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

1904 Errata appended.
​PRESTON, RICHARD (1768–1850), legal author, only son of the Rev. John Preston of Okehampton, Devonshire, was born at Ashburton in the same county in 1768. He began life as an attorney, but attracted the notice of Sir Francis Buller [q. v.] by his first work, ‘An Elementary Treatise by way of Essay on the Quantity of Estates,’ Exeter, 1791, 8vo. By Buller's advice he entered in 1793 at the Inner Temple, where, after practising for some years as a certificated conveyancer, he was called to the bar on 20 May 1807, was elected a bencher in 1834, in which year he took silk, and was reader in 1844.
Preston represented Ashburton in the parliament of 1812–18, and was one of the earliest and most robust advocates of the imposition of the corn duties. (See his speeches on the debates of 15 June 1813 and 22 Feb. 1815, Hansard, xxvi. 666, and xxix. 979, and his Address to the Fundholder, the Manufacturer, the Mechanic, and the Poor on the subject of the Corn Laws, London, 1815, 8vo, and other tracts in the Pamphleteer, vols. vii.–xi., London, 1816–18, 8vo). He had invested a large fortune, derived from his conveyancing practice, in land in Devonshire. In law, as in politics, he was intensely conservative, and thought the Fines and Recoveries Act a dangerous innovation; but his knowledge of the technique of real-property law was profound, and his works on conveyancing are masterpieces of patient research and lucid exposition. He was for some time professor of law at King's College, London. He died on 20 June 1850 at his seat, Lee House, Chulmleigh, in North Devon.
Besides the work mentioned in the text, Preston was author of:
* ‘A Succinct View of the Rule in Shelley's Case,’ Exeter, 1794, 8vo.
* A volume of ‘Tracts’ (on cross-remainders, fines and recoveries, and similar subjects), London, 1797, 8vo.
* ‘A Treatise on Conveyancing,’ London, 1806–9, 2 vols. 8vo; 2nd edit., 1813; 3rd edit., 1819–29, 8vo.
* ‘An Essay in a Course of Lectures on Abstracts of Title,’ London, 1818, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1823–4, 8vo.
He also edited in 1828 Sheppard's ‘Touchstone of Common Assurances,’ London, 8vo.
[Gent. Mag. 1850, pt. ii. p. 328; Ann. Reg. 1850, p. 236; Warren's Law Studies, 3rd edit. pp. 1215 et seq.; Charles Butler's Reminiscences, i. 62; Lysons's Magna Britannia, vol. vi. pt. ii. pp. 9, 18, 108, 336, 339; Marvin's Legal Bibliography; Allibone's Dict. of Engl. Lit.]
J. M. R.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.226 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Prestwich, John

​PRESTWICH, JOHN, called Sir JOHN (d. 1795), antiquary, was son of Sir Elias Prestwich of Holme and Prestwich, Lancashire, and a lineal descendant of Thomas Prestwich, who was created a baronet in 1644. He always claimed the title of baronet, though the claim was not officially allowed. He died at Dublin on 15 Aug. 1795.
His works are: 1. ‘Dissertation on Mineral, Animal, and Vegetable Poisons,’ 1775, 8vo. 2. ‘Prestwich's Respublica, or a Display of ​the Honors, Ceremonies, and Ensigns of the Common Wealth under the Protectorship of Oliver Cromwell; together with the Names, Armorial Bearings, Flags, and Pennons of the different Commanders of English, Scotch, Irish, Americans, and French; and an Alphabetical Roll of the Names and Armorial Bearings of upwards of Three Hundred Families of the present Nobility and Gentry of England, Scotland, and Ireland,’ London, 1787, 4to. This curious heraldic work is inscribed to Lord Sydney. Notwithstanding its title, it is replete with loyalty. In the British Museum there is a copy with indices of names and mottoes in manuscript.
Prestwich left unpublished an incomplete ‘Historical Account of South Wales’ and a ‘History of Liverpool,’ which was withheld, by the author's direction, on a similar work being announced by John Holt [q. v.]
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Price, Arthur

​PRICE, ARTHUR (d. 1752), archbishop of Cashel, was son of Samuel Price, who was vicar of Straffan in the diocese of Dublin, became prebendary of Kildare in 1672 (Cotton, Fasti, ii. 263), and was created B.A. of Dublin speciali gratiâ in 1692. Arthur Price was elected scholar of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1698, and graduated B.A. in 1700, and D.D. on 16 April 1724. Taking holy orders, he was successively curate of St. Werburgh's Church, Dublin, and vicar of Cellbridge, Feighcullen, and Ballybraine. On 4 April 1705 he was named prebendary of Donadea, Kildare, on 19 June 1715 canon and archdeacon of Kildare, and on 31 March 1721 dean of Ferns and Leighlin. In 1723 he also received the benefice of Louth in Armagh. On 1 May 1724 he was appointed to the see of Clonfert. Price's promotion was ‘most highly provoking’ to the Irish chancellor (Lord Middleton); ‘and the first news of it made him swear’ (Bishop Downes to Bishop Nicholson, 24 March 1724, ap.Mant). From Clonfert Price was translated on 26 May 1730 to the see of Ferns and Leighlin, and on 2 Feb. 1734 to that of Meath. For the last piece of promotion Price was recommended on the ground of his ‘firm attachment to his majesty,’ his ‘great service in the House of Lords,’ and his devotion to ‘the English interest.’ While bishop of Meath he began to build an episcopal residence at Ardbraccan, but he left the diocese before it was completed, and the design was abandoned. In May 1744 he succeeded Bolton as archbishop of Cashel. Three years later he was made vice-chancellor of Dublin University. At Cashel he dismantled the old cathedral, which was built on a steep rock, and was rapidly falling into decay, and used as his cathedral St. John's parish church; these proceedings were authorised by an act of council (10 July 1749). The old cathedral having been declared incapable of restoration, a new edifice was eventually completed upon the site of St. John's in 1783. Price died in 1752, and was buried in St. John's churchyard, Cashel.
[Ware's Works concerning Ireland, ed. Harris, i. 164, 452, 645; Cat. Dublin Graduates; Lewis's Typograph. Dict. of Ireland; Cotton's Fasti Eccles. Hibernicæ, i. 95, 170 n., ii. 247, 252, 263, 351, iii. 107, iv. 169; Mant's Hist. of the Irish Church, ii. 397, 399, 504, 529, 580, 584.]
G. Le G. N.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wills, John

​WILLS, JOHN (1741–1806), benefactor of Wadham College, Oxford, the only son of John Wills of Seaborough, Somerset, was born at Seaborough in 1741. He matriculated from Hertford College, Oxford, on 18 March 1758, aged 17, graduated B.A. in 1761, becoming a fellow of the society in 1765. In the same year he proceeded M.A. He was preferred to the college rectory of Tyd St. Mary in 1778, and in 1779 was presented to the rectory of Seaborough by Adam Martin; five years later he rebuilt the parsonage of his native village. Wills was elected fifteenth warden of Wadham College on 7 July 1783, in succession to Dr. James Gerard. He took the degree of D.D. in the same year, and the office of vice-chancellor devolved upon him in 1792. After an uneventful headship he died at Wadham on 16 June 1806, aged 65.
In Wills Wadham found its greatest benefactor since its foundation. He left 400l. a year to augment the warden's stipend, at the same time bequeathing his books and furniture to his successor, Dr. William Tournay. He left 1,000l. to improve the warden's lodgings; two exhibitions of 100l. each annually to two fellows of the college, students of law and physic; two scholarships of 20l. each for the same faculties; stipends of thirty guineas yearly for a divinity lecturer and preacher, and annuities of 75l. and 50l. to superannuated fellows, besides a reading prize and minor benefactions. He also left an estate at Tyd St. Giles, worth about 150l. per annum, to the vice-chancellor for the time being, ‘in aid of the great burthens of his office;’ 100l. per annum to the senior Bodleian librarian; 100l. per annum to the theatre, and 100l. per annum to the Oxford Infirmary. After some private bequests he made the residue of his estate over to the college for the purchase of livings. Owing to Wills's liberality the Wadham gardens reached their present extent, the parterres and clipped yews and statuettes of Dr. Wilkins's time, as described by John Evelyn, giving place to the ‘romantic’ garden designed by Shipley. The portrait of Wills by Hoppner, in the hall at Wadham, was painted in 1793.
T. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Merrick, Rice

​MERRICK, RICE (d. 1587), historian of Glamorgan, son of Meiric ap Howell of Cottrell in Glamorganshire, resided at that place, being part owner of the manor of St. Nicholas. He was appointed clerk of the peace for the county of Glamorgan by William Herbert, first earl of Pembroke (and subsequently by Henry, the second earl), and held the office until his death on 1 March 1586–7. He was buried in the south aisle of Cowbridge Church, where an inscribed stone was placed over his grave, and a mural tablet bearing his shield was set up close by (these were transcribed by Dineley; see Beaufort, Progress, ed. 1888, p. 346, and cf. Arch. Cambr. 5th ser. vii. 321–322).
Merrick was the author of a small history of Glamorgan (in English), called ‘Morganiæ Archaiographia,’ of which the only known copy, transcribed between 1660 and 1680, is preserved at Queen's College, Oxford. It was privately printed by Sir Thomas Phillipps at Middlehill in 1825 (fol.), and reproduced, with notes by J. A. Corbett of Cardiff, in 1887 (London, 4to). It contains valuable information about the different methods of administration in the Welsh and English portions of the county, as well as accounts of the ownership and tenure of land. A letter addressed by Merrick to Sir Edward Stradling, and dated from St. Nicholas, 18 Dec. 1574, is printed in the ‘Stradling Correspondence,’ ed. Traherne, pp. 167–8.
[Merrick's pedigree is given in Arch. Cambr. 3rd ser. viii. 111, 112; cf. also Clark's Genealogies of Glamorgan; Morganiæ Archaiographia, ed. 1887, Introduction, and pp. 43 and 115.]
D. Ll. T.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Meriton, Thomas

​MERITON, THOMAS (fl. 1658), dramatist, born in 1638, was the second son of Thomas Meriton of Castle Leavington, Yorkshire, and Grace, daughter of Francis Wright of Bolton-on-Swale, and so grandson of George Meriton [q. v.], dean of York, and younger brother of George Meriton [q. v.], author of the 'Praise of Yorkshire Ale.' He was educated at a private school at Danby Wiske, and admitted at the unusual age of four-and-twenty a sizar of St. John's College, Cambridge, 9 May 1662, B.A. 1665, M.A. 1669.
He published two tragedies in 1658, 'Love and War,' dedicated to his brother, George Meriton, and 'The Wandring Lover,' which, according to the title-page, had been 'acted severall times privately at sundry places by the Author and his friends, with great applause.' In the dedication to Francis Wright he mentions the fact that he had also written the 'Several Affairs,' a comedy, and the 'Chast Virgin,' a romance, but that they were only shown to some private friends. 'Happy certainly,' says Langbaine, 'were those men who were not reckoned in the number of his friends.' Langbaine describes him as 'certainly the meanest Dramatick writer that ever England produc'd.'
[Dugdale's Visitation of Yorkshire (Surtees Society), p. 107; J. E. B. Mayor's Admissions to St. John's College, 1630-1655, pt. i. p. 155; (Graduati Cantabr.; Langbaine's Account of English Dram. Pcets, p. 367.]
G. T. D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Merle, William

​MERLE or MORLEY, WILLIAM (d. 1347), meteorologist, son of William Merle, is said to have been a fellow of Merton College, Oxford (Digby MS. 176, f. 3), but his name does not appear on the extant lists of fellows. He was presented to the rectory of Driby, near Alford, Lincolnshire, by John Harsyk in 1331, was admitted thereto on 13 May in that year, and died in 1347. His connection with Oxford is supported by the fact that some of his observations were made there. Those contained in Digby MS. 176 were prepared for William Reed (d. 1385) [q. v.], bishop of Chichester, a former fellow of Merton, who presented this volume to his old college. Mr. Symons suggests that Merle was of French extraction, on the supposition that the name is French and not English. This conjecture seems needless; the modern form of the name may be Morley, as given by Tanner, and in any case Merle is not uncommon in thirteenth and fourteenth century records (cf. Patent Rolls Edward I., sub anno 1283, and Cal. Documents relating to Scotland, iii. 257); in Digby MS. 147 the name is spelt Merlee, and in Digby MS. 97 Merla.
Merle wrote: 1. ‘Temperies aeris Oxoniæ pro septennio scilicet a Januario mcccxxxvii ad Januar. mcccxliv.’ In Digby MS 176, ff. 4–8. This tract is perhaps the oldest systematic record of the weather, which is noted month by month, and in large part day by day. The last date is 8 Jan. 1344. Reference is made both to Lincolnshire and to Oxford. A photographic reproduction of the manuscript, with a translation, was published, under the supervision of Mr. G. J. Symons, in 1891, with the title, ‘Consideraciones temperiei pro 7 Annis.’ 2. ‘De futura aeris intemperie:’ incipit ‘Hec sunt consideranda ad hoc.’ Digby MS. 97, f. 128b and Digby MS. 176, f. 3 in the Bodleian Library. 3. ‘De prognosticatione aeris.’ Digby MS. 147, ff. 125–37. A footnote states ‘Expletum igitur est opus istud Exon. [?Oxon.] anno domini 1340 per magistrum Willielmum Merlee.’
[Tanner's Bibl. Brit.-Hib., p. 532; R. Plot in Philosophical Transactions, No. 169, 1685; Symons's Preface to the Consideraciones Temperiei; Athenæum, 28 Nov. 1891; Catalogue of Digby MSS.]
C. L. K.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Merrey, Walter

​MERRY, WALTER (1723–1799), numismatist, of Castle Gate, Nottingham, combined great knowledge of coins and medals with the practical experience of a manufacturer. Impressed with the evils which the scarcity of silver and the circulation of a base copper coinage brought upon the working classes, he signed an association with a number of masters not to offer any man more than 6d. worth of copper. In 1789 he published ‘Remarks on the Coinage of England, from the Earliest to the Present Times … to which is added an Appendix containing Observations upon the Ancient Roman Coinage, and a Description of some Medals and Coins found near Nottingham,’ Nottingham, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1794. In this work he attributes the scarcity of silver to the over-valuation of gold, in consequence of which, he alleges, silver was exported. He proposes, therefore, the reduction of the guinea to 20s. 6d. To illustrate his doctrines he gives an exhaustive sketch of the history of English coinage, in which he shows a wide acquaintance with the works of early writers on currency.
Merrey had a large and valuable collection of coins and medals. He died at Nottingham on 9 Aug. 1799.
[Gent. Mag. 1789 pt. ii. p. 728, 1799 pt. ii. p. 815; Monthly Review, 1791, iv. 234; Bailey's Annals of Nottinghamshire, iv. 175.]
W. A. S. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Baxter, Lucy

​BAXTER, LUCY (1837–1902), writer on art, chiefly under the pseudonym of Leader Scott, born at Dorchester on 21 Jan. 1837, was third daughter of William Barnes [q. v.], the Dorsetshire poet, by his wife Julia Miles. Lucy Barnes began writing at eighteen, and from the small profits of stories and magazine articles saved enough to visit Italy, a cherished ambition. There she met and in 1867 married Samuel Thomas Baxter, a member of a family long settled in Florence, which then became her home. For thirty-five years she was a well-known figure in the literary and artistic life of the city, and in 1882 was elected an honorary member of the Accademia clelle delle Arti. For thirteen years her residence was the Villa Bianca, outside Florence, in the direction of Vincigliata and Settignano. Among those, with whom she was associated in literary research was John Temple Leader [q. v. Suppl. II], a wealthy English resident at Florence, who owned the castle of Vincigliata. Her literary pseudonym of 'Leader Scott' combined the maiden surnames of her two grandmothers, Isabel Leader being her mother's mother and Grace Scott the mother of her father.
Leader Scott's principal publication was 'The Cathedral Builders ' (1899 and 1900), an important examination of the whole field of Romanesque architecture in relation to the Comacine masons. Though necessarily based on Merzario's 'I Maestri Comacini,' 'The Cathedral Builders ' shows much original observation and research and, if its arguments are not always conclusive, the international scope of the work and its wealth of illustration render it a storehouse of information and a useful introduction to an unfrequented field of speculation. The intention of the work is to attribute the entire genesis of mediaeval architecture to masonic guilds derived, so it is supposed, from the Roman Collegia.
Apart from this work and numerous magazine articles, Leader Scott published : 1. 'A Nook in the Apennines,' 1879. 2. 'Fra Bartolommeo and Andrea del Sarto,' 1881. 3. 'Ghiberti and Donatello,'. 4. ' Luca della Robbia,' 1883 (these three volumes in the 'Great Artists' series). 5. 'Messer Agnolo's Household,'. 6. c Renaissance of Art in Italy,' 1883. 7. 'A Bunch of Berries,' Bungay, 1885. 8. ' Sculpture, Renaissance Baylis and Modern,' 1886. 9. 'Life of William Barnes,' 1887. 10. 'Tuscan Studies and Sketches,' 1887. 11. 'Vincigliata and Maiano,' Florence and London, 1891. 12. ' The Orti Oricellari,' Florence, 1893. 13. ' Echoes of Old Florence,' Florence and London, 1894. 14. ' The Renunciation of Helen,' 1898. 15. 'Filippo di Ser Brunellesco ' (' Great Masters ' series), 1901. 16. 'Correggio' (Bell's 'Miniature Series of Painters'), 1902. She translated from the Italian ' Sir John Hawkwood,' by John Temple Leader and G. Marcotti (1889).
Lucy Baxter died at the Villa Bianca near Florence on 10 Nov. 1902; she was survived by her husband, a son, and two daughters.
[Athenæum, 22 Nov. 1902; information from Miss Grace Baxter.]
P. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Baylis, Thomas Henry

​BAYLIS, THOMAS HENRY (1817–1908), lawyer and author, born in London on 22 June 1817, was second son of Edward Baylis, D.L. and J.P. for Middlesex. Sent to Harrow school, near which his father was then living, in 1825, at the early age of seven, he spent nine years there, leaving as a monitor in 1834. In 1835 he matriculated as a scholar at Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1838 and proceeding M.A. in 1841. In 1834 he had already entered as a student of the Inner Temple; but he practised for some time as a special pleader before being called to the bar in 1856, when he joined the northern circuit. He became Q.C. in 1875, and two years later a bencher of his inn. From 1876 to 1903 he was judge of the court of passage at Liverpool, an ancient court of record with local jurisdiction wider than that of a county court. He was an active volunteer, retiring in 1882 with the V.D. as lieutenant-colonel of the 18th Middlesex rifles. Retaining his health and vigour almost to the last, he died at Bournemouth on 4 Oct. 1908, and was buried in the cemetery there. He married on 14 Aug. 1841 Louisa Lord, youngest daughter of John Ingle, D.L. and J.P. for Devon. His third son, Thomas Erskine, was called to the bar in 1874.
Baylis published in 1893 'The Temple Church and Chapel of St. Anne,' an historical record and guide, which reached a third edition in 1900, and is still in use as a standard guide-book. A man of wide interests and great mental activity, Baylis was a vice-president of the Royal United Service Institution, to the museum of which he presented an autograph letter from the signal officer on board the Victory at Trafalgar, explaining the substitution of 'expects' for 'confides' in ​Nelson's famous signal. In his pamphlet on the subject, 'The True Account of Nelson's Famous Signal' (1905), he dealt with the question whether Nelson permanently lost the sight of one eye. He was one of the founders of the Egypt Exploration Fund, drafting the original articles of association, and attending the committee meetings with regularity.
As a lawyer, Baylis is chiefly known for a treatise on domestic servants, 'The Rights, Duties, and Relations of Domestic Servants and their Masters and Mistresses' (1857; 6th edit. 1906). Other works were: 'Fire Hints' (1884); 'Introductory Address on the Office of Reader or Lector and Lecture on Treasure Trove, delivered in the Inner Temple Hall, Michaelmas 1898' (1901), and 'Workmen's Compensation Act' (1902; 7th edit. 1907).
[Personal knowledge; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
J. S. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Beattie-Brown, William

​BEATTIE-BROWN, WILLIAM (1831–1909), Scottish landscape painter, born in the parish of Haddington in 1831, was son of Adam Brown, farmer, and Ann Beattie. He removed at an early age to Edinburgh and was educated at Leith High School. Having early shown a taste for art, he was apprenticed as a glass-stainer to the well-known firm of Messrs. Ballantine, and here his artistic tastes were so rapidly developed that before his apprenticeship was completed he entered the Trustees' Art Academy, then under the charge of Robert Scott Lauder [q. v.]. Among his fellow-students of this period and companions of a later time were William Bell Scott [q. v.], Horatio MacCulloch, Sam Bough, and George Paul Chalmers [q. v.]. In 1848, when seventeen years of age, he exhibited a picture, 'On the Forth,' at the Royal Scottish Academy, and from that time till his death he was always represented at the annual exhibitions. His skill and accuracy as a draughtsman led to his being employed to make illustrations for several medical works; and his care and discretion as an artist brought him much employment in restoring pictures for Henry Doig, art-dealer, Edinburgh, whose daughter he married in 1858. To extend his experience he studied for a long time in Belgium, there using water-colour as his principal medium, though his chief work was done in oil-colour. He found English subjects for his pictures in Surrey, Kent, and Yorkshire, but his main themes were Scottish highland landscapes. He was a pioneer among the Scottish 'out-of-door' artists, frequently completing his pictures directly from nature a practice which explains his vigour and realism. In 1871 he was elected an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy, and in 1884 an academician. His diploma picture, dated 1883, is a characteristic highland landscape, 'Coire-na-Faireamh,' now in the Scottish National Gallery, ​Edinburgh. Representative works by him are in the public galleries at Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham, and Bolton. He was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy, London, and also at Glasgow and other Scottish exhibitions. In his later years he adopted a more glowing scheme of colour than in his earlier work; but his pictures were always noticeable for their realistic line and tone, and for their technical excellence. Beattie-Brown died at Edinburgh on 31 March 1909.
By his wife Esther Love Doig, he had three sons and six daughters. The eldest son, H. W. Jennings Brown (1862-1898), showed promise as a portrait and figure-painter.
[Cat. Nat. Gall. of Scotland (42nd edit.); Scotsman, 1 April 1909; Graves's Royal Acad. Exhibitors; private information.]
A. H. M.