Frederic Boase
Modern English Biography (volume 1 of 4) A-H
BEATSON, Rev. Benjamin Wrigglesworth (son of Anby Beatson). b. 24 Jany. 1803; ed. at Merchant Taylors’ school and Pemb. coll. Cam., 16 wrangler 1825, B.A. 1825, M.A. 1828; fellow of his college 1827 to death; author of Progressive exercises on the composition of Greek Iambic verse 1836, 10 ed. 1871; Exercises on Latin prose composition 1840; Lessons in ancient history 1853; edited Demosthenes’ Oration against Leptines 1864. d. Charles st. City road, London 20 July 1874.
BEATSON, George Stewart (3 son of Henry Duncan Beatson of Campbelltown, Argyleshire). b. Greenock May 1814; ed. at Glasgow Univ., M.D. 1836; L.R.C.S. Edin. 1836; assistant surgeon army medical department 1838; surgeon general 1 May 1863; principal medical officer of British troops in India 1863–68 and 1871 to death; in charge of Royal Victoria hospital Netley 1868–71; honorary phys. to the Queen 13 March 1866; C.B. 2 June 1869. d. Knollswood, Simla 7 June 1874. I.L.N. lxv, 229 (1874), portrait.
BEATSON, William Ferguson. b. about 1804; entered Bengal army 1820; served with British legion in Spain 1835–36; commander of the 10 regiment in Spain 13 July 1836; commanded the Nizam of Hyderabad’s division of cavalry to March 1851; organised a corps of 4000 Bashi Bazouks in Crimean war 1854–55, resigned command of the corps Sep. 1855; served in Indian mutiny 1857–58 when he raised and organised two regiments of cavalry in 6 months; M.G. 3 Oct. 1866; created a knight of San Fernando by Queen Regent of Spain. d. The vicarage New Swindon 4 Feb. 1872. Nolan’s Russian war ii, 753 (1857), portrait; The war department and the Bashi Bazouks by W. F. Beatson 1856, privately printed.
BEATTIE, James. b. parish of Rayne, Scotland 27 Jany. 1781; a shoemaker at Gordonstown in Auchterless; conducted a school of from 30 to 40 pupils for 60 years for which he would never take any payment; known as “the Auchterless John Pounds” after the Portsmouth cobbler of that name who founded ragged schools and died 1839. d. Gordonstown July 1867.
BEATTIE, Joseph Hamilton (son of George Beattie of North of Ireland, architect). b. 12 May 1808; assistant engineer on London and Southampton railway 1837; assistant engineer and locomotive superintendent of London and south western railway 1851 to death; took out many patents for improvements in railway rolling stock and effected great saving in consumption of fuel in working locomotives; M.I.C.E. 1 Dec. 1857. d. South Bank, Surbiton, Surrey 18 Oct. 1871. Min. of Proc. of Instit. of C.E. xxxiii, 204–206 (1872).
BEATTIE, William (son of James Beattie of Dalton, Annandale who d. 1809). b. Dalton 1793; ed. at Clarencefield academy 1807–13 and Univ. of Edin. 1813–20, M.D. 1818; studied in France, Italy and Germany 1823–26; physician to Duke of Clarence 8 years and private secretary to him 3 years; L.R.C.P. 1827; practised at Hampstead 1827–45; foreign sec. to British Archæological Society; lost £7,000 in Albert Assurance Office Aug. 1869; author of Journal of a residence in Germany 2 vols. 1831; Scotland illustrated 2 vols. 1838; The Waldenses illustrated 2 vols. 1838; The Danube 1844; Life of Thomas Campbell 3 vols. 1848. d. 13 Upper Berkeley st. London 17 March 1875. Madden’s Literary life of Countess of Blessington iii, 255–76 (1855).
BEATTY, George. Second lieutenant R.M. 16 May 1795, colonel commandant 12 Feb. 1842 to 9 Nov. 1846; general 20 June 1855. d. Dublin 27 June 1857 aged 79.
BEATTY, Thomas Edward (son of John Beatty, M.D.) Ed. at Trin. coll. Dublin; M.D. Edin. 1820, M.R.C.S. Ireland 1821, F.R.C.S. 1824; master of South-Eastern Lying-in hospital, Dublin; professor of medical jurisprudence at Royal college of surgeons Dublin, pres. 1850; helped to found City of Dublin hospital 1832; pres. of Dublin Pathological Society 1859; fellow of King and Queen’s college of physicians 2 May 1862, pres. 1864–65; M.D. Dublin 1863. d. 3 May 1872.
BEAUCHAMP, John Reginald Pyndar, 3 Earl (2 son of Wm. Lygon, 1 Earl Beauchamp 1747–1816). Assumed name of Pyndar 22 Oct. 1813; succeeded 12 May 1823. d. 37 Portman sq. London 22 Jany. 1853 in 71 year.
BEAUCHAMP, Henry Beauchamp Lygon, 4 Earl (brother of the preceding). b. 5 Jany. 1784; cornet 13 Dragoons 9 July 1803; lieut. col. 1 Life Guards 17 July 1821 to 10 Jany. 1837; colonel 10 Hussars 23 June 1843 to death; general 20 June 1854; M.P. for Worcestershire 1816–1831 and for West Worcestershire 1832–1853; succeeded 22 Jany. 1853. d. Madresfield Court, Great Malvern 8 Sep. 1863.
BEAUCLERK, Aubrey William. b. 20 Feb. 1801; M.P. for East Surrey 15 Dec. 1832 to 17 July 1837. d. Ardglass castle, co. Down 1 Feb. 1854.
BEAUFORT, John Henry Somerset, 7 Duke of (eld. child of Henry Charles Somerset, 6 Duke of Beaufort 1766–1835). b. 5 Feb. 1792; cornet 10 Hussars 1811; aide de camp to Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula; captain 37 Foot 2 Dec. 1819 to 25 Oct. 1821 when placed on h.p.; M.P. for Monmouth 30 Dec. 1813 to 3 Dec. 1832 and for West Gloucs. 12 Jany. 1835 to 23 Nov. 1835 when he succeeded as 7 Duke; junior lord of the Admiralty 1816–1819; lieut. colonel commandant of Gloucestershire yeomanry April 1834 to death; K.G. 1842; master of the Badminton fox hounds 1835 to death. d. Badminton, Gloucs. 17 Nov. 1853. Lord W. P. Lennox’s Celebrities I have known 2 series i, 118–30 (1877); Sporting Review xxxi, 69–70 (1854); I.L.N. xxiii, 448, 476 (1853), portrait.
BEAUFORT, Sir Francis (younger son of Rev. Daniel Augustus Beaufort 1739–1831, V. of Collon, co. Louth). b. Collon 1774; entered navy 21 June 1787; engaged in the action off Brest 1 June 1794; constructed with R. L. Edgeworth a telegraph from Dublin to Galway 1804; captain R.N. 30 May 1810; conducted survey of coast of Asia Minor 1810–12; granted pension for wounds 2 Dec. 1815, retired R.A. 1 Oct. 1846; F.R.S. 30 June 1814; one of founders of Royal Astronomical Society 1820 and of Royal Geographical Society 1830; corresponding member of Institute of France; hydrographer of the Admiralty July 1832 to 30 Jany. 1855; K.C.B. 27 April 1848; author of Karamania or a brief description of the south coast of Asia Minor 1817 which was the chief book of travels of its day. d. Hove near Brighton 17 Dec. 1857 in 84 year. H. Martineau’s Biographical sketches, 4 ed. (1876) 213–30; Quarterly Journal of Geological Soc. xiv, 47–54 (1858); Proc. of Royal Soc. ix, 524–27 (1858).
BEAUFORT, Francis Lestock (son of the preceding). b. 1815; in Bengal civil service 1837–76 when he retired upon the annuity fund; judge of the 24 Purgunnahs beyond the suburbs of Calcutta 1863–76; author of Digest of the criminal law procedure in Bengal 1850. d. 1879.
BEAUFOY, Henry Benjamin Hanbury (eld. son of Mark Beaufoy of London, astronomer 1764–1827). Established 4 scholarships at Univ. of Cam.; gave city of London school £10,000; erected at cost of £10,000 Lambeth Ragged schools opened 5 March 1851, and invested £4,000 in perpetual trust for their maintenance; formed a library of 25000 volumes; privately printed his father’s Nautical and hydraulic experiments 1834; F.R.S. 14 Dec. 1815, F.L.S. d. South Lambeth 12 July 1851 in 66 year. H. Mayhew’s Shops of London i, 7–12 (1865).
BEAULIE, Baron A. de. Belgian envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in London 1 March 1869 to death, d. 43 Upper Brook st. Grosvenor sq. 11 Oct. 1872 aged 66.
BEAUMONT, Miles Thomas Stapleton, 8 Baron (eld. son of Thomas Stapleton of Carlton hall, Yorkshire 1778–1839). b. Richmond, Yorkshire 4 June 1805; fought a duel with major general Lorenzo Moore on Wimbledon Common 13 Feb. 1832 when he received a bullet in his breast which was never extracted; summoned to House of Lords by writ as one of the coheirs of barony of Beaumont 16 Oct. 1840; col. commandant of 4 West York Militia 18 May 1853 to death; author of Austria and Central Italy 1849; The late edict of Court of Rome; Lord Beaumont’s letter to Lord Zetland 1850, 7 ed. 1850. d. 17 Bruton St. Berkeley sq. London 16 Aug. 1854.
BEAUMONT, Edward Blackett. b. 1802; F.R.S. 4 June 1835, F.R.A.S. d. 33 Norland sq. Notting hill, London 7 June 1878.
BEAUMONT, Sir George Howland, 9 Baronet. b. Addington park, Surrey 12 Sep. 1828; succeeded 7 June 1845; sheriff of Leicestershire 1852. d. Cole Orton hall, Ashby-de-la-Zouch 8 June 1882.
BEAUMONT, Rev. Joseph. b. Castle Donington, Leics. 19 March 1794; Wesleyan minister 1813 to death; minister in Edinburgh 1821–23 and 1833–35, in London 1831–32, 1836–38 and 1845–50, in Liverpool 1839–44; M.D. Edin. 1836; an eloquent and popular preacher; author of Memoir of Mrs. Mary Tatham 1838. d. in the pulpit of Waltham chapel, Hull 21 Jany. 1855. Life by his son Joseph Beaumont 1856, portrait; The lamps of the temple, 3 ed. 1856, 381–403.
BEAUMONT, Thomas (brother of the preceding). b. 1 July 1795; L.S.A. 1822; surgeon at Bradford 1822 to death; pres. of Bradford Medical Association; alderman of Bradford; one of the founders of Bradford Temperance Society the first in England 2 Feb. 1830; author of An essay on the nature and properties of alcoholic liquors 1837. d. Bradford 16 Oct. 1859.
BEAUMONT, William Rawlings. b. London 1803; studied at St. Bartholomews hospital and in Paris; M.R.C.S. 1826, F.R.C.S. 1844; surgeon to Islington dispensary; went to Toronto 1841; professor of surgery in Toronto Univ. 1843; surgeon to general hospital; M.D. Toronto 1850; emeritus professor of surgery in Trinity college; invented many surgical instruments, especially one for the making of deep sutures 1837, which suggested invention of the Singer sewing machine. d. 12 Oct. 1875. Canadian Lancet 1 Nov. 1875.
BEAUREGARD, Elizabeth, Countess de (dau. of Joseph Hargett). Known as Miss Howard; remarkable for her beauty; mistress of Louis Napoleon to 1853 when he created her Countess de Beauregard. (m. 16 May 1854 Clarence Trelawney, Hussar officer in the Austrian army, he was b. 20 Dec. 1826 and obtained a divorce in Court of appeal Paris Feb. 1865). d. Chateau of Beauregard near Versailles 20 Aug. 1865 aged 42.
BEAVAN, Charles (son of Hugh Beavan of Llowes, Radnorshire). b. March 1805; ed. at Aldenham and Caius coll. Cam., 22 wrangler 1829; B.A. 1829, M.A. 1832; barrister M.T. 25 June 1830, bencher 6 May 1873; practised in Chancery courts; an official examiner of Court of Chancery June 1866 to Jany. 1884 when office abolished; author of Reports of cases in Chancery argued and determined in the Rolls Court 36 vols. 1840–69, being the longest series of authorized reports ever published. d. 91 St. George’s road, Pimlico, London 18 June 1884. Solicitor’s Journal xxviii, 173, 592, 601 (1884).
BEAVAN, Edward (younger brother of the preceding). b. 1814; ed. at Hounslow; practised as special pleader; barrister M.T. 3 May 1844; recorder of Chester 1864–66. d. 15 Feb. 1870.
BEAZLEY, Samuel (son of Samuel Beazley of Whitehall, London, army accoutrement maker). b. Whitehall 1786; served as a volunteer in the Peninsula; designed St. James’s, Lyceum and City of London theatres, also 2 theatres in Dublin, 2 in Belgium, 2 in India and 1 in Brazil; erected London Bridge railway station, most of the stations on North Kent line and Lord Warden hotel at Dover; wrote and arranged more than 100 dramatic pieces chiefly farces and short comedies; author of The Roué [anon.] 3 vols. 1828; The Oxonians, a glance at society 3 vols. 1830. d. Tunbridge Castle 12 Oct. 1851 in 66 year. Lord W. P. Lennox’s Celebrities, I have known, 2 series ii, 70–90 (1877); Lord W. P. Lennox’s Percy Hamilton 1851 in which he is drawn to the life.
BECHER, Alexander Bridport (eld. son of Alexander Becher, captain R.N. who d. 1827). b. 12 June 1796; midshipman R.N. 28 Nov. 1812; captain on h.p. 20 March 1856, retired R.A. 11 June 1874; assistant in Hydrographic office 12 May 1823 to 1865, arranged and methodised all documents preserved there 1823–26; sec. to board of visitors of royal observatory; F.R.A.S. 1830, member of council; edited the Nautical magazine from its commencement in 1832 to 1871; author of The landfall of Columbus on his first voyage to America 1856. d. 46 Upper Gloucester place, London 15 Feb. 1876. Dunkin’s Obituary notices of astronomers (1879) 1–6.
BECHER, Lady Eliza (eld. dau. of John O’Neill, stage manager of the Drogheda theatre). b. Drogheda 1791; made her début in Dublin at Crow street theatre as The widow Cheerly in the Soldier’s daughter 1811 and in London at Covent Garden theatre as Juliet 6 Oct. 1814; the favourite actress in London both in comedy and tragedy 1814–19; said to have made £12,000 a year; acted for the last time 13 July 1819. (m. 18 Dec. 1819 Wm. Wrixon, M.P. for Mallow, he was b. 31 July 1780, assumed name of Becher, was created a baronet 1831 and d. 23 Oct. 1850). d. Ballygiblin near Mallow 29 Oct. 1872. Mrs. C. B. Wilson’s Our actresses i, 33–74 (1844), portrait; Theatrical inquisitor vi, 243 (1815), portrait.
BECHER, John Reid. b. 3 July 1819; 2 lieut. Bengal Engineers 6 March 1838; colonel 13 Oct. 1863; colonel commandant 15 Sep. 1881 to death; served in Afghan campaign 1842 and Sutlej campaign 1846; general 29 July 1878; C.B. 18 May 1860. d. Southampton 9 July 1884.
BECHER, Martin William (son of Wm. Becher of Norfolk, farmer who d. 1816). b. Norfolk; served in the Store-keeper general’s department; an officer in Buckinghamshire yeomanry cavalry 1821; won the Northampton steeple chase 4 April 1834; beat the Marquis of Waterford in a match for 1000 guineas a side 1834; won the St. Albans steeple chase 1835 and 1836 and many other races; the best steeple chase rider in England. d. 21 Maida hill, St. John’s Wood, London 11 Oct. 1864 aged 67. Sporting Review lii, 400–404 (1864); Scott and Sebright by the Druid (1885) 292–303, portrait.
BECK, Baroness Von, assumed name of Wilhelmina Racidula; passed herself off as a Hungarian exile who had rendered good service to the cause of independence; came to Birmingham with her secretary Constant Derra July 1851, where she was assisted by many of the Liberal leaders; arrested as an impostor and confined in Moor st. police court 29 Aug.; author of Personal adventures during the late war of independence in Hungary 2 vols. 1850. d. in the ante-room of the Court at Moor st. Birmingham 30 Aug. 1851 aged about 54. The persecution and death of the Baroness Von Beck at Birmingham in August 1851, 8º. 1852; Athenæum (1852) 578, 629, 653, 701, 846 and 869; The facts of the case as to the pretended Baroness Von Beck by J. T. Smith 1852.
BECK, Edward. Commanded a merchant ship; a slate merchant at Isleworth, Middlesex; constructed the great waterworks at Hampton; one of most successful growers of Pelargoniums in the kingdom, long unrivalled as an exhibitor; author of A treatise on the cultivation of the Pelargonium 1847; edited The florist and garden miscellany 4 vols. 1848–61. d. Worton cottage, Isleworth 15 Jany. 1861 aged 57. The Florist Feb. 1861, pp. 36–38.
BECK, Richard. Manufacturing optician at 31 Cornhill, London; author of A treatise on the construction, proper use and capabilities of Smith, Beck and Beck’s achromatic microscopes 1865 and of 9 papers read before the Microscopical Society 1859–66. d. Stamford hill, London 30 Sep. 1866 aged nearly 39.
BECK, Thomas Snow. b. Newcastle-upon-Tyne; ed. at gr. school there, and in Cumberland; apprenticed to a surgeon at Newcastle; student at Univ. college London 1836; M.R.C.S. 1839, F.R.C.S. 1847; walked the Paris hospitals 1839–40; visited universities of Switzerland, Italy and Germany 1840–41; M.D. London 1849; M.R.C.P. 1852; practised in London 1841; phys. to Farringdon general dispensary 1850; F.R.S. 5 June 1851, royal medallist 1845. d. 7 Portland place, London 6 Jany. 1877 aged 63. Medical Circular i, 209–211 (1852).
BECKER, Carl Ludwig Christian. b. Ratzeburg in Mecklenberg Strelitz 16 July 1821; manager for Elliott brothers of London electrical engineers 1858; member of the firm 1873 to death; F.R.A.S. Jany. 1874. d. 55 St. Paul’s Road Canonbury 3 April 1875.
BECKET, Thomas. M.R.C.S. 1794, F.R.C.S. 1843; surgeon 1 Foot Guards 8 July 1795 to 1809; surgeon to the Savoy 28 Sep. 1809. d. 5 Russell place, Fitzroy sq. London 21 July 1856 aged 82.
BECKETT, Sir Edmund, 4 Baronet, b. Gledhow hall, Leeds 29 Jany 1787; M.P. for west riding Yorkshire 12 July 1841 to 23 July 1847, and 11 Dec. 1848 to 23 April 1859; succeeded 17 Nov. 1872. d. Doncaster 24 May 1874. Personalty sworn under £300,000 Aug. 1874. I.L.N. lxiv, 547 (1874) lxv, 236 (1874).
BECKETT, John Staniforth (son of Joseph Beckett, of Barnsley 1751–1840). Presented a dispensary to Barnsley, to which he also left sum of £5000. d. Wombwell near Barnsley 9 Nov. 1868 in 75 year. Personalty sworn under £350,000 Jany. 1869.
BECKETT, Sir Thomas, 3 Baronet. b. Leeds 1 Jany. 1779; succeeded 31 May 1847. d. Somerby park near Gainsborough 17 Nov. 1872. Personalty sworn under £350,000 March 1873.
BECKETT, William (5 son of Sir John Beckett, 1 Baronet 1743–1826). b. Leeds 3 March 1784; principal partner in the eminent banking firm of Beckett and Co. of the Leeds “Old Bank”; M.P. for Leeds 1841 to 1852 and for Ripon 1852 to 1857. d. Brighton 26 Jany. 1863. Rev. R. V. Taylor’s Biographia Leodiensis (1865) 506–509.
BECKWITH, John Charles (eld. child of John Beckwith of Halifax, Nova Scotia). b. Halifax 2 Oct. 1789; ensign 50 Foot 1803, exchanged into 95 Foot 1804, captain 1808 to 20 Jany. 1820 when placed on h.p.; served in Hanover, Denmark and Sweden, and in the Peninsula 1809–14; lost his left leg at Waterloo where 4 horses were killed under him 18 June 1815; C.B. 22 June 1815, M.G. 9 Nov. 1846; visited the Vaudois valleys Piedmont Oct. 1827 and 5 succeeding years, lived at St. Jean 1834–39 and at La Tour 1841–51, established 120 schools in the Vaudois valleys all of which he frequently inspected; knight of Sardinian order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus 15 Dec. 1848. (m. 20 June 1850 Caroline Volle of the Vaudois). d. La Tour 19 July 1862. bur. in the cemetery of Tour Pellice. General Beckwith, his life and labours among the Waldenses of Piedmont by J. P. Meille 1873.
BECKWITH, Joseph. An early member of the Corresponding Society which was founded 1791; a contemporary of Hardy and Thelwall; lived in Clerkenwell nearly 60 years. d. 3 Dec. 1860 aged 84.
BECKWITH, William (eld. son of Wm. Beckwith of Trimdon, co. Durham 1772–1847). b. 20 Aug. 1795; cornet 16 Dragoons 7 Jany. 1813; major 14 Dragoons 14 Feb. 1828 to 6 Dec. 1833 when placed on h.p.; colonel 15 Hussars 17 July 1859 to death; general 9 April 1868; K.H. 1832; sheriff of Durham 1858. d. Silkworth near Sunderland 23 Feb. 1871.
BEDDOME, John Reynolds. M.R.C.S. 1811; M.D. Erlangen; surgeon at Romsey 1811 to death; mayor of Romsey 6 times, d. Romsey 26 Dec. 1859. I.L.N. xxxiv, 385 (1859), portrait.
BEDFORD, Francis Russell, 7 Duke of (eld. child of John Russell 6 Duke of Bedford 1766–1839). b. 13 May 1788; ed. at Westminster and Trin. coll. Cam., M.A. 1808; M.P. for Beds. 1812 to 1832; summoned to House of Lords as Baron Howland 15 Jany. 1833; succeeded as 7 Duke 20 Oct. 1839; P.C. 6 July 1846; K.G. 26 March 1847; lord lieutenant of Beds. 29 Nov. 1859; high steward of Cambridge 1860; master of the Oakley hounds to 1828 when he sold the pack to Lord Southampton for £2,000, master again 1836–39. d. Woburn Abbey, Beds. 14 May 1861. Baily’s Mag. i, 57–59 (1860), portrait; Waagen’s Treasures of Art ii, 283–86, iii, 463–74 and iv. 331–37.
BEDFORD, William Russell, 8 Duke of. b. Grosvenor square London 1 July 1809; M.P. for Tavistock 10 Dec. 1832 to 23 June 1841; succeeded 14 May 1861. d. 6 Belgrave sq. London 26 May 1872. Personalty sworn under £600,000 June 1872. I.L.N. lx, 555. 592, 623 (1872), portrait.
BEDFORD, Francis. b. 1799; apprenticed to Finlay a bookbinder 1814; worked under Charles Lewis, foremost of English bookbinders; carried on business for benefit of Lewis’s widow; partner with John Clarke who was unrivalled in tree marbled calf; afterwards in business alone at 91 York st. Westminster; the best binder in England or perhaps Europe. d. 12 Coningham road, Shepherd’s Bush 8 June 1883. His library was sold by Sothebys 21, 22, 24 and 25 March 1884 for £4,876 16s. 6d.
BEDFORD, George Augustus. b. 8 Feb. 1809; entered navy 23 Dec. 1823; Captain 2 Jan. 1854; retired V.A. 22 March 1876; F.R.G.S. 1859. d. The Elms, Sydenham hill 11 Feb. 1879.
BEDFORD, Rev. John (son of John Bedford of Wakefield). b. Wakefield 27 July 1810; Wesleyan minister at Glasgow 1831; at Manchester 1855 to death; sec. to general chapel committee 1860–72; pres. of conference 1867; author of Correspondence with the Rev. Wm. Sutcliffe relative to the doctrines, ministry and system of the Wesleyan Methodists 1842. d. Chorlton-cum-Hardy near Manchester 20 Nov. 1879. I.L.N. li, 232 (1867), portrait.
BEDFORD, Paul John. b. Bath 24 Jany. 1792; made his début on the stage at Bath 1815; acted in Ireland and Scotland; made his début in London at Drury Lane 2 Nov. 1824 as Hawthorn in opera of Love in a village; played at Adelphi theatre 1838–67; had one of the deepest and richest bass voices ever heard, his best parts were Blueskin in Jack Sheppard 1839, Jack Gong in The green bushes 1845 and the Kinchin cove in The flowers of the forest 1847; took his farewell of the stage at the Queen’s theatre 16 May 1868; sang at Weston’s Music hall London and The hall by the sea Margate 1869; author of Recollections and wanderings 1864; Drawing room dramas 1874. (m. (1) Miss Green of Dublin, an actress who d. April 1833 aged 32). (m. (2) Miss Verinder, a pianist and harpist, she d. 1864). d. Lindsey place, Chelsea 11 Jany. 1871. Theatrical times i, 129 (1847), portrait; Illust. sporting news ii, 180 (1863), portrait, v. 133 (1866), portrait.
BEDINGFELD, Felix William George Richard (youngest son of Sir Richard Bedingfeld, 5 Baronet 1767–1829). b. 12 Aug. 1808; crown comr. of Turk’s Island in the Bahamas 1842–49; barrister L.I. 26 April 1849; master of supreme court of Trinidad 1849–54; colonial sec. for and member of council of Mauritius 1860–68; C.M.G. 1869. d. Pilgrim, Lymington, Hants. 7 Dec. 1884.
BEDINGFELD, Sir Henry Richard Paston, 6 Baronet. b. Oxburgh, Norfolk 10 May 1800; succeeded 22 Nov. 1829. d. Oxburgh 4 Feb. 1862.
BEDSON, George. b. Sutton Coldfield, Warwick 3 Nov. 1820; manager of business of Messrs. Johnson of Manchester 1851; manager of Bradford iron works 1858 to death; initiated and perfected many inventions in the iron and wire trades; propounded theory of continuous brakes for railway trains about 1864; lived at Bradford 1858–72 and 1882 to death, and at Marple, Cheshire 1872–82. d. Bradford house, Manchester 12 Dec. 1884.
BEECH, Rev. Hugh. b. Chesterton, Staffs. 3 June 1787; Wesleyan minister 1811 to death, d. Cheedle, Staffs. 22 Feb. 1856. The good soldier, a memoir of Rev. Hugh Beech 1856.
BEECHAM, Rev. John. b. Barnoldby-le-Beck near Great Grimsby 1787; became a Wesleyan preacher 1815; general secretary of Wesleyan Missionary Society 1831 to death; pres. of Wesleyan conference 1850; author of An essay on the constitution of Wesleyan Methodism 1829, 3 ed. 1851; Ashantee and the Gold Coast 1841. d. Canonbury, London 22 April 1856. Wesleyan Meth. Mag. lxxix, pt. 2, 577–605 (1856).
BEECHEY, Frederick William (2 son of Sir Wm. Beechey R.A. 1753–1839). b. 17 Feb. 1796; entered the navy 7 July 1806; went with Sir John Franklin to Spitzbergen on his first expedition 1818; with Edward Parry in the Hecla 1819; helped to survey north coast of Africa Nov. 1821 to July 1822; commanded the Blossom in the Pacific 1825–28; captain 8 May 1827; surveyed coast of Ireland 1837–47; superintendent marine department of Board of Trade 1850 to death; aide de camp to the Queen 18 July 1851 to 11 Sep. 1854; R.A. 11 Sep. 1854; F.R.G.S. 1833, pres. 1855 to death; F.R.S. 23 Dec. 1824, vice pres. 1854; author of Narrative of a voyage to the Pacific and Behring’s Strait 2 vols. 1831; A voyage of discovery towards the north pole 1843. d. 8 Westbourne crescent, Hyde Park, London 29 Nov. 1856. Proceedings of Royal Society viii, 283–87 (1856).
BEECHEY, George D. (brother of the preceding). Portrait painter; exhibited 24 portraits at the R.A. 1817 to 1832; went to Calcutta about 1830; court painter and controller of the household to King of Oudh. (m. an Indian Lady called Hinda, whose portrait he sent to the R.A. 1822). Supposed to have died in India 1856.
BEECHEY, Henry William (brother of the preceding). travelled with Belzoni in Egypt 1816–17; examined and reported on antiquities of the Cyrenaica for Colonial Office 1821–22; F.S.A. 1825; exhibited a picture at the R.A. 1829, and another at British Institution 1838; emigrated to New Zealand 1855; wrote a memoir of Sir Joshua Reynolds prefixed to his Literary works published in 2 vols. 1835 and reprinted 1852. Supposed to have died in New Zealand in or about 1870.
BEECHING, James. b. Bexhill near Hastings 1788; apprenticed to a boat builder; boat builder at Great Yarmouth; introduced the handsome build of fishing vessel now used there; invented the self righting lifeboat for which he gained the prize of £105, 13 Aug. 1851 when 280 models were sent in from all parts of the world, his boat slightly modified has served as the model for all the boats of the Royal National Lifeboat institution. d. 7 June 1858. Rev. John Gilmore’s Storm warriors (1874) 32–47.
BEECROFT, George Skirrow. b. Outwood house, Horsforth near Leeds 16 Nov. 1809; proprietor of Kirkstall forge near Leeds; M.P. for Leeds 5 June 1857 to 11 Nov. 1868; seconded address of House of Commons in reply to speech from the throne 3 Feb. 1859. d. 4 Gloucester terrace, Regent’s park, London 18 March 1869. I.L.N. xxxiv, 189 (1859), portrait.
BEECROFT, John. Explored the Niger and other rivers falling into the Gulf of Guinea 1832 to death; governor of Fernando Po; consul general for West Africa 1850. d. Clarence, West coast of Africa 10 June 1854.
BEER, John (eld. son of John Beer of Devonport, coal merchant), b. Devonport about Dec. 1806; solicitor at Devonport 1827 to death; clerk to the Devonport comrs. 1838–82; an able advocate, engaged in all the chief local trials; member of Devonport town council many years and mayor 1849 and 1850; recorder of Saltash 1871 to death, d. 2 Albemarle villas, Stoke 14 April 1883.
BEER, Julius. b. Frankfort 1836; proprietor of The Observer London weekly paper 1870 to death; F.R.G.S. 1870. d. Mentone 29 Feb. 1880 in 44 year. bur. Highgate cemetery 8 March. Personalty sworn under £400,000 March 1880.
BEETE, Robert Crosby. First puisne judge British Guiana 1853 to Jany. 1869 when he retired on a pension. d. Charing Cross hospital London 2 Nov. 1878 aged 68.
BEETON, Samuel Orchart. Bookseller and publisher at 148 Fleet st. London; published the first English edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852; went a voyage to America to present Mrs. Stowe with a voluntary payment of £500; published Beeton’s Christmas Annuals 1860–65; sold his stock and copyrights for £1,900 to Ward, Lock and Tyler Sep. 1866; a publisher again 1877 to death; author with Doughty and Emerson of The coming K. 1872; The Siliad 1873 and Jon Duan 1874. d. Sudbrook park, Richmond, Surrey 6 June 1877 aged 46. The law reports Equity cases xix, 207–22 (1875).
BEEVOR, Sir Thomas Branthwayt, 3 Baronet, b. Old Buckenham, Norfolk 7 April 1798; succeeded 10 Dec. 1820. d. Yarmouth 6 April 1879.
BEEVOR, Sir Thomas, 4 Baronet. b. Hargham Norfolk 23 Aug. 1823; ed. at Univ. coll. London; barrister L.I. 29 Jany. 1850; chairman of Norwich Union life assurance society; succeeded 6 April 1879. d. Hingham, Attleborough, Norfolk 18 Aug. 1885.
BEGBIE, James, b. Edinburgh 18 Dec. 1799; ed. at high school and Univ. of Edin.; M.D. 1821; F.R.C.S. Edin. 1822; F.R.C.P. Edin. 1847, pres. 1854–50; pres. of Medico Chirurgical Society 1850–52; one of Her Majesty’s physicians in ordinary in Scotland 6 June 1853; author of Contributions to practical medicine 1862, and of many papers in medical journals. d. 10 Charlotte sq. Edinburgh 26 Aug. 1869. Proc. of Royal Society of Edin. vii, 2–6 (1872).
BEGBIE, James Warburton (2 son of the preceding). b. 19 Nov. 1826; ed. at Edinburgh academy and univ., M.D. 1847, LLD. Aug. 1875; pres. of Royal Medical Society 1847–49; practised at Edinburgh 1852; F.R.C.P. Edin. 1852; phys. to the Cholera hospital 1854; phys. to Royal Infirmary 1855–65, lectured on practice of physic there 10 winter sessions 1855–65; had the largest consulting physician’s practice in Scotland 1869 to death; author of A handy book of medical information and advice by a physician 1860, 2 ed. 1872; wrote 13 articles in J. R. Reynolds’s System of medicine 3 vols. 1871 and many reviews and notices in Edinburgh Medical Journal. d. 16 Great Stuart st. Edinburgh 25 Feb. 1876. Selections from the works of the late J. W. Begbie, edited by Dyce Duckworth, The New Sydenham Society London 1882, portrait.
BEGG, Rev. James. b. Manse of New Monkland, Lanarkshire 31 Oct. 1808; ed. at Univ. of Glasgow, M.A.; licensed as a preacher June 1829; minister at Maxwelltown, Dumfries 18 May 1830; minister of Middle parish church Paisley 1831, and of Liberton near Edin. 25 June 1835 to 5 July 1843 when he was declared no longer a minister having joined in the Free Secession; minister of Newington Free church near Edin. 1843 to death; sent by his church to Canada on public duty 1844–45; moderator of Free general assembly 18 May 1865; a sum of £4,600 was presented to him by his friends 1875; author of Are you prepared to die 1845; How to promote and preserve the beauty of Edinburgh 1849; A handbook of Popery 1852; The art of preaching 1863. d. George sq. Edinburgh 29 Sep. 1883. Memoirs by Professor Thomas Smith (1885); John Smith’s Our Scottish clergy, 3 series (1851) 127–33.
BEHAN, Thomas Lawrence. Connected with the Hampshire Independent; on the staff of the Observer and other London newspapers; editor, manager, and publisher of the London Gazette 1 Oct 1854 to death, d. Southampton 27 Aug. 1860 aged 66.
BEHNES, William. b. London 1794; learnt drawing in Dublin; gained 3 silver medals at Royal Academy; a portrait draughtsman in London, afterwards a sculptor; executed busts of many of the most eminent men of his time; executed statues of Lady Godiva 1844, Europa 1848 and The startled nymph 1849; exhibited 215 sculptures at the R.A. 1815–63; bankrupt on his own petition 25 Nov. 1861. d. Middlesex hospital London 8 Jany. 1864. Cornhill Mag. ix, 688–701 (1864); Lectures on art by Henry Weeks (1880) 294–317; W. B. Scott’s British school of sculpture (1871) 99–102.