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

​LEMPRIÈRE, JOHN, D.D. (1765?–1824), classical scholar, born in Jersey (Plees, Jersey, p. 79) about 1765, was the son of Charles Lemprière of Jersey. He was educated at Winchester College and at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. 14 Jan. 1790, M.A. 10 Oct. 1792, B.D. 9 July 1801, D.D. 14 Jan. 1803 (Cat. Oxf. Grad.) In 1788 he was assistant-master at Reading grammar school (Gent. Mag. 1791, pt. ii. p. 740, and manuscript note in British Museum copy), and in 1789 was connected with the church of St. Helier, Jersey (cp. ib. 1789, pt. ii. pp. 834, 1031, 1066, reviewing a sermon preached there by Lemprière). While at Reading he published his ‘Bibliotheca Classica; or, a Classical Dictionary containing a full Account of all the Proper Names mentioned in Antient Authors’ (Reading, 1788, 8vo). This work, which long remained a popular English authority on mythology and history, has the merit of being readable. Some references to ancient authorities are given, but the articles are often superficial and written from points of view now obsolete. Lemprière acknowledged in the preface his indebtedness to Sabatier's ‘Siècles payens.’ A second edition appeared in 1797 (London, 8vo), ‘greatly enlarged,’ and with tables of coins, weights, &c. The ninth edition appeared in 1815, and among other editions may be mentioned those of 1818, 1828, 1832, 1833 (New York), 1838, 1843, 1888. Several abridgments were published, the first by Lemprière himself in 1808.
In 1791 Lemprière was master of the grammar school at Bolton, Lancashire. From about 1792 till 1808 (or 1809) he was a successful master at the grammar school at Abingdon, and was vicar of Abingdon from 1800 till 1811. While at Abingdon he published the first volume of an English translation of ‘Herodotus,’ with notes, but did not complete the work. He also published a ‘Universal Biography … of Eminent Persons in all Ages and Countries,’ London, 1808, 4to; 1812, 8vo (Notes and Queries, 1st ser. x. 246); 1825, 8vo New York. The articles are brief, and no authorities are cited. In 1809 he became master of the ​Exeter free grammar school (N. Carlisle, Endowed Grammar Schools, i. 316, 318) with a salary of 40l. a year and a house, and held the post till 1823(?), when he retired in consequence of a dispute with the trustees of the school. In 1811 he was presented to the rectory of Meeth, Devonshire. This living, together with that of Newton Petrock, to which he was appointed in 1823, he held till his death, which took place from a fit of apoplexy on 1 Feb. 1824, in Southampton Street, Strand, London.
[Gent. Mag. 1824 pt. i. p. 283; Biog. Universelle; Allibone's Dict. of Engl. Lit.; Foster's Alumni Oxon.; Brit. Mus. Cat.; authorities cited.]
W. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Raine, Matthew

​RAINE, MATTHEW (1760–1811), schoolmaster and divine, was born on 20 May 1760 at Gilling in the North Riding of Yorkshire. His father, of the same name, was for many years vicar of St. John's, Stanwick, and rector of Kirkby Wiske, and also master of a school at Hartforth, near Richmond, in the same county. His mother, Esther, was of a Cumberland family. After ​receiving the elements of education under his father, with William Beloe [q. v.] for a schoolfellow, he was admitted a scholar of the Charterhouse, on the king's nomination—obtained, it is said (Beloe, Sexagenarian, annotated copy, i. 10), through the interest of Lord Percy, a patron of his father—in June 1772. In 1778 he went up as an exhibitioner to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated as sixteenth wrangler in 1782 (M.A. 1785, B.D. 1794, D.D. 1799). In 1783 and 1784 he gained the members' university prize, and in the latter year was made fellow of his college.
After some time spent in tuition, Raine was appointed headmaster of Charterhouse school on 7 June 1791, in succession to Dr. Berdmore. Charles Burney was one of his competitors. Here he remained till his death. In 1803 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1809 was chosen preacher of Gray's Inn. In July 1810 he was presented to the rectory of Hallingbury, Essex, in the gift of the governors of the Charterhouse, and died unmarried on 17 Sept. 1811.
He was buried in the chapel of the Charterhouse, where there is a gravestone in the south aisle inscribed M. R., and a mural tablet on the adjoining wall by Flaxman, with an epitaph by Samuel Parr. Parr and Porson were his intimate friends. His choice collection of classical books, including many Aldines and rare editions, went by bequest, after the death of his brother Jonathan, to the library of Trinity College, Cambridge (Notes and Queries, 6th ser. iv. 323). This brother, a schoolfellow of Porson's at Eton, and afterwards at Trinity (B.A. 1787, M.A. 1790), was member of parliament for Newport in Cornwall (Nichols, Lit. Anecd. ix. 94 n.)
Raine is described as eloquent in the pulpit and dignified in manner. The latter part of this description is borne out by his portrait, reputed to be by Hoppner, in the master's lodge at the Charterhouse. The Society of Schoolmasters owed much to his liberality. His only published works are two sermons.
[Parr's Works, 1828, iv. 612; references in Parriana; Beloe's Septuagenarian, i. 9–12, 245–246; Annual Biography, 1819, p. 30; Gent. Mag. lxxxii. pt. i. p. 403, lxxxi. pt. ii. p. 294; Blanchard's Charterhouse, 1849, p. 108; Registers of Charterhouse Chapel (Harleian Society's publications), xviii. 67; Haig-Brown's Charterhouse Past and Present; Watson's Life of Porson, 1861, pp. 20, 313, 337; information from Canon Elwyn, master of the Charterhouse, Rev. H. V. Le Bas, and Professor John E. B. Mayor.]
J. H. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rainforth, Elizabeth

​RAINFORTH, ELIZABETH (1814–1877), vocalist, daughter of S. Rainforth, a custom-house officer, was a pupil of T. Cooke, Crivelli, and George Perry, and subsequently, for dramatic action, of Mrs. Davison. She first sang in public at the vocal concerts, 29 Feb. 1836, when she sang an aria from ‘Der Freischütz’ (cf. Spectator, 1836, p. 223). Her success was so pronounced as to lead to an immediate engagement for the succeeding concert in March. On 27 Oct. in the same year Miss Rainforth made her stage début as Mandane in Arne's ‘Artaxerxes’ at the St. James's Theatre, and for many seasons she was a popular dramatic singer at this theatre, the English Opera House, Covent Garden, and Drury Lane. At the same time her services as a concert-singer were in great demand. In 1837 she appeared in oratorio under the auspices of the Sacred Harmonic Society; on 18 March 1839 she sang at the Philharmonic concerts; and in 1840 at the Concerts of Ancient Music. In 1836 and 1842 she was a principal singer at the Norwich Festival (cf. Musical World, 1836, p. 43). In 1843 and 1845 her success at the Birmingham and Worcester festivals was no less emphatic; in 1844 she was performing in Dublin. On 27 Nov. 1843 she created the rôle of Arline in Balfe's ‘Bohemian Girl.’ From 1852 to 1856 she lived in Edinburgh, and she practically retired from public life in 1859. Until 1871 she taught singing at Windsor. In 1871 she withdrew to Chatterton Villa, Redland, near Bristol, where she died 22 Sept. 1877. Miss Rainforth was an admirable singer, but lacked sufficient power to place her in the foremost rank of great sopranos.
R. H. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rainolds

​RAINOLDS. [See also Reynolds.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rainsborough

​RAINSBOROUGH. [See Rainborow.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rainolds, William

​RAINOLDS, WILLIAM (1544?–1594), Roman catholic divine, second son of Richard Rainolds, farmer, and elder brother of John Rainolds [q. v.], was born at Pinhoe, near Exeter, about 1544. His name is variously spelt Rainolds, Raynolds, Reynolds, and Reginaldus. He was educated at Winchester School and New College, Oxford, of which he was elected probationer fellow in 1560, and perpetual fellow in 1562. He graduated B.A. on 17 June 1563, and proceeded M.A. on 4 April 1567. Having taken holy orders in the church of England, he held for a time the rectory of Lavenham, West Sussex. In 1572 he resigned his fellowship, and went into residence as a commoner at Hart Hall. Becoming a convert to Roman catholicism, he migrated to Louvain, thence to Douay, and eventually visited Rome, where he was received into the Roman catholic church in 1575. His change of faith is attributed partly to a study of the controversy between John Jewel [q. v.] and Thomas Harding (1516–1572) [q. v.], and partly to the influence of William, afterwards Cardinal Allen. Returning to Douay, he matriculated at the English College there in 1577. He also entered the English College at Reims on 9 April 1578, but returned to Douay to receive priest's orders in 1580, and there lectured on St. Paul's Epistles in April 1581. He afterwards held the chair of divinity and Hebrew in the English College at Reims, where he collaborated with Dr. Gregory Martin [q. v.] in the preparation of his version of the New ​Testament. He spent the last few years of his life as priest of the Beguines church at Antwerp, where he died on 24 Aug. 1594. His remains were interred in the Beguines church, on the south side of the chancel.
His works are as follows: 1. ‘A Refutation of sundry Reprehensions, Cavils, and false Sleightes, by which M. Whitaker laboureth to deface the late English translation, and Catholic Annotations of the New Testament, and the Book of Discovery of heretical corruptions,’ Paris, 1583, 8vo. 2. ‘De Justa Reipublicæ Christianæ in reges impios et hæreticos Authoritate’ (published as by G. Gulielmus Rossæus, but ascribed by Pits to Rainolds), Antwerp, 1592, 8vo. 3. ‘Treatise conteyning the true Catholike and Apostolike Faith of the Holy Sacrifice and Sacrament ordeyned by Christ as His Last Supper, with a Declaration of the Berengarian Heresie renewed in our Age,’ &c., Antwerp, 1593, 8vo. 4. ‘Calvino-Turcismus, i.e. Calvinisticæ Perfidiæ cum Mahumetana Collatio, et utriusque sectæ Confutatio,’ Antwerp, 1597, and Cologne, 1603, 8vo [see Gifford, William, D.D., (1554–1629)]. Some unpublished works are also ascribed to Rainolds by Pits.
J. M. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Proctor, John

​PROCTOR, JOHN (1521?–1584), divine and historian, a native of Somerset, was elected scholar of Corpus Christi, Oxford, in January 1536-7, and fellow of All Souls' in 1540, graduating B.A. on 20 Oct. 1540, and M.A. on 25 June 1544. He was a strong Roman catholic. From 1553 to 1559 he was master of the school of Tunbridge, Kent, where Francis Thynne was among his pupils. Under Elizabeth his religious views seem to have changed, and on 13 March 1578 he was presented to the rectory of St. Andrew, Holborn. He died in the autumn of 1584 (Newcourt, Repert. i. 275, and n.) His son Thomas is noticed separately.
Proctor wrote:
* 'The Fall of the late Arrian [Arian],' London, 1549, 8vo, dedicated to 'the most virtuous lady [i.e. Princess] Marie.'
* 'The Historie of Wyates Rebellion, with the order and manner of resisting the same … ,' London, 1554, black letter, 8vo, dedicated to Queen Mary (this is one of the authorities on which Holinshed bases this part of his history, and it is described by Hearne as 'a book of great authority').
* 'The Waie home to Christ and Truth leadinge from Antichrist and Errour,' 1556, dedicated to Queen Mary; reissued, without dedication, 1565; this is a translation of 'Vincentii Lirinensis Liber de Catholicæ fidei antiquitate.'
[Wood's Athenæ Oxon. i. 235, and Fasti, i. 111, 121, ii. 100; Tanner's Bibl. Brit.-Hib.; Lansd. MS. 980, f. 144; Foster's Alumni; Hearne's Collect., ed. Doble,iii. 88; Watt's Bibl. Brit.; Acts of the Privy Council, 1664-6; Strype's Ecel. Mem. III. i. 271; Hughes-Hughes's Register of Tunbridge School, p. 1.]
W. A. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Proby, John (1720-1772)

​PROBY, JOHN, first Baron Carysfort (1720–1772), born on 25 Nov. 1720, eldest son of John Proby of Elton Hall, Huntingdonshire, M.P., by his wife, the Hon. Jane Leveson-Gower, younger daughter of John, first baron Gower, was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1741, and M.A. in 1742. At the general election in June 1747 Proby was returned to the House of Commons for Stamford, and on 23 Jan. 1752 was created Baron Carysfort of Carysfort in the county of Wicklow, in the peerage of Ireland. In May 1754 he was elected for Huntingdonshire, and he continued to represent that county until the dissolution in March 1768. He took his sent in the Irish House of Lords on 7 Oct. 1755 (Journals of the Irish House of Lords, iv. 18), and was subsequently admitted to the Irish privy council. He was one of the lords of the admiralty from April to July 1757. In 1758 he was chosen chairman of the two select committees appointed to inquire into 'the original standards of weights and measures in this kingdom, and to consider the laws relating thereto' (Journals of the House of Commons, xxviii. 107, 255, 327, 544 ; see Reports from Committees of the House of Commons, ii. 411-63), He was invested a knight of the Bath on 23 March 1761, and ​was installed on 26 May following. He moved the address in the House of Commons at the opening of the session in November 1762 (Grenville Papers, 1852-3, ii. 5, and Parl. Hist. xv. 1238), and on 1 Jan. 1703 was reappointed a lord of the admiralty, a post which he resigned in August 1765.
He died at Lille on 18 Oct. 1772, aged 62, and was buried at Elton. He married, on 27 Aug. 1760, the Hon. Elizabeth Allen, elder daughter of John, second viscount Allen, by whom he had one son, John Joshua Proby, first earl of Carysfort [q. v.], and one daughter, Elizabeth, born on 14 Nov. 1752, who married Thomas James Storer, and died at Hampton Court on 19 March 1808. Lady Carysfort died in March 1783. A portrait of Carysfort was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
G. F. R. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Probyn, Edmund

​PROBYN, Sir EDMUND (1678–1742), judge, eldest son of William Probyn of Newland in the Forest of Dean, by Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edmund Bond of Walford, Herefordshire, and widow of William Hopton of Huntley, Gloucestershire, was baptised at Newland on 16 July 1678. Having matriculated at Oxford, from Christ Church, on 23 April 1695, he was admitted the same year a student at the Middle Temple, where he was called to the bar in 1702. He was made a Welsh judge in 1721, serjeant-at-law on 27 Jan. 1723–4, and, upon the impeachment of the Earl of Macclesfield in May 1725, conducted his defence with signal ability [see Parker, Thomas, first Earl of Macclesfield]. He succeeded Sir Littleton Powys [q. v.] as puisne judge of the king's bench on 3 Nov. 1726, and was knighted (8 Nov.) He succeeded Sir John Comyns [q. v.] as lord chief baron of the exchequer on 24 Nov. 1740, and died on 17 May 1742. His remains were interred in Newland church. His portrait was engraved ad vivum by Faber.
By his wife Elizabeth (d. 1749), daughter of Sir John Blencowe [q. v.], he had no issue. Under his will his estates passed to his nephew, John Hopkins, who assumed the name Probyn, and was grandfather of John Probyn, archdeacon of Llandaff (1796–1843).
[Misc. Gen. et Herald. 2nd ser. iii. 260, 304–306; Foster's Alumni Oxon.; Wynne's Serjeant-at-Law, p. 320; Nicholl's Personalities of the Forest of Dean, p. 93; Bigland's Coll. Glouc. ii. 111, 262; Noble's Continuation of Granger's Biogr. Hist. of England, iii. 197; Howell's State Trials, xvi. 767 et seq.; Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. x. 443; Gent. Mag. 1740 p. 571, 1742 p. 275; Le Neve's Fasti Eccl. Angl. ii. 261; Foss's Lives of the Judges.]
J. M. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Proctor, Thomas (1753-1794)

​PROCTOR, THOMAS (1753–1794), historical painter and sculptor, was born at Settle, Yorkshire, on 22 April 1753. His father, who was in humble circumstances, apprenticed him to a tobacconist in Manchester, but he afterwards came to London, and for a time found employment in a merchant's counting-house. In 1777 he became a student of the Royal Academy. Inspired by the works of James Barry, he painted a large picture of 'Adam and Eve,' and in 1780 began to exhibit, sending a portrait to the Royal Academy, and another to the Incorporated Society of Artists. In 1782 he gained a premium at the Society of Arts, and a medal at the Royal Academy for drawing from the life, in 1783 a silver medal at the Royal Academy for a model from the life, and in 1784 the gold medal for historical ​painting, the subject being a scene from Shakespeare's ‘Tempest.’ He then turned to modelling, and produced a statue of ‘Ixion,’ which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1785, and was so highly praised by Benjamin West that it was bought by Sir Abraham Hume. He next modelled a group representing ‘The Death of Diomedes, King of Thrace,’ which was greatly admired at the academy in 1786, but failed to meet with a purchaser. Bitterly disappointed, Proctor broke his work in pieces and abandoned sculpture. He reverted to painting, but did not again exhibit until 1789, and then sent only a portrait; but in 1790 he contributed to the exhibition of the Society of Artists ‘Coronis,’ a subject from Ovid's ‘Metamorphoses,’ and to the Royal Academy ‘Elisha and the Son of the Shunammite,’ and ‘The Restoration of Day after the Fall of Phaethon,’ a sketch. In 1791 he exhibited at the academy ‘Hannah declines accompanying her Husband to the Yearly Sacrifice,’ and in 1792 two portraits and a group in plaster, ‘Peirithous, the Son of Ixion, destroyed by Cerberus.’ Three portraits and ‘The Final Separation of Jason and Medea’ were his exhibited works in 1793, and ‘Venus approaching the Island of Cyprus’ in 1794. After 1790 Proctor had exhibited without giving an address, and his abode was unknown. West, then president of the Royal Academy, who had at an earlier date treated him with great kindness, discovered that he had been living in a miserable garret in Clare Market, and subsisting on bread and water. His case was brought by West under the notice of the council of the Royal Academy, and in 1793 it was resolved that he should be sent to Italy as the travelling student, with a grant of 50l. for preliminary expenses. Unhappily the generous help came too late. Before he could leave England he was found dead in his bed, worn out by mental anguish and privation. He was buried in Hampstead churchyard on 13 July 1794.
Professor Westmacott, when lecturing to the students at the Royal Academy, exhibited the ‘Ixion’ and ‘Peirithous’ as examples of the work of true genius.
R. E. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Procter, Richard Wright

​PROCTER, RICHARD WRIGHT (1816–1881), author, son of Thomas Procter, was born of poor parents in Paradise Vale, Salford, Lancashire, on 19 Dec. 1816. When very young he bought books and sent poetical contributions to the local press. In due time he set up in business for himself as a barber—the trade to which he had been apprenticed—in Long-Millgate, Manchester. Part of the shop was used by him for a cheap circulating library. In this dismal city street he remained to the end of his days. When his shyness was overcome, he was found to be, like his books, full of geniality, curious information, and gentle humour. In 1842 he was associated with Bamford, Prince, Rogerson, and other local poets in some interesting meetings held at an inn, afterwards styled the 'Poet's Corner,' and he contributed to a volume of verse entitled 'Festive Wreath,' which was an outcome of these gatherings. He also had some pieces in the 'City Muse,' edited by William Reid, 1853. He died at 133 Long-Millgate, Manchester, on 11 Sept. 1881, and was buried at St. Luke's, Cheetham Hill. He married, in 1840, Eliza Waddington, who predeceased him, and left five sons.
He published:
* 'Gems of Thought and Flowers of Fancy,' 1855, 12mo; a volume of poetical selections, of which the first and last pieces are by himself.
* 'The Barber's Shop, with illustrations by William Morton,' 1856, 8vo; containing admirably written sketches of the odd characters he met. A second edition incorporated much lore relating to hairdressing and to notable barbers, published, with a memoir by W. E. A. Axon, 1883.
* 'Literary Reminiscences and Gleaning with Illustrations,' 1860, 8vo; devoted chiefly to Lancashire poets.
* 'Our Turf, our Stage, and our Ring,' 1862, 8vo; being historical sketches of racing and sporting life in Manchester.
* 'Manchester in Holiday Dress,' 1866, 8vo; notices of theatres and other amusements in Manchester, prior to 1810.
* 'Memorials of Manchester Streets,' 1874, 8vo and 4to.
* 'Memorials of Bygone Manchester, with Glimpses of the Environs,' 1880, 4to.
[Axon's Memoir, above mentioned; Palatine Note-Book, i. 166 (with portrait); Papers of the Manchester Literary Club (article by B. A. Redfern), 1884, p. 184; personal knowledge.]
C. W. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rogers, Francis James Newman

​ROGERS, FRANCIS JAMES NEWMAN (1791–1851), legal writer, son of the Rev. James Rogers of Rainscombe, Wiltshire, by Catherine, youngest daughter of Francis Newman of Cadbury House, Somerset, was born in 1791. He was educated at Eton, matriculated from Oriel College, Oxford, on 5 May 1808, graduated B.A. in 1812, and M.A. in 1815. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn on 21 May 1816, and to the Inner Temple ad eundem in 1820. He went the western circuit and practised in the common-law courts and as a special pleader. On 24 Feb. 1837 he was created a king's counsel, and soon after was elected a bencher of the Inner Temple. From 1835 to his death he was recorder of Exeter, and from 1842 deputy judge-advocate-general. He died at 1 Upper Wimpole Street, London, on 19 July 1851, and was buried in the Temple Church on 25 July, having married, on 29 June 1822, Julia Eleanora, third daughter of William Walter Yea of Pyrland Hall, Somerset, by whom he had three sons and two daughters. Two of the sons, Walter Lacy Rogers (d. 1885) and Francis Newman Rogers (d. 1859), were barristers.
He was the author of: 1. ‘The Law and Practice of Elections, with Analytical Tables and a Copious Index,’ 1820 (dedicated to Sir W. D. Best, knt.); 3rd edit. as altered by the Reform Acts, 1835; 9th edit. with F. S. P. Wolferstan, 1859; 10th edit. by F. S. P. Wolferstan, 1865; 11th edit. (with the New Reform Act), 1868; 15th edit. by M. Powell, J. C. Carter, and J. S. Sandars, 1890; 16th edit. by S. H. Day, 1892. 2. ‘Parliamentary Reform Act, 2 Will. IV, c. 45, with Notes containing a Complete Digest of Election Law as altered by that Statute,’ 1832. 3. ‘A Practical Arrangement of Ecclesiastical Law,’ 1840; 2nd edit. 1849. 4. ‘The Marriage Question: an Attempt to discover the True Scripture Argument in the Question of Marriage with a Wife's Sister,’ 1855.
G. C. B.