OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Parker, George (1651-1743)

​PARKER, GEORGE (1651–1743), almanac maker, born in 1651 at Shipton-upon-Stour, Worcestershire, was originally in business as a cutler in Newgate Street, London, and professed quakerism. His wife, however, who was at the time of her marriage a zealous member of the church of England, laboured hard to convert her husband, while he as strenuously endeavoured to bring her over to his own views. In the result each was convinced by the other. Parker became a high churchman and a Jacobite, while his wife turned rigid quaker. But his rival, John Partridge (1644-1715) [q. v.], asserts that Mrs. Parker was the quaker, and that Parker merely passed for one in order to secure her fortune of 300l. He then took a larger shop, but became bankrupt in 1693, and behaved badly to his ​wife and children. In 1698 he was keeping a tavern. His undoubted mathematical abilities gained him some friends; it is said that Halley occasionally employed him. He afterwards established himself as an astrologer and quack doctor at the 'Ball and Star' in Salisbury Court, Strand, greatly to the disgust of Partridge, who carried on a similar trade at the 'Blue Ball' in Salisbury Street. In June 1723 he visited Hearne at Oxford, on his return from Worcestershire, and was then accompanied by his wife (Reliquiæ Hearnianæ, pp. 498–9). He died on 16 July 1743, aged 92.
In 1690 Parker commenced the publication of an almanac, with the title 'Mercurius Anglicanus; or the English Mercury,' 12mo, London, which was continued under his name until 1781. In 1703 it was called 'A Double Ephemeris,' and in 1707 'Parker's Ephemeris.' The number for 1720 was entitled 'Parker's Mercurius Anglicanus,' but the title of 'Parker's Ephemeris' was resumed in the following year. Having included in one of his almanacs the Chevalier de St. George, otherwise the Old Pretender, among the sovereigns of Europe, he was fined 50l. and forbidden to publish any more almanacs; upon which he printed for some time a bare calendar, with the saints' days only. He attacked Partridge in his almanac for 1697. Partridge replied with extraordinary bitterness in his 'Defectio Geniturarum' (1697–8, p. 331), the appendix of which, called 'Flagitiosus Mercurius Flagellatus; or the Whipper whipp'd,' is wholly devoted to abuse of Parker. He returned to the attack in a pamphlet entitled 'The Character of a broken Cutler,' and in his 'Merlinus Liberatus' for 1699.
Parker revised the tenth edition of W. Eland's 'Tutor to Astrology,' 12mo, London, 1704, and edited John Gadbury's 'Ephemerides of the Celestial Motions for XX years' (1709-28), 12mo, London, 1709. In 1719 he issued the first number of a 'West India Almanack,' 16mo, London, but did not continue it.
His portrait has been engraved by J. Coignard, W. Elder (prefixed to his 'Ephemeris' for 1694), and J. Nutting respectively. Another portrait, by an anonymous engraver, represents him in extreme old age.
[Noble's Continuation of Granger's Biogr. Hist. of England, i. 277; authorities cited.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Parke, Robert (fl.1588)

​PARKE, ROBERT (fl. 1588), translator, was author of ‘The Historie of the Great and Mightie Kingdome of China, and the situation thereof: together with the great riches, huge citties, politike governement, and rare inventions in the same. Translated out of Spanish by R. Parke. London. Printed by J. Wolfe for Edward White,’ 1588, 4to. This is a translation of the Chinese ‘History of Gonzales de Mendoza,’ published at Rome in 1585. The dedication to ‘M. Thomas Candish [Cavendish], Esquire,’ is dated 1 Jan. 1589, and states that the translation has been undertaken ‘at the earnest request and encouragement of my worshipfull friend, Master Richard Hakluit, late of Oxforde;’ it further presses Cavendish, who has just returned from his first voyage to the Philippines and China, to attempt to reach the China seas by a north-west passage. Parke's translation was edited for the Hakluyt Society by Sir George T. Staunton, with an introduction by R. H. Major, in 2 vols. 8vo, in 1853; but no details of Parke's life have been discovered.
[Brit. Mus. Libr. Cat.]
R. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Parker, Benjamin

​PARKER, BENJAMIN (d. 1747), author, a native of Derby, was originally a stocking-maker, who, having failed in business, took to manufacturing books. In 1731 he was living at Horsley, near Derby, and in 1734 at Mary Bridge, Derby; but in 1739 he came to London and established himself at ‘Sir Isaac Newton's Head,’ at the corner of Lincoln's Inn Fields, next Great Turnstile, where he sold a ‘restorative jelly’ for chest complaints, and a ‘cordial cholick water.’ He also professed to cure consumption. Not meeting with success as a quack, he removed in 1744 to Fulwood's Rents, Holborn, and delivered lectures on theology and philosophy, which he afterwards published. He likewise took part in the trinitarian controversy of 1735. Though he failed to attract the notice of the king and queen, he could count among his patrons the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Chesterfield, and Chief-justice Lee. He died ‘very poor,’ in Marylebone, on 17 Sept. 1747 (Gent. Mag. 1747, p. 448), and was buried at Paddington on the 18th (Lysons, Environs, iii. 338).
Parker wrote: 1. ‘Parker's Projection of the Longitude at Sea,’ Nottingham, 4to, 1731, a scheme drawn up by him in 1725, and submitted to the ‘great Dr. Halley.’ He published it in fear of Halley forestalling him in what he supposed to be his discovery, and dedicated it to the king. 2. ‘Philosophical Meditations, with Divine Inferences,’ 8vo, London, 1734; 2nd edit. 1738; 3rd edit., revised by a ‘gentleman of the university of Oxford,’ 1744, including the second part. 3. ‘A Second Volume of Philosophical Meditations,’ 8vo, London, 1735; 2nd edit. Birmingham, 1738, dedicated to the queen. 4. ‘A Journey through the World in a View of the several Stages of Human Life,’ 2nd edit. 8vo, Birmingham, 1738. 5. ‘Philosophical Dissertations, with proper Reflections,’ 8vo, London, undated; 2nd edit. Birmingham, 1738; 3rd edit. London, 1743. 6. ‘Money: a Poem, in imitation of Milton,’ 4to, London, 1740; this is sad stuff. 7. ‘The Divine Authority of the Scriptures philosophically proved; or, the Christian Philosopher,’ 8vo, London, 1742. 8. ‘A Survey of the Six Days Works of the Creation,’ 8vo, London, 1745. 9. ‘A Prospect into the Spiritual World,’ 8vo, London, 1745. 10. ‘A Review of the State of the Antediluvian World,’ 8vo, London, 1748.
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lodge, John (1801-1873)

​LODGE, JOHN (1801–1873), musical composer. [See Ellerton, John Lodge.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lodvill, Philip

​LODVILL or LUDVILLE, PHILIP (d. 1767), divine, a native of Oxfordshire, of good family, was the author of the first authoritative work in English on the doctrines and practices of the Eastern church. It is entitled 'The Orthodox Confession of the Catholic and Apostolic Eastern Church, faithfully translated from the Originals,' London, 8vo, 1762, and is a free rendering of a confession drawn up during the seventeenth century by Peter Mohila, patriarch of Kiew in Russia, and approved by a synod of eastern bishops. Lodvill, who was a regular attendant at the Russian Church, 32 Welbeck Street, received the prayer oil at the hands of Jeromonach Diakoffski and Andrew Samborski (afterwards confessor to the Empress Catherine), died on 14 March 1767, and was buried in Bow Church on 22 March (register, Stratford-le-Bow). A daughter of Lodvill married Peter Paradise, British consul at Salonica; their son was John Paradise [q. v.], a correspondent and an acquaintance of Dr. Johnson.
[Notes and extracts from the Spiritual Register kept at the Russian Church in Welbeck Street, communicated by J. T. Seccombe, esq., M.D.; Boswell's Johnson, ed. G. B. Hill, iv. 364 n. and 434; Lodvill's book in Brit. Mus. Cat., under heading 'Greek Church.']
T. S.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lodge, William

1904 Errata appended.
​LODGE, WILLIAM (1649–1689), amateur artist and engraver, born at Leeds on 4 July 1649, was son of William Lodge, merchant at Leeds, and of Elizabeth, daughter of John Sykes. Lodge was educated at Leeds, and afterwards at Jesus College, Cambridge, and studied law at Lincoln's Inn. He accompanied Thomas Belasyse, earl of Fauconberg, on his embassy to Venice, and published in 1679 a translation of Giacomo Barri's' Viaggio Pittoresco d'Italia,' under the title of 'The Painter's Voyage of Italy, in which all the famous Paintings of the most eminent Masters are particularised, as they are preserved in the several Cities of Italy.' Lodge was a prolific draughtsman and etcher, mainly of topography, in France, Italy, and England, and especially of the scenery near Leeds and York. He drew some plates of ​antiquities for Dr. Martin Lister [q. v.], to illustrate papers read before the Royal Society, and printed in the 'Philosophical Transactions.' Lodge was a member of an interesting society of virtuosi at York, comprising Dr. Lister, Francis Place [q. v.] the engraver, Ralph Thoresby [q. v.], and others, who used to meet at the house of Henry Gyles [q. v.] the glass-painter. Whilestaying with a friend near Harewood in Yorkshire, Lodge dreamt that he would be buried in Harewood Church. He died unmarried at Leeds in August 1689, and left directions that he should be buried with his mother at Gisburn in Craven, Yorkshire; but while the funeral procession was on its way thither an accident rendered it necessary to deposit the body in the nearest church, which turned out to be Harewood, where it was subsequently interred. Lodge painted some portraits in oil, and engraved a few, including one of Oliver Cromwell and his page. In the print room at the British Museum a portrait, engraved in mezzotint by Francis Place (the only example known), is stated to be a portrait of Lodge.
[Walpole's Anecd. of Painting, ed. Wornum; Vertue's MSS. (Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 23059); Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis.]
L. C.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.185 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Loeghaire

​LOEGHAIRE (d. 458), king of Ireland. [See Laeghaire.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Martin, Richard (1570-1618)

​MARTIN, RICHARD (1570–1618), recorder of London, born at Otterton, Devonshire, in 1570, was the son of William Martin by his wife Anne, daughter of Richard Parker of Sussex. He became a commoner of Broadgates Hall (Pembroke College), Oxford, at Michaelmas 1585, and was ‘a noted disputant,’ though he left without a degree. He entered the Middle Temple, but was temporarily expelled from the society in February 1591 for a riot at the prohibited festival of the Lord of Misrule (Archæologia, xxi. 109). Sir John Davies (1569–1626) [q. v.] prefaced his ‘Orchestra,’ published in 1596, with a dedicatory sonnet to Martin, but, provoked it is supposed by Martin's raillery, assaulted him with a cudgel in February 1597–8, while at dinner in the common hall of the Middle Temple. In 1601 Martin was M.P. for Barnstaple (Willis, Notitia Parl.) He was called to the bar in 1602. In 1603, on the progress of James I from Theobalds to London, he made at Stamford Hill ‘an eloquent and learned oration’ on the king's accession (Nichols, Progresses of James I, i. 113), which was printed (London, 1603, 4to) as ‘A Speach delivered to the King's . . . Majestie in the name of the Sheriffes of London and Middle​sex’ (reprinted in Nichols, op. cit. p. *128 f; cf. Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1603–10, p. 7). From 1604 till 1611 he was M.P. for Christchurch. In February 1612–13, on the occasion of the Princess Elizabeth's marriage, he organised a masque at the Middle Temple. Martin was Lent reader of the Temple in the thirteenth year of James I (1615–16), and on 1 Oct. 1618 was chosen recorder of London. He died on 31 Oct. 1618 (cf. Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1611–18, pp. 589, 591). Aubrey says his end was hastened by excessive drinking (but cf. Whitelocke, Liber Famelicus, p. 63). Martin was buried in the Temple Church, and has an alabaster monument on the north wall, representing his figure kneeling beneath a canopy (Malcolm, Londinium Rediv. ii. 292). The monument was repaired in 1683. A portrait of Martin, engraved by Simon Passe in 1620, is in the Ashmolean Museum, and is reproduced in Nichols's ‘Progresses of James I,’ i. *128. By his will (in the Prerogative Office of Canterbury) Martin left 5l. to Otterton, and 5l. to Calliton Raleigh, Devonshire, where he had a house. The mayor of Exeter was his executor (Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. i. 168). Martin had a reputation as a wit, and ‘there was no person,’ says Wood, ‘more celebrated for ingenuity … none more admired by Selden, Serjeant Hoskins, Ben Jonson, &c., than he.’ Jonson dedicated his ‘Poetaster’ to him. Wood states that Martin was the author of ‘Various Poems,’ of which, however, he had seen no copy. A verse ‘Epistle to Sir Hen. Wotton’ by Martin is in Coryat's ‘Crudities.’
W. W.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wakefield, Edward (1774-1854)

​WAKEFIELD, EDWARD (1774–1854), philanthropist and statistician, was the eldest son of Edward and Priscilla Wakefield [q. v.], and was born in 1774. Wakefield commenced life as a farmer near Romford in Essex, and was subsequently employed under the naval arsenal. In 1814 he established himself as a land agent at 42 Pall Mall. He soon became well known as an authority on agriculture, while his interest in education ​won for him the character of a practical philanthropist. He was a strong advocate of the educational theories of Joseph Lancaster [q. v.], and was on terms of intimacy with James Mill (1773–1836) [q. v.] and Francis Place (1771–1854) [q. v.] Wakefield is best known as the author of ‘Ireland, Statistical and Political,’ published in 1812, a work which, in spite of many inaccuracies, is, from the candour and tolerance it displays, a very valuable account of Ireland in the early years of the nineteenth century. The book was undertaken in 1808 at the suggestion of John Foster (afterwards Lord Oriel) [q. v.], formerly chancellor of the Irish exchequer, and Wakefield devoted four years to the task. Mackintosh in the ‘Edinburgh Review,’ while noting its defects in matters of detail, said of this work that ‘few books have stronger marks of the candour and probity of the writer;’ and McCulloch called it ‘the best and most complete work on Ireland since Arthur Young's tour.’ Wakefield was a warm admirer of Pitt, by whom he is said to have been consulted in regard to Ireland, and was also confidentially employed by Lord Melville [see Dundas, Robert Saunders]. Wakefield died at Knightsbridge on 18 May 1854. His appearance in later life is described as that of ‘a beautiful old man of lofty stature.’ Wakefield married, first, on 3 Oct. 1791, Susanna Crash (d. 1816) of Felstead, Essex, by whom he was the father of Edward Gibbon Wakefield [q. v.], of William Hayward Wakefield [q. v.], and of Arthur and Felix Wakefield [see under Wakefield, William Hayward]. Wakefield married, secondly, in 1822, Frances, daughter of David Davies, headmaster of Macclesfield grammar school.
[Allibone's Dict. of Engl. Lit.; Edinburgh Review, xx. 346; Russell's Memoirs of Thomas Moore, iv. 129; Webb's Compendium of Irish Biography; Place MSS. Brit. Mus.; Edward Gibbon Wakefield, by Dr. R. Garnett, 1898.]
C. L. F.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wakefield, Daniel

​WAKEFIELD, DANIEL (1776–1846), writer on political economy, second son of Edward Wakefield, merchant, of London, by his wife Priscilla [q. v.], daughter of Daniel Bell, was born in 1776. Edward Wakefield [q. v.] was his elder brother, and Edward Gibbon Wakefield [q. v.] his nephew. He received from private tutors a thorough classical and modern education, and early showed a certain aptitude for the analysis of economic problems, but abandoned such pursuits for the more lucrative occupation of an equity draughtsman. He was admitted on 9 Feb. 1802 student at Lincoln's Inn, where he was called to the bar on 2 May 1807, and elected bencher on 15 Jan. 1835, having taken silk in the previous Michaelmas vacation. He was a singularly conscientious as well as able equity practitioner, and took an active part in the administration of the affairs of his inn, particularly in the planning and promotion of the building of the new hall. He died without issue, though twice married, on 19 July 1846. His remains were interred on 24 July in Lincoln's Inn chapel. His portrait, engraved from a drawing by Wivell, is in the British Museum.
Besides anonymous pamphlets and contributions to Arthur Young's ‘Annals of Agriculture,’ Wakefield was author of the following:
* ‘A Letter to Thomas Paine, in reply to his “Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance,”’ London, 1796, 8vo.
* ‘Observations on the Credit and Finances of Great Britain, in reply to the “Thoughts” of the Earl of Lauderdale and the “Appeal” of Mr. Morgan,’ London, 1797, 8vo [cf. Maitland, James, eighth Earl of Lauderdale; and Morgan, William, (1750–1833)].
* ‘An Essay upon Political Economy; being an Inquiry into the truth of the two positions of the French Economists that labour employed in manufactures is unproductive, and that all taxes ultimately fall upon or settle in the surplus produce of land,’ London, 1799, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1804.
* . ‘An Investigation of Mr. Morgan's “Comparative View of the Public Finances from the beginning to the close of the late Administration,”’ London,’ 1801, 8vo.
* . ‘A Letter to the Landholders and other Contributors to the Poor's Rates in the Hundred of Dengye, Sussex,’ 1802, 8vo.
[Lincoln's Inn Register and Records, ii. 9, 122; Law List, 1809; Gent. Mag. 1846, ii. 323; Smith's Friends' Books; Watt's Bibl. Brit.; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
J. M. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wakefield, Peter of

​WAKEFIELD, PETER of (d. 1213), hermit, known also as Peter of Pontefract, was a simple unlettered man, living a lonely ascetic life at Wakefield. In the latter part of 1212—perhaps on his northern journey of that year—King John [q. v.] was told that a hermit of Wakefield had prophesied that evil would befall him. Summoning him to his presence, John inquired concerning the prophecy, and was told that by next Ascension day, 23 May 1213, his crown would have been transferred to another (Matt. Paris, Chron. Majora, ii. 535, Rolls Ser.). John committed the prophet to William of Harcourt to be kept in custody at Corfe until the truth of his words should be proved. The prophecy, which is said to have spread even to France, was very generally believed, or at least feared, and John himself, as the day approached, was evidently nervous. Matthew Paris goes so far as to assert that this fear hastened his submission to Pandulf [q. v.] (ib. p. 541), which was completed by the act of homage on the eve of Ascension day 1213. When the dreaded day was safely over, John, in spite of Peter's protest that his prophecy had been fulfilled, and that John's crown had indeed passed to another, took cruel vengeance. He ordered Peter to be dragged by horses to Wareham and there hanged with his son (ib. p. 547).
The story is significant as an illustration of the feeling of the English people in regard to the meaning of John's act of submission to the pope. The chroniclers are fairly unanimous in declaring that Peter's famous prophecy had indeed been fulfilled, though in a sense other than had been expected.
A. M. C.-e.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sedgwick, James

​SEDGWICK, JAMES (1775–1851), author, son of James Sedgwick of Westminster, was born in London in 1775. He matriculated from Pembroke College, Oxford, on 30 Oct. 1797, but did not graduate. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple on 23 Jan. 1801. In 1809 he was appointed a commissioner of excise at Edinburgh, and in 1811 chairman of the excise board. In 1815 he was nominated by the treasury to a seat at the London excise board, but his patent was cancelled ​in consequence of the prince regent having promised the Marchioness of Hertford that Colonel Sir Francis Hastings Doyle should have the first vacancy. By way of compensation Sedgwick was appointed examiner of the droits of admiralty accounts, with his previous salary of 1,500l. a year. He was promoted by patent, dated 25 Aug. 1817, to be chairman of the board of stamps. At the beginning of 1818 he conducted an inquiry into the conduct of the stamp revenue in Scotland, and discovered great abuses. His effort to secure the permanent dismissal of the officer to whom the disorder was attributable proved, to his irritation, unsuccessful. At the same time he gave offence to Lord Liverpool and the government by printing ‘Observations’ on the position of affairs and engaging in controversy in the ‘Morning Chronicle’ respecting the inquiry. His fourteen letters were reissued in the form of three pamphlets. When, in 1826, the board of stamps was dissolved, he alone of all the members was denied a pension. In 1828, however, he received a small retiring allowance of 400l. a year. Henceforth he had a grievance, and the greater part of his life was spent in memorialising successive administrations or petitioning parliament. In 1845 he published another series of ‘Letters addressed to Lord Granville Somerset and others’ on ‘The Dissolution of the Board of Stamps, with Strictures on the Conduct of Sir John Easthope as proprietor of the “Morning Chronicle.”’ The ‘Morning Chronicle’ had ceased to print his complaints. He was a director of the County Fire Office. He died, from the effects of a fall, on 26 Jan. 1851 at his house, 3 Church Street, Kensington. He was married and left one daughter.
Besides the works already mentioned, Sedgwick wrote: 1. ‘An Abridgment of the Modern Determinations in the Courts of Law and Equity,’ being a supplement to C. Viner's ‘Abridgment,’ 1799. 2. ‘Remarks on the Commentaries of Sir W. Blackstone,’ 1800; 2nd edit. 1804. Under the signature of ‘A Barrister’ he published: 3. ‘Hints to the Public on the Nature of Evangelical Preaching,’ 1808; 2nd edit. 1812: this work was replied to by W. B. Collyer, 1809. 4. ‘A Letter to the Ratepayers of Great Britain on the Repeal of the Poor Laws,’ to which is subjoined the outline of a plan for the abolition of the poor rates at the end of three years, 1833. Sedgwick edited the sixth edition of Sir G. Gilbert's ‘Law of Evidence,’ 1801. He is said to have conducted the ‘Oxford Review’ January 1807 to March 1808—fifteen monthly numbers.
[Gent. Mag. April, 1851, pp. 436–7; Times, 30 Jan. 1851, p. 4; Biogr. Dict. of Living Authors, 1816, p. 310.]
G. C. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sedgwick, Thomas

1904 Errata appended.
T. C.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.244 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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