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

​SCHIAVONETTI, LUIGI (1765–1810), line-engraver, was born at Bassano in Italy on 1 April 1765. His father was a stationer, but Luigi, having from his infancy shown a talent for drawing, was at the age of thirteen placed under the tuition of Giulio Golini, with whom he remained three years. He then turned his attention to engraving, and made the acquaintance of an architectural engraver named Testolini, for whom he executed some plates in imitation of the work of Bartolozzi, which Testolini passed off as his own work. The latter was then invited to visit England, and in 1790 he induced Schiavonetti to join him here, with the result that Testolini's fraud was discovered, and Schiavonetti was received by Bartolozzi into his house, and for a time assisted him in his work. Afterwards Schiavonetti, who had improved greatly by his friend's instruction and advice, began to practise his art on his own account, and was very successful in the production of many plates, several of which were in the dotted style of Bartolozzi. He possessed in a remarkable degree a power of delineation, combined with great freedom of execution. Among his most important works are the ‘Mater Dolorosa,’ after Vandyck, and a portrait of that painter in the character of Paris; the ‘Surprise of the Soldiers on the Banks of the Arno,’ from the cartoon of Michael Angelo at Pisa; a portrait of Berchem, after Rembrandt; the ‘Marriage at Cana,’ after Pellegrini; four plates of events in the life of Louis XVI, king of France, after Charles Benazech; the ‘Landing of the British Troops in Egypt,’ after P. J. de Loutherbourg, R.A.; the ‘Death of Tippoo Sahib,’ after Henry Singleton, R.A.; the ‘Death of General Wolfe,’ from a gem engraved by Marchant, in the original privately printed edition of the ‘Museum Worsleyanum;’ and the ‘Canterbury Pilgrims,’ after Thomas Stothard, R.A., of which he had completed the etching and principal figures only at the time of his death, and which was finished by James Heath, A.R.A. He also etched from the designs of William Blake a series of illustrations to Blair's poem ‘The Grave,’ published in 1808, to which was prefixed his fine portrait of Blake from Thomas Phillips's picture now in the National Portrait Gallery. There are also plates by him in Ottley's ‘Italian School of Design,’ in Chamberlaine's ‘Original Designs of the most celebrated Masters of the Bolognese, Roman, Florentine, and Venetian Schools,’ and in the ‘Specimens of Antient Sculpture’ published by the Dilettanti Society. Schiavonetti died in Brompton, London, on 7 June 1810, and was buried in Paddington churchyard.
Niccolò Schiavonetti (1771–1813), his younger brother, who was a native of Bassano and an engraver, came to England with him in 1790, and worked chiefly in conjunction with him. He assisted in the plate of the ‘Canterbury Pilgrims.’
[Gent. Mag. (notice by R. H. Cromek) 1810, i. 598, 662–5; Redgrave's Dictionary of Artists of the English School, 1878; Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, ed. Graves and Armstrong, 1886–9, ii. 466.]
R. E. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Scholes, James Christopher

​SCHOLES, JAMES CHRISTOPHER (1852–1890), antiquary, son of James Scholes, printer and bookbinder, was born at Bolton, Lancashire, on 27 March 1852, and educated at Holy Trinity school in that town. He was brought up as a printer, and became a reporter on a local paper. Subsequently he went into business as a draper, and sat as a member of the Bolton board of guardians and school board. His business was managed by his wife, Ann Frost, whom he married in 1877, while he devoted his attention to antiquarian and genealogical pursuits. He died on 18 June 1890, and was buried at Tong cemetery.
His principal separate publications were: ‘Bolton Bibliography and Jottings of Book Lore, with Notes on Local Authors and Printers,’ 1886; and ‘History of Bolton,’ completed by W. Pimblett, and issued in 1892. His other writings include: 1. ‘Notes on Turton Tower and its successive Owners,’ 1880; with ‘Supplementary Notes,’ 1881. 2. ‘Documentary Notes relating to Turton,’ 1882. 3. ‘Genealogy of the Knowles Family,’ 1886. He made transcripts of the Bolton parish registers from 1587 to 1860, which were printed to 1712 in the ‘Bolton Weekly Journal,’ 1887–90.
C. W. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Schomberg, Alexander Crowcher

​SCHOMBERG, ALEXANDER CROWCHER (1756–1792), poet and writer on jurisprudence, son of Raphael or Ralph Schomberg [q. v.] of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, was born there on 6 July 1756, and from Southampton School was admitted a scholar of Winchester in 1770 (Kirby, Winchester Scholars, p. 265). In his fourteenth year he wrote a tragedy in collaboration with Herbert (afterwards the Rev. Sir Herbert) Croft (1751–1816) [q. v.] He was matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, on 9 May 1775, was elected a demy of Magdalen College in that university in 1776, graduated B.A. on 20 Jan. 1779, and commenced M.A. on 9 Nov. 1781. He became a probationer fellow of Magdalen College in 1782, and senior dean of arts in 1791. The myrtle wreath of Lady Miller often crowned his poetical productions, to which her volumes were indebted for some of their principal ornaments [see Miller, Anna, Lady]. He was likewise a contributor to the periodical ‘Olla Podrida,’ edited by Thomas Monro, (1788). Subsequently he studied political economy (Gent. Mag. 1792, i. 389). In the midst of his studies he was attacked by a painful disease. Robert Southey, then a youth, often sat by his bedside when he was vainly seeking relief at Bath (Early Life of Southey, p. 36). He died at Bath on 6 April 1792, and was buried in the abbey. He was the earliest patron of William Crotch [q. v.] the composer.
His works are: 1. ‘Bagley; a descriptive Poem; with the Annotations of Scriblerus Secundus: To which are prefixed, by the same, Prolegomena on the Poetry of the present age,’ Oxford, 1777, 4to. The authorship has been erroneously ascribed to Dr. Thomas Burgess (Halkett and Laing, Dict. of Anonymous Literature, i. 210). 2. ‘Ode on the present state of English Poetry … By Cornelius Scriblerus Nothus,’ with ‘a translation of a fragment of Simonides,’ Greek and English, Oxford, 1779, 4to. 3. ‘An historical and chronological View of Roman Law. With Notes and Illustrations,’ Oxford, 1785 8vo; 2nd edit. Oxford, 1857, 8vo; translated into French by A. M. H. Boulard, 2nd edit. Paris, 1808, 12mo. 4. ‘A Treatise on the Maritime Laws of Rhodes,’ Oxford, 1786, 8vo. 5. ‘Historical and Political Remarks on the Tariff of the Commercial Treaty with France,’ 1787. 6. ‘Present State of Trade and Manufactures in France’ (partly printed but never completed or published).
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Robertson, John (1767-1810)

​ROBERTSON, JOHN (1767–1810), minor poet, was born in Paisley on 30 Nov. 1767. His father, a prosperous grocer, gave him the best education Paisley could furnish. Business reverses, however, narrowed the father's means, and Robertson enlisted in the Fife militia in 1803, being speedily appointed to a regimental clerkship, and he is believed also to have acted as regimental schoolmaster (Rogers, Modern Scottish Minstrel). He interested himself in literature, but he seems to have become dissipated and melancholy, and committed suicide at Kilsea, near Portsmouth, in April 1810. Robertson's lyrics were never collected, but his song 'The Toom Meal Pock,' written during a dearth in 1800, has merit, and is in all adequate collections of Scottish poetry.
[Brown's Paisley Poets; Rogers's Modern Scottish Minstrel.]
T. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Robertson, Joseph Clinton

​ROBERTSON, JOSEPH CLINTON (1788–1852), joint compiler of the ‘Percy Anecdotes,’ born in London in 1788, was a patent agent in Fleet Street, the business being carried on until 1892 as ‘Robertson & Brooman.’ Robertson founded the ‘Mechanic's Magazine’ in 1823, and edited and largely wrote it until the year of his death. He gave evidence before the House of Commons committee on patent law in 1849. His chief title to remembrance rests on ‘The Percy Anecdotes,’ 20 vols. London, 1821–3, 12mo (subsequent editions 1830, 1868, 1869, and various American editions). The volumes, which came out in forty-four monthly parts, were professedly written by Sholto and Reuben Percy. Reuben was Thomas Byerley [q. v.], and Sholto was Robertson. The so-styled ‘brothers Percy’ met to discuss the work at the Percy coffee-house in Rathbone Place, whence their compilation derived its name. Sir Richard Phillips [q. v.] afterwards claimed that the original idea was derived from his suggestion to file the anecdotes which had appeared in the ‘Star’ newspaper over a long series of years. The ‘Percys’ did little more than classify a collection of anecdotes formed upon a similar plan. The same collaborators commenced a series of ‘Percy Histories, or interesting Memorials of the Capitals of Europe,’ but this got no further than ‘London,’ 1823, 3 vols. 12mo. Robertson also started as ‘Sholto Percy,’ in 1828, an abridgment of the ‘Waverley Novels.’ He died at Brompton on 22 Sept. 1852.
T. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Robertson, Joseph (1726-1802)

​ROBERTSON, JOSEPH (1726–1802), divine and writer, born at Knipe, Westmoreland, on 28 Aug. 1726, was the son of a maltster whose family was long established at Rutter in the parish of Appleby. His mother was the only daughter of Edward Stevenson of Knipe, a relative of Edmund Gibson [q. v.], bishop of London. Robertson was educated at the free school at Appleby, and on 17 March 1746 matriculated from Queen's College, Oxford. He graduated B.A. on 19 Oct. 1749, and took holy orders about 1752, being appointed curate to Dr. Sykes at Rayleigh, Essex. In 1758 he was presented to the living of Herriard in Hampshire, and married. He became rector of Sutton, Essex, in 1770, and in 1779 vicar of Horncastle, Lincolnshire, by the gift of his relative, Dr. Edmund Law, bishop of Carlisle.
Robertson devoted much time to literary work, and won reputation as a critic. In 1772 he revised for the press Dr. Gregory Sharpe's posthumous sermons, and in the same year edited Algernon Sidney's ‘Discourses on Government,’ at the request of Thomas Hollis, to whom the work has been wrongly ascribed [see under Hollis, Thomas, 1720–1774] (Hollis, Life, 1780, p. 448). He was a voluminous writer in the ‘Critical Review,’ to which he contributed more than two thousand six hundred articles between ​1764 and 1785. He also wrote in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine,’ and produced a learned work on the authenticity of the ‘Parian Chronicle’ (London, 1788, 8vo), which was answered by John Hewlett [q. v.]
Robertson died of apoplexy on 19 Jan. 1802, in his seventy-sixth year. His wife, a daughter of Timothy Raikes, chemist, of London, survived him, but his children all died in infancy. Robertson was tall, handsome, and urbane in manner.
Besides separate sermons, a translation of Fénelon's ‘Telemachus’ (1795), and the works already mentioned, Robertson's chief publications were: 1. ‘A Letter to Sauxay on the Case of Miss Butterfield, a Young Woman charged with Murder,’ London, 1775, 8vo, with ‘Observations on the same,’ 1776, 8vo. 2. ‘Essay on Culinary Poisons,’ London, 1781, 8vo. 3. ‘Introduction to the Study of Polite Literature,’ London, 1782, 12mo; other edits. 1785, 1799, and 1808. 4. ‘An Essay on Punctuation,’ London, 1785, 8vo; 5th edit. London, 1808, 8vo; answered by David Steel in ‘Remarks on an Essay,’ &c., London, 1786, 12mo. 5. ‘Observations on the Act for augmenting the Salaries of Curates,’ published under the name of Eusebius, Vicar of Lilliput, London, 1797, 8vo. 6. ‘An Essay on the Education of Young Ladies,’ 1798, 12mo. 7. ‘Essay on the Nature of English Verse,’ London, 1799, 8vo; 5th edit., 1808, 12mo.
C. F. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Robertson, John (1712-1776)

​ROBERTSON, JOHN (1712–1776), mathematician, was born in 1712. Though apprenticed to a trade, he became a teacher in mathematics, and in 1748 was appointed master of the royal mathematical school in Christ's Hospital. In 1755 he became first master of the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth. Having lost this appointment in 1766 'through petty cabals of the second master,' he returned to London, and was appointed clerk and librarian to the Royal Society on 7 Jan. 1768. This office he held, with repute, till his death, on 11 Dec. 1776. He was respected by prominent members of the society, and his advice in the council was much respected.
His chief publication was 'The Elements of Navigation,' which appeared in 1754, and went through seven editions in fifty years. His other works were:
* 'A Compleat Treatise of Mensuration,' 1739; 2nd edit. 1748.
* 'Mathematical Instruments,' 1747; 4th edit. 1778 (by W. Mountaine).
* 'A Translation of De La Caille's Elements of Astronomy,' 1750.
He also published nine papers in the 'Philosophical Transactions,' 1750–72, 'On Logarithmic Tangents;' 'On Logarithmic Lines on Gunter's Scale' (cf. Masères, Script. Log. vol. v. 1791); 'On Extraordinary Phenomena in Portsmouth Harbour;' 'On the Specific Gravity of Living Men;' 'On the Fall of Water under Bridges;' 'On Circulating Decimals;' 'On the Motion of a Body deflected by Forces from Two Fixed Points;' and 'On Twenty Cases of Compound Interest.' He is said to have been the first to discover the theorem that in stereographic projection the angle between two circles on the sphere equals the angle between two circles on projection (Charles, Aperçu Hist. pp. 516–17).
[Hutton's Mathematical Dict.; Allibone; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
W. F. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Robertson, John Parish

​ROBERTSON, JOHN PARISH (1792–1843), merchant and author, was born at Kelso or Edinburgh in 1792. His father, at one time assistant-secretary of the Bank of Scotland, was engaged in business at Glasgow. His mother, Juliet Parish, was the daughter of a Hamburg merchant of Scottish extraction. Educated at the grammar school at Dalkeith, Robertson accompanied his father to South America in 1806. He landed at Monte Video on the day after its occupation by the British forces under Sir Samuel Auchmuty [q. v.] On the cession of that city, he was sent home by his father, but in 1808 sailed on his own account for Rio de Janeiro, where he was employed as a clerk for three years.
Robertson now tried to open up trade with Paraguay. At the end of 1811 he went as a mercantile agent to Assumption, but in 1815 was compelled by the dictator Francia to leave the country, along with his younger brother, William Parish Robertson, who had joined him. He sailed for Buenos Ayres with much merchandise, but was stopped by an accident at Corrientes, on the banks of the Paraná. During the next year he and his brother, with the aid of Peter Campbell, achieved great success by trading in hides with Paraguay. He returned to England in 1817, and established connections with London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Paisley. Sailing for Buenos Ayres in 1820, he commenced trading with Chili and Peru, and landed at Greenock in 1824 or 1825, with a fortune of 100,000l., as the representative of some of the South American republics. Ruined in 1826, he went to South America with the object of recovering part of his fortune, but, failing to do so, returned to England in 1830. Intending to devote himself to study, Robertson entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, but in 1833 ill-health compelled him to retire to the Isle of Wight, where he attempted to arrange his business affairs. Obliged to earn a livelihood, he settled in London in 1834. He died at Calais on 1 Nov. 1843.
Robertson published: 1. ‘Solomon Seesaw … with Illustrations by Phiz,’ 3 vols. London, 1839, 12mo; 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1839, 12mo. 2. In conjunction with his brother, William Parish Robertson, ‘Letters on Paraguay; comprising an Account of a Four Years' Residence in that Republic, under the Government of the Dictator Francia,’ 2 vols. London, 1838, 12mo; Philadelphia, 2 vols. 1838, 12mo (a sequel, entitled ‘Francia's Reign of Terror,’ appeared in one volume, London, 1839, 12mo; 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1839, 12mo; 2nd edit. 3 vols. London, 1839, 12mo). 3. ‘Letters on South America, comprising Travels on the Banks of the Paraná and Rio de la Plata,’ 3 vols. London, 1843, 12mo.
W. A. S. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pye, John (fl.1774)

​PYE, JOHN (fl. 1774), engraver, was a pupil of Thomas Major [q. v.], and in 1758 won a Society of Arts premium. He engraved in the line manner some admirable landscape plates, which were published by Boydell in 1773–5. These include ‘Europa Point, Gibraltar,’ after A. Pynacker; ‘Hagar directed by the Angel to the Well,’ after Swanevelt; ‘A Shipwreck,’ after J. Vernet; ‘Tobias and the Angel,’ after Dujardin; ‘Holy Family,’ after Poelemburg; ‘The Waders,’ after Claude; and ‘The Tempest’ and ‘The Calm,’ after Dietzsch. Pye probably died young.
F. M. O'D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pycroft, James

​PYCROFT, JAMES (1813–1895), author, second son of Thomas Pycroft of Pickwick, Wiltshire, barrister-at-law, and brother of Sir Thomas Pycroft [q. v.], was born at Geyers House, Wiltshire, in 1813. He matriculated from Trinity College, Oxford, on 25 May 1831, and graduated B.A. in 1836. He was an enthusiastic cricketer, and claimed to have, jointly with Bishop Ryle, instituted the annual Oxford and Cambridge cricket match in 1836 (Oxford Memoirs, ii. 84–210). In the same year he became a student of Lincoln's Inn, but in 1840 abandoned the study of the law, and was ordained in the church of England. At the same time he became second master of the collegiate school at Leicester. He was curate of Chardstock, Dorset, in 1845, and from 1845 to 1856 perpetual curate of St. Mary Magdalen, Barnstaple. He declined further clerical duty, and took up his residence at Bathwick, Bath. Here he devoted his time to literature, and his leisure to cricket, becoming a member of the Lansdown Club. He never obtained much repute as a player, but he was a great authority on the history, rules, and management of the game. He died of influenza at Brighton on 10 March 1895. He had married, on 8 July 1843, Ann, widow of F. P. Alleyn.
In 1859 he published ‘Twenty Years in the Church: an Autobiography.’ This work, which ran to a fourth edition in 1861, is a religious novel, which was supposed, without much reason, to be a narrative of the writer's own career; a second part, entitled ‘Elkerton Rectory,’ appeared in 1860, and was reprinted in 1862. His ‘Oxford Memoirs: a Retrospect after Fifty Years,’ 1886, 2 vols., contains graphic descriptions of the state of the university in his time.
Other books by him are:
* ‘Principles of Scientific Batting,’ 1835.
* ‘On School Education, designed to assist Parents in choosing and co-operating with Instructors for their Sons,’ Oxford, 1843.
* ‘Greek Grammar Practice,’ 1844.
* ‘Latin Grammar Practice,’ 1844.
* ‘A Course of English Reading, adapted to every taste and capacity, with Anecdotes of Men of Genius,’ 1844; 4th edit. 1861.
* ‘The Collegian's Guide, or Recollections of College Days. Setting forth the Advantages and Temptations of a University Education. By the Rev. * * * * * * * * * *, M.A., —— College, Oxford,’ 1845; 2nd edit. 1858.
* ‘Four Lectures on the Advantages of a Classical Education as an Auxiliary to a Commercial Education,’ 1847.
* ‘The Cricket Field, or the History and the Science of Cricket,’ 1851; 9th edit. 1887.
* ‘Ways and Words of Men of Letters,’ 1861.
* ‘Agony Point; or the Groans of Gentility,’ 1861, 2 vols.
* ‘The Cricket Tutor,’ 1862; a treatise exclusively practical.
* ‘Dragons' Teeth: a Novel,’ 1863, 2 vols.
* ‘Cricketana,’ 1865.
He also edited Valpy's ‘Virgil Improved,’ 1846; W. Enfield's ‘The Speaker,’ 1851; and to Beeton's ‘Cricket Book,’ by F. Wood, 1866, he contributed ‘A Match I was in.’
[Church of England Photographic Portrait Gallery, 1860, pt. xlvii. with portrait; Times, 13 March 1895, p. 10; Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, 1892, pp. xlix, 1.]
G. C. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pycroft, Thomas

​PYCROFT, Sir THOMAS (1807–1892), Madras civil servant, born in 1807, was eldest son of Thomas Pycroft, of Pickwick, Wiltshire, barrister-at-law, and brother of James Pycroft [q. v.] Educated first at the Bath grammar school, and then under private tutors, he matriculated from Trinity College, Oxford, on 13 May 1826. He held an exhibition there from 1826 to 1828, and in 1829 competed successfully for an Indian writership presented to the university in 1828 by the Right Hon. ​Charles Wynn, then president of the board of control. The degree of honorary M.A. was then conferred upon him by the university. He sailed for Madras in 1829, and served in that presidency in various subordinate appointments in the revenue and judicial departments until 1839, when he returned to England on furlough. On again settling in India in 1843, he served first as sub-secretary and afterwards as secretary to the board of revenue, whence he was promoted in 1850 to be revenue secretary to government, succeeding in 1855 to the chief secretaryship. In 1862 he was appointed a member of the council of the governor, and he retired from that post in 1867. He was made a K.C.S.I. in 1866. On the occasion of his retirement a eulogistic notice of his services was published by the government of Madras in the ‘Fort St. George Gazette.’ ‘His excellency the governor in council deems it due to that distinguished public officer,’ the notice ran, ‘to place on record the high sense which the government entertain of his services, and of the valuable aid and advice which they have invariably received from him at the council board.’
Gifted with an enormous capacity for work, extremely shrewd in his judgment both of men and of measures, and wonderfully free from prejudice, Pycroft was an invaluable adviser to those with whom he was associated in public business. One of his most useful qualities was his great accuracy. This was noticed by the examiners who awarded to him the writership in 1828, and it characterised his work throughout his public life. He may be regarded as the first of the competition wallahs, for he was the first man appointed to the Indian civil service on the result of a competitive examination. He died at Folkestone on 29 Jan. 1892. He married, in 1841, Frances, second daughter of Major H. Bates, R.A.
A. J. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Pygg, Oliver

​PYGG, OLIVER (fl. 1580), author. [See Pigg.]