OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wilson, Daniel (1816-1892)

​WILSON, Sir DANIEL (1816–1892), archæologist and educational reformer, was the son of Archibald Wilson, wine merchant, of Edinburgh, who married, on 2 June 1812, Janet, daughter of John Aitken of Greenock, a land surveyor. He was one of eleven children: a younger brother was George Wilson (1818–1859) [q. v.] He was born in Edinburgh on 5 Jan. 1816, and educated first at the High School, then at the university of Edinburgh. Embarking on a literary career, he went to London in 1837, and wrote with varying success for the press; but in 1842 he returned to Edinburgh, and gave special attention to archæological subjects, publishing in 1847 his ‘Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time,’ which he illustrated with his own sketches; a revised edition appeared in 1891. In 1845 he was appointed honorary secretary of the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, and in 1851 published his great work on the archæology of Scotland.
In 1853 Wilson was appointed professor of history and English literature in Toronto University. From his arrival in Canada he devoted himself with marked success to the furtherance of education in the colony. In 1854 he was offered, but did not accept, the post of principal of McGill University, Montreal. In 1854 he became editor of the journal of the Canadian Institute, and in 1859 and 1860 was president of the institute. In 1863 he received the first silver medal of the Natural History Society for original research. In 1881 he became president of Toronto University, in 1882 vice-president of the literature section of the Canadian Royal Society, and in 1885 president of that section. He was knighted in 1888.
Wilson's work in Canada is fairly described in his own words: ‘I have resolutely battled for the maintenance of a national system of university education in opposition to sectarian or denominational ​colleges. In this I have been successful, and I regard it as the great work of my life.’ The position now held by Toronto University is largely due to Wilson. He died at Toronto on 6 Aug. 1892. He married, in 1840, Margaret, daughter of Hugh Mackay of Glasgow. A daughter survived him unmarried.
Apart from papers of high philosophic and scientific merit in journals of various learned societies, and articles in the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica,’ Wilson's chief works were: 1. ‘Oliver Cromwell and the Protectorate,’ Edinburgh, 1848. 2. ‘The Archæology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland,’ Edinburgh, 1851; 2nd edit. 1863. 3. ‘Prehistoric Man: Researches into the Origin of Civilisation in the Old and New Worlds,’ Cambridge, 1862; 3rd edit. London, 1876. 4. ‘Chatterton: a Biographical Study,’ London, 1869. 5. ‘Caliban, the Missing Link,’ Oxford, 1873. 6. ‘Spring Wild-Flowers: a collection of poems,’ London, 1875. 7. ‘Reminiscences of Old Edinburgh,’ Edinburgh, 1878. 8. ‘Anthropology,’ 1885. 9. ‘William Nelson: a Memoir’ (privately printed), 1890. 10. ‘The Right Hand: Left-handedness,’ 1891.
C. A. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Shrewsbury, Ralph of

​SHREWSBURY, RALPH of (d. 1363), bishop of Bath and Wells. [See Ralph.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Shrewsbury, Robert of

​SHREWSBURY, ROBERT of (d. 1167), hagiologist. [See Robert.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Shrewsbury, Duke of

​SHREWSBURY, Duke of. [See Talbot, Charles, 1660–1718.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Shrewsbury, Earls of

​SHREWSBURY, Earls of. [See Roger de Montgomery, d. 1093?; Hugh of Montgomery, d. 1098; Bellême, Robert of, fl. 1098; Talbot, John, first Earl, 1390–1453; Talbot, John, second Earl, 1413–1460; Talbot, George, fourth Earl, 1469?–1541; Talbot, Francis, fifth Earl, 1500–1560; Talbot, George, sixth Earl, 1527?–1590; Talbot, Gilbert, seventh Earl, 1552–1616.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Shrewsbury, Countess of

​SHREWSBURY, Countess of. [See Talbot, Elizabeth, 1516?–1608.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Shrubsole, William (1760-1806)

​SHRUBSOLE, WILLIAM (1760–1806), composer, youngest son of Thomas Shrubsole, farrier, was born at Canterbury, and baptised on 13 Jan. 1760. He was a chorister in the cathedral from 1770 to 1777, and organist at Bangor Cathedral from 1782 to 1784, when he was dismissed for frequenting ‘conventicles.’ He became organist of Spa Fields Chapel, London, and held that post till his death on 18 Jan. 1806. He was a successful teacher in London, and among his pupils were William Russell (1777–1813) [q. v.], organist of the Foundling Chapel, and Benjamin Jacob [q. v.] of Surrey Chapel. The 1794 ‘Musical Directory’ describes him as an alto singer, and in that capacity he is said to have sung at Drury Lane and Westminster Abbey. Shrubsole composed the famous hymn-tune known as ‘Miles Lane,’ set to the hymn by Edward Perronet [see under Perronet, Vincent], ‘All hail! the power of Jesus' Name.’ He became intimate with Perronet at Canterbury, and Perronet, besides making him one of his executors, left him a substantial share of his property. Shrubsole is buried at Bunhill Fields, London, and the first strain of ‘Miles Lane’ is cut on his tombstone.
[Parr's Church of England Psalmody; Love's Scottish Church Music; Musical Opinion, March 1896; Quiver, May 1896, where there is a facsimile reproduction of ‘Miles Lane’ as it first appeared in the Gospel Magazine, November 1779; note by Mr. F. G. Edwards; records of Bangor Cathedral.]
J. C. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wilson, William Rae

​WILSON, WILLIAM RAE (1772–1849), author of ‘Travels,’ was a member of a Haddington family named Rae, and was born in Paisley on 7 June 1772. He learned law under his uncle, John Wilson, town clerk of Glasgow, and for a time practised as a solicitor before the supreme courts of Scotland. His uncle, who died in 1806, left him his fortune, and he then, by letters patent, added Wilson to his name, and resolved to gratify a taste for travel, specially stimulated at the moment by his wife's premature death. He travelled in Egypt and Palestine, and through most of Europe, preparing as he went minute and interesting records of his experience. As he was in some respects a pioneer, his publications had an immediate popularity, and they retain a certain historical interest. He became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and in 1844 received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the university of Glasgow. In recognition of this academical distinction he bequeathed to the university 300l. to provide an annual prize for an essay on Christ and the benefits of Christianity. An upright man, a writer and a distributor of tracts, he was not of a specially tolerant spirit. One hapless stricture provoked Hood's discursive and pungent ‘Ode to Rae Wilson, Esquire,’ published in 1837 with characteristic prefatory note addressed to the editor of the ‘Athenæum’ (Hood, Poems, edit. 1867, i. 61). Rae Wilson died in London, in South Crescent, Bedford Square, on 2 June 1849, and was buried in Glasgow necropolis, where his grave is marked by a conspicuous monument of oriental design.
In 1811 Rae Wilson married Frances Phillips, daughter of a Glasgow merchant. Her death, eighteen months later, prompted a privately circulated memorial tribute, afterwards published in Gisborne's ‘Christian Female Biography.’ He married, a second time, Miss Cates, who accompanied him in his travels and survived him.
Rae Wilson's publications include:
* ‘Travels in Egypt and the Holy Land,’ 1823.
* ‘A Journey through Turkey, Greece, the Ionian Isles, Sicily, Spain,’ 1824.
* ‘Travels in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Hanover, Germany, Netherlands,’ 1826.
* ‘Travels in Russia,’ 1828, 2 vols.
* ‘Records of a Route through France and Italy; with Sketches of Catholicism,’ 1835.
The work on Egypt and the Holy Land was very popular, and ran through several editions.
[Chambers's Biogr. Dict. of Eminent Scotsmen; Anderson's Scottish Nation; Irving's Dict. of Eminent Scotsmen; Glasgow University Calendar; Addison's Roll of Glasgow Graduates, 1898.]
T. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Winch, Nathaniel John

​WINCH, NATHANIEL JOHN (1769?–1838), botanist, was born about 1769. He was throughout his life devoted to the study of plants, especially those of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Durham, and was one of the earliest writers to take philosophical views of geographical distribution. He studied cryptogams, especially mosses, as well as flowering plants, and accumulated an herbarium of some twelve thousand species. He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1803 and an associate in 1821. For more than twenty years he acted as secretary to the Newcastle Infirmary. He died at his residence, Ridley Place, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on 5 May 1838, aged 69. His manuscripts, library, and herbarium were bequeathed to the Linnean Society, but the greater part of them was subsequently handed over to the Natural History Society of Northumberland and Durham. His name was commemorated by De Candolle in the genus Winchia. Winch's principal publications were:
* 'The Botanist's Guide through … Northumberland and Durham,' 1805-7, 2 vols. 8vo, written in conjunction with John Thornhill and Richard Waugh, arranged according to the Linnean system and including cryptogams.
* 'Observations on the Geology of Northumberland and Durham,' 1814, 4to.
* 'Essay on the Geographical Distribution of Plants through … Northumberland, Cumberland, and Durham,' 1819, 8vo; 2nd ed. 1825.
* 'Remarks on the Flora of Cumberland,' 1825, 8vo, contributed to the 'Newcastle Magazine' during the preceding year, and reprinted as 'Contributions to the Flora of Cumberland,' 1833, 4to.
* 'Flora of Northumberland and Durham,' 1831, 4to; reprinted from the 'Transactions' of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle, to which addenda were issued in 1836.
[Britten and Boulger's Biographical Index of Botanists, and authorities there cited.]
G. S. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wilson, William (1808-1888)

​WILSON, WILLIAM (1808–1888), Scots divine, was born in 1808 at Blawearie, Bassendean, in Berwickshire. He was educated at the parish school, and in 1825 entered the university of Edinburgh, where he took the arts and theological classes, studying under Chalmers, David Welsh [q. v.], and Alexander Brunton. Licensed by the presbytery of Dumfries on 2 March 1830, Wilson was early recognised as a powerful preacher. Till 1837 he acted as a parochial missionary in Glasgow, and from 1835 to 1837 he was editor of the ‘Scottish Guardian.’ On 22 Sept. 1837 he was ordained minister of Carmyllie, Forfarshire. In the conflict which ended in the disruption, Wilson took an active part. He joined the free church and preached in a wooden building till 1848, when he was called to the mariners' church, Dundee, where he officiated till 1877. He was elected moderator of the free-church assembly on 24 May 1866, junior principal clerk of assembly in 1868, and senior clerk in 1883. On 20 April 1870 he received the degree of D.D. from Edinburgh University. In 1877 he was appointed secretary of the sustentation fund committee. He also held the office of Chalmers lecturer. He died on 14 Jan. 1888, survived by one son and five daughters. His remains were accorded a public funeral in Dundee. In 1840 Wilson married Eliza, daughter of Alexander White of Drimmietermont, near Forfar. She died in February 1860.
Wilson wrote:
* ‘Statement of the Scriptural Argument against Patronage,’ Edinburgh, 1842, 8vo.
* ‘The Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ Edinburgh, 1859, 8vo.
* ‘Christ setting his Face towards Jerusalem,’ Dundee, 1878, 8vo.
* ‘Memorials of R. S. Candlish, D.D.,’ Edinburgh, 1880, 8vo.
Wilson also edited with a preface and notes Daniel Defoe's ‘Memoirs of the Church of Scotland,’ 1844, and contributed a preface to Sir James Stewart and James Stirling's ‘Survey of Naphtaly,’ 1845. He wrote the history of the parish of Carmyllie for the ‘New Statistical Account of Scotland,’ and contributed to the ‘Free Church Pulpit.’
[Scott's Fasti, III. ii. 794; J. M. McBain's Eminent Arbroathians, 1897; Scotsman, 16 Jan. 1888; Smith's Scot. Clergy, vol. iii.; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
G. S-h.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wilton, William de

​WILTON, WILLIAM de (d. 1264), judge, had fines levied before him in 1247, acted as justice itinerant in 1248, 1249, and 1250, again in 1253, 1255, and 1259-61. In the intervals his name does not appear in the lists of justices. He seems to have been chief justice on 11 Dec. 1261, as be received the pay of that office, 100l. He was probably chief justice of the king's bench. He can be traced in the execution of the functions of the office till November 1263 (Excerpt. e Rot. Fin. ii. 407).
According to Rishanger (p. 28) he was slain at the battle of Lewes on the king's side (14 May 1264).
[Foss's Judges of England, and authorities cited in text.]
W. E. R.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thornton, Thomas (1786-1866)

​THORNTON, THOMAS (1786–1866), journalist, born in London on 12 July 1786, was the son of Thomas Thornton, East India agent. His mother's maiden name was Sarah Kitchener. In early life he was employed in the custom-house, and published several works dealing with East Indian trade. The first of these, a ‘Compendium of the Laws recently passed for regulating the Trade with the East Indies,’ appeared in 1814. It was followed in 1818 by ‘The Duties of Customs and Excise on Goods … imported, and the Duties, Drawbacks, &c., on Goods exported, brought down to August 1818.’ This was supplemented in the succeeding year by an edition corrected to July 1819. In 1825 he published ‘Oriental Commerce, or the East Indian Trader's Complete Guide,’ a geographical and statistical work originally compiled by William Milburn, a servant of the East India Company, containing descriptions of all the countries with which the company carried on trade, and much statistical information. Thornton greatly reduced the historical part of the work, but added supplemental matter.
In 1825 he became connected with the ‘Times,’ and remained a member of its staff till the year before his death. Between 1841 and 1850 he published in monthly parts ​‘Notes of Cases in the Ecclesiastical and Maritime Courts.’ They appeared in seven volumes in 1850. Their object was ‘to supply in the interval between the decisions and the publication of the authorised reports more full and accurate notes of important cases than those found in the daily papers.’ Thornton subsequently supplied reports of the parliamentary debates, which were characterised by great terseness and grasp. He also published in two volumes in 1844 a ‘History of China to the Treaty in 1842’ (Von Möllendorf, Manual of Chinese Bibliography). In 1813 Thornton edited the ‘Complete Works of Thomas Otway’ in 3 vols. 8vo, and prefixed a short life of the dramatist.
He died on 25 March 1866 at 29 Gloucester Street, Belgrave Road, London. He married in 1823 Elizabeth, daughter of Habbakuk Robinson of Bagshot, Surrey, by whom he had three sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Robinson Thornton, D.D. (b. 1825), warden of Trinity College, Glenalmond, from 1870 to 1873, and Boyle lecturer in 1881–3, became archdeacon of Middlesex in 1893. The second son, Thomas Henry, D.C.L. Oxon. (b. 1832), was judge of the chief court of the Punjab and member of the legislative council of India in 1878–1881. The third son, Samuel, D.D. (b. 1836), was first bishop of Ballarat (1875–1900) and vicar of Blackburn from 1901.
[Times, 29 March 1866; Gent. Mag. 1866, i. 759, 760; Walford's County Families; Foster's Alumni Oxon.; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
G. Le G. N.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thoroton, Thomas

​THOROTON, THOMAS (1723–1784), politician, born in 1723, descended from Thomas, younger brother of Robert Thoroton [q. v.], who on Robert's death without male issue succeeded to the family estates. Thomas was the son of Robert Thoroton of Screveton, by his wife, Mary Blackborne. For a long period he was intimately connected with John Manners, third duke of Rutland, acting as his agent in all his political and private business, and resided at the duke's seat, Belvoir Castle. The Duke of Rutland was politically friendly to Thomas Pelham Holles, first duke of Newcastle [q. v.], and Thoroton was returned to parliament on 4 July 1757 for the Duke of Newcastle's borough of Boroughbridge, and on 27 March 1761 for the town of Newark.
During the seven years' war he maintained a constant correspondence with the duke's son, John Manners, marquis of Granby [q. v.], the great cavalry general. On the appointment of Granby as master-general of the ordnance on 1 July 1763, he made Thoroton official secretary to the board. In 1763 the Duke of Rutland having severed his relations with Newcastle, owing to differences on the question of the peace of Paris, Thoroton withdrew from Newark, and was returned for Bramber in Sussex, as Granby's nominee. He retained his seat until 1782. His connection with the board of ordnance ceased on Granby's death in 1770.
After the death of the third duke of Rutland Thoroton returned to his own residence, Screveton Hall. He had, however, a large share in the management of the English affairs of the fourth duke [see Manners, Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland] while he was lord-lieutenant of Ireland from 1784 to 1787. He displayed great activity during the Gordon riots in 1780, and rescued several victims from the mob. He died at Screveton Hall on 9 May 1794, and was buried in the neighbouring church of St. Wilfred's. Of Thoroton's eight sons, John became rector of Bottesford and chaplain of Belvoir Castle, and was knighted in 1814; and Robert was appointed private secretary to the fourth Duke of Rutland during his viceroyalty of Ireland, and clerk to the Irish parliament. Thoroton's daughter Mary was married to Charles Manners-Sutton (1755–1828) [q. v.], archbishop of Canterbury.
W. E. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thornton, Thomas (d.1814)

​THORNTON, THOMAS (d. 1814), writer on Turkey, elder son of William Thornton, an innkeeper of London, and brother of Sir Edward Thornton (1766–1852) [q. v.], was engaged in commerce from an early age. About 1793 he was sent to the British factory at Constantinople, where he resided fourteen years, making a stay of fifteen months at Odessa, and paying frequent visits to Asia Minor and the islands of the Archipelago. After his return to England he published in 1807 ‘The Present State of Turkey’ (London, 4to; 2nd edit. 1809, 8vo), in which, after a brief summary of Ottoman history, he gave a minute and comprehensive account of the political and social institutions of the Turkish empire. Thornton possessed an intimate knowledge of his subject, both from his long residence at Constantinople and from his friendship with the European ambassadors. His work is a valuable contemporary study of the Ottoman empire. The chapter on the military organisation is probably superior to any former account. That on the financial system is clear and perspicuous, though necessarily his knowledge of many branches of the subject was limited. Thornton is extremely favourable to the Turks, protesting against the abuse poured on them in former works owing to their friendship with France. He severely attacked William Eton's ‘Survey of the Turkish Empire’ (1798), and drew from Eton in reply ‘A Letter to the Earl of D … on the Political Relations of Russia in regard to Turkey, Greece, and France’ (1807).
About the end of 1813 Thornton was appointed consul to the Levant Company, but when on the eve of setting out for Alexandria he died at Burnham, Buckinghamshire, on 28 March 1814. While at Constantinople he married Sophie Zohrab, the daughter of a Greek merchant, by whom he had a large family. His youngest son, William Thomas Thornton, is separately noticed.
E. I. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thornycroft, Mary

​THORNYCROFT, MARY (1814–1895), sculptor, born at Thornham, Norfolk, in 1814, was the daughter of John Francis (1780–1861) [q. v.], the sculptor, who brought her up to his own profession. She studied to such purpose that she became an exhibitor at the Royal Academy at the age of twenty-one. Five years later she married her fellow-pupil, Thomas Thornycroft [q. v.], and with him travelled to Italy and lived and worked for a time in Rome. There she became the friend of Thorwaldsen and of John Gibson (1790–1866) [q. v.] On her return to London she was recommended by Gibson to Queen Victoria, for whom she executed numerous busts and statues, chiefly of the royal children. In the drawing​room at Osborne there were no fewer than nine life-size marble statues of the young princes and princesses modelled by her. Besides these she executed a considerable number of busts of private individuals, as well as a few ideal statues. Among the latter is her well-known figure of a ‘Skipping Girl,’ which may on the whole be called her masterpiece. Mrs. Thornycroft died on 1 Feb. 1895. Two of her daughters, Alyce and Helen, followed their mother's footsteps in art. One of her sons, W. Hamo Thornycroft, became a sculptor and a member of the Royal Academy; the other, John Isaac Thornycroft, F.R.S., is the famous builder of torpedo-boats.
W. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Thornycroft, Thomas

​THORNYCROFT, THOMAS (1815–1885), sculptor, was born in Cheshire in 1815. He was educated at Congleton grammar school, and was afterwards apprenticed to a surgeon in that town. He soon tired of surgery, however, and was sent by his mother to London to study under John Francis (1780–1861) [q. v.], the sculptor. In Francis's studio he met his daughter Mary [see Thornycroft, Mary], whom he married in 1840. After a visit to Italy and a stay of some months in Rome he returned to London with his wife, and established himself in a studio in Stanhope Street, Regent's Park. His work as a sculptor was, however, somewhat desultory, and a large share of his attention was given to mechanical projects. In early youth he formed a friendship with Thomas Page [q. v.], the engineer, which had much influence on his after life. He set up an installation for electro-bronze casting in his studio, where also he worked at models of railways, engines, steamboats, &c., a taste which came out with increased strength in his son John. As a sculptor his chief works are the equestrian statue of the queen which was in the 1851 exhibition, a group of King Alfred and his mother, the statue of Charles I in Westminster Hall, equestrian statues of the prince consort at Liverpool and Wolverhampton, the group of Commerce on the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, and the group of Boadicea and her daughters which was temporarily placed on the Victoria Embankment in the spring of 1898. In some of these works he was assisted by his son Hamo. Thornycroft died on 30 Aug. 1885 at Brenchley in Kent, and was buried in Old Chiswick churchyard.
W. A.