835 to September 1839, and under-secretary of state for war and the colonies from that date till September 1841, being sworn a member of the privy council on 21 Aug. 1841. When Lord John Russell formed his first ministry in 1846, he did not apportion any office to Smith, who, however, joined his government as secretary-at-war during the last three weeks of its existence, 6 to 28 Feb. 1852. Under Lord Palmerston he was president of the board of control, with a seat in the cabinet from February 1855 to March 1858, during the eventful period of the Indian mutiny. At the general election of 1831 he was elected M.P. for Northampton, for which he was afterwards re-elected ten times (at every election except one at the head of the poll), but vacated his seat on being raised to the peerage as Baron Lyveden on 28 June 1859. By royal license on 14 July following he received permission to use the surname of Vernon only instead of Smith, and to bear the arms of Vernon quarterly in the first quarter with his paternal arms, his issue having previously been similarly authorised by royal license on 5 Aug. 1845. Lyveden, who was for many years a metropolitan commissioner in lunacy (established pursuant to 2 and 3 Will. IV, c. 107), had his country seat at Farming Woods, near Thrapstone, Northamptonshire, of which county he was a deputy lieutenant. He was created a G.C.B. on 13 July 1872, and died on 10 Nov. 1873.
Lyveden edited in 1848 ‘Horace Walpole's Letters to the Countess of Ossory,’ and in 1850 the ‘Early Writings’ of his father. His speech in proposing the second reading of the Church Rates Abolition Bill in the House of Lords was printed in 1860.
W. R. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, Thomas (1556?-1609)

​SMITH, Sir THOMAS (1556?–1609), master of requests, born at Abingdon, Berkshire, about 1556, was the son of Thomas Smith, who is probably to be identified with the Thomas Smith who was mayor of Abingdon in 1584 (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1581–90, p. 177). He must be distinguished from Sir Thomas Smith or Smythe (1558?–1625) [q. v.], governor of the East India Company, and from the latter's father, Thomas Smythe (d. 1591), ‘customer’ of the port of London (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1581–91, passim). He was educated at Abingdon grammar school and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was elected student in 1573, graduated B.A. in December 1574, and M.A. in June 1578. He was chosen public orator on 9 April 1582, and proctor on 29 April 1584. Soon afterwards he became secretary to Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex [q. v.], and in 1587 was appointed clerk of the privy council. In December 1591 he wrote ​to Cecil urging Essex's claims to the chancellorship of Oxford University (Murdin, pp. 649–50). He represented Cricklade in the parliament of 1588–9, Tamworth in that of 1593 (cf. Hist. MSS. Comm. 4th Rep. App. i. 330 a), and Aylesbury in that of 1597–8. On 30 Sept. 1597 he received a grant of the clerkship of parliament, in succession to Anthony Wyckes, alias Mason [see under Mason, Sir John]. He kept aloof from Essex's intrigues, and on 29 Nov. 1599 was sent by the lords to summon the earl before the privy council (Collins, Mem. of State, ii. 126, 129). On the accession of James I he received further promotion, perhaps owing to his friendship with Carleton, Edmondes, Winwood, and Bacon (Spedding, Letters and Life of Bacon, iv. 138–9). He was knighted at Greenwich on 20 May 1603, and in the following month was granted the Latin secretaryship for life, and the reversion to the secretaryship of the council of the north. On 8 June 1604 he obtained the manor of Wing, Rutland, and in 1608 he was made master of requests. On 20 May in the same year he received a pension of 100l. He died on 27 Nov. 1609 at his residence, afterwards Peterborough House, Parsons Green, Fulham, and was buried on 7 Dec. in the chancel of Fulham church, where a monument, with an inscription to his memory, is extant (Faulkner, Fulham, p. 73). He married Frances (1580–1663), daughter of William Brydges, fourth baron Chandos, and sister of Grey, fifth baron [q. v.] His only son, Robert, died a minor, and his only daughter, Margaret, married Thomas, second son of Robert Carey, first earl of Monmouth [q. v.] Smith's widow married Thomas Cecil, first earl of Exeter [q. v.], and survived till 1663. By his will, dated 12 Sept. 1609, Smith left 100l. to the poor of Abingdon, and a similar sum to the Bodleian Library.
A. F. P.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smith, Robert Percy

​SMITH, ROBERT PERCY, known as ‘Bobus’ Smith (1770–1845), advocate-general of Bengal, born in 1770, was eldest son of Robert Smith, and brother of Sydney Smith [q. v.] He entered Eton College in 1782, and became very intimate with John Hookham Frere [q. v.], George Canning [q. v.], and Henry Richard Vassall Fox, third lord Holland [q. v.] With them in 1786 he started the school magazine entitled ‘The Microcosm,’ which ran for nearly a year, and procured for Smith an introduction to Queen Charlotte. In 1788 he became a scholar on Dr. Battie's foundation, and in 1791 obtained Sir William Browne's medal for the best Latin ode. In the same year he entered King's College, Cambridge, and graduated B.A. in 1794 and M.A. in 1797. On 4 July of the same year he was called to the bar of Lincoln's Inn. In 1803, through the influence of William Petty, first marquis of Lansdowne [q. v.], and Sir Francis Baring [q. v.], he obtained the appointment of advocate-general of Bengal. In seven years he returned to England with a fortune, and settled in London. While in India he allowed his brother Sydney 100l. a year, and on his return lent him 500l. towards the expenses of his move into the country, and gave 100l. a year to support Sydney's eldest son at Westminster.
In 1812 Smith entered parliament as member for Grantham, but made no reputation as a speaker. At the general election of 1818 he contested Lincoln unsuccessfully, but two years later he won the seat and sat as the representative of the borough until his retirement after the dissolution of 1826.
Although Robert Percy never attained the fame of his brother Sydney, with whom he always maintained very affectionate relations, yet those who were intimate with both held that ‘Bobus’ equalled, if he did not surpass, him in the very qualities for which the younger was renowned. He was a man of great originality, a profound thinker, and of wide grasp of mind. His wit was proverbial, and his conversation provoked the admiration of Madame de Staël. His language was characterised by Canning as ‘the essence of English,’ and Landor declared that his Latin hexameters would not have discredited Lucretius. He died on 10 March 1845 at his house in Savile Row, London. His country residence was at Cheam, Surrey. In 1797 he married Caroline, daughter of Richard Vernon, M.P. for Tavistock. She was half-sister of the mothers of the third Lord Holland and of the third Lord Lansdowne. By her Smith was father of Robert Vernon Smith, baron Lyveden [q. v.]
A number of Smith's Latin verses were published by his son under the title of ‘Early Writings of Robert Percy Smith,’ Chiswick, 1850, 4to.
[Reid's Life and Times of Sydney Smith, pp. 4–14; Annual Register, 1845, p. 258; obituary notice by Lord Morpeth in the Morning Chronicle, March 1845, reproduced as a preface to Early Writings; Harwood's Alumni Etonenses, p. 357; Memoirs of Sir James Mackintosh, i. 137, 208.]
E. I. C.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Latin/Accipenser

Edition of 1802.
​Accipenser Sturio, Sturgeon.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Latin/Actæa

Edition of 1802.
​Actæa spicata, Herb Christopher.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Latin/Allium

Edition of 1802.
​Allium, Garlic; A. Ascalonicum, Eschallot; A. Cepa, Onion; A. oleraceum, Streaked Field-garlic; A. porrum, Leek; A. Schænoprasum, Chive; A. ursinum, Broad-leaved Garlic.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Latin/Agrostemma

Edition of 1802.
​Agrostemma Githago, CornCockle.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Latin/Agrostis

Edition of 1802.
​Agrostis Spica-venti, Silky Bent-grass; A. stolonifera, Creeping Bent-grass.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Latin/Alsine

Edition of 1802.
​Alsine media, Common Chick-weed.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Latin/Aloe

Edition of 1802.
​Aloe Calallina, Fetid, or Horse-aloe; A. Hepatica, Common, or Barbadoes Aloe; A. Perfoliata, Socotrine Aloe.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Latin/Acorus

Edition of 1802.
​Acorus Calamus, Sweet Flag.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Latin/Agaricus

Edition of 1802.
​Agaricus, Mushroom; A. campestris, Champignon; A. cantharellus, Chanterelle Mushroom; A. cinnamomeus, Brown Mushroom; A. clypeatus, Long-stalked Mushroom; A. muscarius, Fly-killing Mushroom; A. orcades, Meadow Mushroom; A. Quercinus, Agaric of the Oak; A. semi-globatus, Semi-globular Mushroom; A. violaceus, Violet-coloured Mushroom.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Latin/Alcedo

Edition of 1802.
​Alcedo ispida, Common King-fisher.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Zucchi, Antonio Pietro

1904 Errata appended. Contains subarticle Giuseppe Zucchi (fl. 1770).
​ZUCCHI, ANTONIO PIETRO (1726–1795), painter, and a member of a family of artists, was born at Venice in 1726. He studied under his father Francesco, who was an engraver, his uncle Carlo Zucchi, a scene painter, Francesco Fontebasso, and Jacopo Amiconi. His earliest works were historical pictures in oils, and the church of San Jacopo at Venice possesses an altar-piece by him, but he subsequently devoted himself chiefly to landscape and decorative work. In 1754 he accompanied Robert Adam [q. v.] and Charles Louis Clérisseau [q. v.] in their travels through Italy and Dalmatia, sketching architectural remains, and some of his drawings were engraved in Adam's ‘Ruins of the Palace of Diocletian at Spalatro,’ 1764. In 1766 Zucchi was invited to England by Adam, who employed him on the interior decorations of many of the great mansions erected or altered by him, including Luton House, Syon House, Osterley, and Caen Wood; also some of the houses in the Adelphi, London. His works of this class are agreeable in colour but poor and mannered in design; he was assisted in many of them by Angelica Kauffmann [q. v.] and her father. Zucchi was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1770, in which year and also in 1771, 1778, and 1779, he exhibited pictures of classical subjects. In July 1781 he married Angelica Kauffmann, and with her returned to Italy, where the remainder of his life was spent. He died at Rome on 25 Dec. 1795, and was buried in the church of Sant' Andrea delle Fratte, where there is a monument to his memory and that of his celebrated wife. Zucchi's ‘Death of St. Julian in the Convent of La Trappe’ and ‘Meeting of the Sisters at Reculver’ (from Keate's ‘Sketches from Nature’) were engraved by F. Haward, and his ‘Homer inspired by Calliope’ by A. Kauffmann and G. Zucchi. He designed the emblematical frontispiece to Adam's ‘Works in Architecture,’ engraved by Bartolozzi. Alessandro Longhi drew and engraved a portrait of Zucchi for his ‘Compendio delle Vite de' Pittori Veneziani Istorici,’ 1762.
Giuseppe Zucchi (fl. 1770), younger brother of Antonio, accompanied him to England, where he practised line engraving for some years. He was employed upon Adam's ‘Works in Architecture,’ and finished with the burin many of Angelica Kauffmann's etchings.
F. M. O'D.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.287 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 424 | ii | 37 | Zucchi, Antonio P.: after at Reculver' insert (from Keate's Sketches from Nature) |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/À Beckett, William

​À BECKETT, Sir WILLIAM (1806–1869), chief justice of Victoria, was the eldest son of William à Beckett, and brother of Gilbert Abbott à Beckett [q. v.] He was born in London 28 July 1806, received his education at Westminster School, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1829. Going to New South Wales, he was appointed solicitor-general of that colony in 1841, and subsequently attorney-general. In 1846 he was made a judge of the supreme court for the district of Port Phillip, and he was nominated chief justice of Victoria in 1851, when the colony received a separate organisation. On the latter occasion he was knighted by patent. He retired and returned to England in 1863, and died at his residence in Church Road, Upper Norwood, Surrey, 27 June 1869.
He wrote: 1. ‘The Siege of Dumbarton Castle and other Poems,’ 1824. 2. A large number of the biographies in the ‘Georgian Era,’ 4 vols., 1832–4. 3. ‘A Universal Biography; including scriptural, classical, and mythological memoirs, together with accounts of many eminent living characters. The whole newly compiled and composed from the most recent and authentic sources,’ 3 vols., London [1835?], 8vo, a compilation of little value. 4. ‘The Magistrates' Manual for the Colony of Victoria,’ Melbourne, 1852. 5. ‘Out of Harness,’ London, 1854, containing notes on a tour through Switzerland and Italy. 6. ‘The Earl's Choice and other Poems,’ London, 1863. 7. Legal judgments printed in collections of ‘Reports.’
[Men of the Time (1868); Dod's Peerage (1869), 83; Heaton's Australian Dict. of Dates, 1; Times, 1 July 1869, p. 10, col. 5; Catalogue of Printed Books in Brit. Mus.]
T. C.