Frederic Boase
Modern English Biography (volume 1 of 4) A-H
BETHELL, Right Rev. Christopher (2 son of Rev. Richard Bethell, R of St. Peter’s, Wallingford who d. 12 Jany. 1806). b. Isleworth, Surrey 21 April 1773; ed. at Eton and King’s coll. Cam., B.A. 1796, M.A. 1799, D.D. 1817, fellow of his college; R. of Kirby Wiske, Yorkshire 1808–30; dean of Chichester 5 April 1814 to March 1824; bishop of Gloucester 24 March 1824, consecrated 11 April 1824; bishop of Exeter 8 April 1830; preb. of Exeter 22 June 1830; bishop of Bangor 28 Oct. 1830 to death; author of A general view of the doctrine of regeneration in baptism 1821, 4 ed. 1845. d. The palace, Bangor 19 April 1859. bur. Llandegai church yard 27 April.
BETHELL, Rev. George. Educ. at Eton; assistant at Eton 1802; fellow of Eton 21 Sep. 1818 to death; R. of Worplesdon, Surrey 1833 to death. d. Eton college 16 March 1857 aged 78.
BETHELL, John (son of Richard Bethell M.D. of Bristol). b. 1804; solicitor in London 1825–54; patented a complete system of diving apparatus 1835; patented a process for preserving timber from decay by impregnating it with creosote oil 11 July 1838, this invention has been adopted on a large scale, in marine works it is almost indispensable, the idea was taken from the embalming of mummies; patented many other inventions; carried on a distillery of beetroot spirit in Berkshire; A.I.C.E. 20 March 1838. d. Cleveland sq. Hyde Park London 22 Feb. 1867. Minutes of proc. of Instit. of C.E. xxvii, 597–99 (1868).
BETHELL, Richard. b. 10 May 1772; ed. at King’s coll. Cam., B.A. 1795, fellow of his college; owner of large estates in Yorkshire 1799; M.P. for Yorkshire 5 Aug. 1830 to 23 April 1831, and for the East Riding 18 Dec. 1832 to 23 June 1841; chairman of East Riding quarter sessions many years; author of 2 Latin poems in second series of Musæ Etonenses 2 vols. 1797. d. Rise near Hull 25 Dec. 1864.
BETHUNE, Charles Ramsay Drinkwater (2 son of John Drinkwater of Thorncroft, Surrey, C.B., F.S.A. 1762–1844). b. 27 Dec. 1802; entered navy 2 Aug. 1815; captain 22 July 1830; served in Chinese war 1840–41; V.A. 10 Nov. 1862, admiral 2 April 1866; retired 1 April 1870; assumed additional name of Bethune 1837; C.B. 29 June 1841, F.R.G.S. 1842. d. 4, Queensbury place South Kensington 21 Feb. 1884. M. F. Conolly’s Biog. dict. of eminent men of Fife (1866) 56.
BETHUNE, Sir Henry Lindesay (eld. child of Martin Eccles Lindesay Bethune, commissary general in Scotland who d. 1813). b. Hilton near Perth 12 April 1787; lieut. Madras Horse artillery 18 July 1804; captain 3 Sep. 1813 to 1 Sep. 1822 when he retired; drilled and disciplined the Persian army 1811–21, his lofty stature, 6 feet 7 inches, and great personal strength gained for him in Persia the epithet of “Rustum” the Hercules of ancient Persian story; knighted at St. James’s Palace 20 July 1832; sent to Persia as British agent 1834; commanded advanced guard of the Shah’s army 1834–35; returned home Sep. 1835; created baronet 7 March 1836. d. Tabreez, Persia 19 Feb. 1851. M. F. Conolly’s Biog. dict. of eminent men of Fife (1866) 57.
BETHUNE, John Elliot Drinkwater (brother of C. R. D. Bethune). Ed. at Trin. coll. Cam., B.A. 1823; barrister M.T. 4 May 1827; one of municipal corporation comrs.; counsel to the Home Office 1833–47; drew the Municipal reform, Tithe commutation and County courts bills; legislative member of Supreme council of India 11 April 1848 to death; pres. of council of education at Calcutta 1848; established a school for native females of the higher classes at Calcutta which he endowed by his will with property in Calcutta. d. Calcutta 12 Aug. 1851 aged 50. G.M. xxxvii, 94–96, 434 (1852).
BETTINGTON, Claude (2 son of Albemarle Bettington of Halsey house, Cheltenham). Commanded Bettington’s Horse in Zulu war 1879–80; C.M.G. 30 Oct. 1880. d. Elmina, Gold Coast 29 Dec. 1880.
BETTRIDGE, Rev. William Craddock. b. 30 Aug. 1791; ensign 81 Foot 7 April 1813; lieutenant 31 Aug. 1815 to 25 Feb. 1816 when placed on h.p.; town major of Brussels 1815; entered Univ. of Jena Saxony 1818; walked from Jena to Naples; entered Neapolitan army 1822; aide-de-camp to Sir Richard Church 1822; accorded by Government a continuance for life of his half pay by a special mandamus; studied at St. John’s coll. Cam., B.D. 1837; ordained deacon 1824; C. of Elvington near York 1824; C. of Ecclesfield 1828; Inc. of St. Paul’s, Southampton 1828–34; R. of Woodstock, Ontario, Upper Canada 1834 to death; obtained a grant of 400 acres of land for each of the 57 rectories of Upper Canada; canon of Huron; declined bishopric of Huron 1857; author of A brief history of the church in Upper Canada 1838. d. Woodstock 21 Nov. 1879.
BETTS, Edward Ladd (eld. son of Wm. Betts of Sandown, Kent). b. Buckland near Dover 5 June 1815; constructed Midland railway from Rugby to Leicester and many other lines; partner with Sir S. M. Peto; constructed the line from Balaclava to English camp before Sebastopol; constructed with Brassey the grand trunk railway of Canada including Victoria tubular bridge, and with Crampton the London, Chatham and Dover railway; chairman of Eastern counties railway co. 1851 and 1852; sheriff of Kent 1858; contested Maidstone 1865; A.I.C.E. 26 June 1849. d. Assouan, Upper Egypt 21 Jany. 1872. bur. at Aylesford, Kent. Minutes of proc. of Instit. of C.E. xxxvi, 285–88 (1873); I.L.N. lx, 187, 207, 611 (1872)
BETTY, William Henry West (only child of William Henry Betty, M.D. of Lisburn, Ireland who d. 1811). b. Shrewsbury 13 Sep. 1791; made his début at Belfast theatre 16 Aug. 1803 as Osman in tragedy of Zara, and at Crow st. theatre Dublin 29 Nov. 1803 as Douglas; engaged at Covent Garden for 12 nights at £50 per night and a clear benefit, and at Drury Lane on intervening nights on same terms 1 Dec. 1804, after 3 nights his salary was raised to £100 per night; known as the young Roscius; fellow commoner of Christ’s college, Cambridge July 1808 to 1811; returned to the stage 1812 when he failed to draw; made his last appearance in London June 1813; took his farewell benefit at Southampton 9 Aug, 1824. d. 37, Ampthill sq. London 24 Aug. 1874. Roscius in London Biographical Memoirs of W. H. W. Betty 1805, portrait; Tinsley’s Mag. xv, 415–23 (1874); Temple Bar xlii, 346–61 (1874); Theatrical Inquisitor xii, 227 (1818), portrait; Graphic x, 227 (1874), portrait; The dawn of the 19th century in England by J. Ashton ii, 118–29 (1886), portrait.
BEVAN, Charles Dacres (son of Charles Bevan, Lieut. col. 4 Foot who d. 12 July 1811). b. 7 Nov. 1805; ed. at Charterhouse and Ball. coll. Ox., B.A. 1827, M.A. 1829; barrister M.T. 21 May 1830; recorder of Dartmouth 1845–55, of Truro 1848–49, of Falmouth 1850–56, of Helston 1850–56 and of Penzance Dec. 1855 to Jany. 1857; judge of county courts for Cornwall (circuit 59) 22 Jany. 1857 to death. d. near Fowey, Cornwall 24 June 1872.
BEVAN, Edward. b. London 8 July 1770; apprenticed to a surgeon at Hereford; studied at St. Bartholomew’s hospital; M.D. St. Andrews 1818; physician at Mortlake 5 years, at Stoke-upon-Trent, at Congleton 12 years and at Mortlake again 2 years; lived at Bridstow near Ross, then at Hereford 1849 to death; one of founders of Entomological Society 1833; author of The Honey-Bee, its natural history, physiology and management 1827, 3 ed. 1870, which was the best book on the subject; Hints on the history and management of the Honey-Bee 1851. d. Hereford 31 Jany. 1860. The Naturalist, ed. by Neville Wood iv, 142–46 (1838), portrait.
BEVAN, Hannah Marishall (dau. of Wm. Bevan of London, tea merchant). b. London 1 Feb. 1798; joined the Newgate prison committee; worked with Elizabeth Fry and others; a minister of Society of Friends 1828. (m. 1827 Thomas Bevan, M.D. who d. 1847 aged 43). d. Penge 8 Nov. 1874. Annual Monitor for 1876 pp. 3–19.
BEVAN, Philip. Ed. at Trin. coll. Dub., M.A. and M.B. 1843, M.D. 1845; F.R.C.S. Ireland 1837; lecturer on anatomy Dublin School of medicine; surgeon to Mercers hospital to about 1870; M.R.I.A. 13 April 1846; professor of practical anatomy Royal college of surgeons to death. d. 33 Pembroke road, Dublin 6 Dec. 1881.
BEVAN, Venerable Thomas. Ed. at Jesus coll. Ox., B.A. 1823, M.A. 1828; V. of St. Peter’s, Carmarthen 1833 to death; archdeacon of St. David’s 11 June 1833 to death; preb. of Brecon 1853 to death. d. 28 Dec. 1863 aged 63.
BEVERIDGE, Thomas. b. Dunfermline 7 Oct. 1775; deputy clerk in the court of session, Edinburgh; author of A practical treatise on the forms of process containing the new regulation before the Court of Session … 2 vols. 1826; A guide to the judicial records of the court of session 1852. d. near Edinburgh 27 May 1858.
BEVERLEY, Charles James. b. Fort Augustus, Scotland Aug. 1788; assistant surgeon R.N. 1810; served in Sir Edward Parry’s first Arctic expedition 1819–20; went with him to Spitzbergen as surgeon and naturalist 1827; practised in London; F.R.S. 5 May 1831. d. Derman Terrace, Great Yarmouth 16 Sep. 1868.
BEVERLEY, Edward, stage name of Edward Dickenson. b. Beverley, Yorkshire; a chorister in choir of York minster; sang at Weston’s music hall London; principal tenor of Madame Bodda-Pyne’s opera company, and of John Russell’s opera bouffe company; played at Gaiety and Opera Comique theatres London; in the United States, leading tenor at St. Mark’s church New York May 1880 to death. d. Flushing, Long island, New York Aug. 1880.
BEVERLEY, Henry, stage name of Henry Roxby. b. 1797; made his début at West London theatre; chief low comedian at Adelphi theatre Oct. 1838; lessee of Victoria theatre 16 Sep. 1839 to 1840; manager of Sunderland and other theatres in north of England. d. 26, Russell sq. London 1 Feb. 1863.
BEWES, Thomas. M.P. for Plymouth 11 Dec. 1832 to 23 June 1841. d. Beaumont, Plymouth 18 Nov. 1857 aged 79.
BEWICK, Jane (eld. child of Thomas Bewick, painter in water colours 1753–1828). b. 29 April 1797; edited Memoir of Thomas Bewick written by himself 1862. d. 19, West st. Gateshead 7 April 1881.
BEWICK, William (3 son of Wm. Bewick of Darlington, upholsterer). b. Darlington 20 Oct. 1795; pupil of B. R. Haydon in London 1817–20; portrait painter at Darlington 1824; copied pictures in Rome 1826–29; exhibited 4 pictures at the R.A., 8 at the B.I. and 9 at Suffolk st. exhibition 1822–48; competed for decorations of Houses of Parliament 1843; a skilful copyist especially of Rembrandt. d. Haughton house near Darlington 8 June 1866. Life and letters by T. Landseer 2 vols. 1871, portrait.
BEXFIELD, William Richard. b. Norwich 27 April 1824; chorister at Norwich cathedral 1832–39; organist to parish church of Boston 1846; Mus. Bac. Ox. 1846; Mus. Doc. Cam. 1849; organist at St. Helens, Bishopsgate, London Feb. 1848; composed oratorio of Israel restored, performed by Norwich choral society Oct. 1851 and at Norwich musical festival 22 Sep. 1852. d. 12 Monmouth road, Bayswater, London 28 Oct. 1853. W. A. Barrett’s English church composers (1882) 162–63.
BEXLEY, Nicholas Vansittart, 1 Baron (younger son of Henry Vansittart 1732–70, governor of Bengal). b. 29 April 1766; ed. at Cheam, Surrey and Ch. Ch. Ox., B.A. 1787, M.A. 1791, D.C.L. 1841; barrister L.I. 26 May 1791, bencher 12 Nov. 1812; M.P. for Hastings 1796–1802, for Old Sarum 1802–12 and for Harwich 1812–23; joint sec. of the Treasury 1801–1804 and 1806–1808; lord of the Treasury in Ireland 1804; P.C. 14 Jany. 1805; chief sec. for Ireland 23 March 1805 to Sep. 1805; chancellor of the Exchequer 9 June 1812 to Jany. 1823; created Baron Bexley of Bexley, Kent 1 March 1823; chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster 31 Jany. 1823 to Jany. 1828; author of many political and financial pamphlets 1793–1818. d. Footscray place, Kent 8 Feb. 1851. W. C. Taylor’s National portrait gallery i, 91 (1846), portrait; G.M. xxxv, 431–32 (1851); S. Walpole’s History of England, 2 ed. vols. 1 and 2 (1879).
BEYER, Charles Frederick. b. Plauen, Saxony 14 May 1813; head of the mechanical works of Messrs. Sharp, Roberts & Co. of Manchester, engineers 1843–53; naturalised in England 5 Nov. 1852; established with Richard Peacock locomotive works of Beyer, Peacock & Co., Gorton foundry Manchester 1854; designed and adapted many special tools for making locomotive engines; one of founders of Institution of Mechanical engineers 1847; M.I.C.E. 7 March 1854; left a large bequest for foundation and endowment of professorships of science at Owen’s college Manchester. d. Llantysilio hall, Denbighshire 2 June 1876. Minutes of proc. of Instit. of C.E. xlvii, 290–97 (1877).
BIANCONI, Carlo (2 son of Pietro Bianconi of Tregolo, Lombardy, farmer who d. 1833). b. Tregolo 24 Sep. 1786; went to Ireland as a picture seller 1802; opened a carver and gilder’s shop at Carrick-on-Suir 1806, removed to Waterford and then to Clonmel; started a one-horse two-wheeled car for conveyance of passengers from Clonmel to Cahir 6 July 1815; started cars all over Ireland where they were known as “Bians”; in 1864 his passenger traffic realised £27,700 and his mail contracts £12,000; gave up his shop at Clonmel 1826 and his car business 1865; received letters of Naturalisation from Irish Privy Council 31 Aug. 1831; mayor of Clonmel 1844–46; purchased Longfield, Tipperary for £22,000 23 March 1846, where he lived 16 Sep. 1846 to death; D.L. for Tipperary June 1863. (m. 14 Feb. 1827 Eliza, dau. of Patrick Hayes of Dublin, stockbroker). d. Longfield 22 Sep. 1875. Charles Bianconi, a biography 1786–1875 by his daughter Mrs. Morgan John O’Connell 1878, portrait; Dublin univ. mag. lxxxv 16–24 (1875), portrait.
BIBBY, Thomas. b. Kilkenny 1799; ed. at Kilkenny gr. sch. and Trin. coll. Dublin scholar 1814, B.A. 1816; one of the best Greek scholars of his day; author of two dramatic poems, Gerald of Kildare 1854 and a sequel to it called Silken Thomas 1859; confined by his relations in a private lunatic asylum in Dublin but released by his literary friends. d. St. Canice’s Steps, Kilkenny 7 Jany. 1863.
BIBER, Rev. George Edward. b. Ludwigsburg, Würtemberg 4 Sep. 1801; ed. at Univs. of Tubingen and Gottingen; Ph. Doc. Tubingen 1839; LLD. Gottingen 1839; settled in England 1826; head of a classical school at Hampstead, afterwards at Coombe Wood; naturalised by private act of parliament 2 and 3 Vict., cap. 51 June 1839; ordained to curacy of Ham, Surrey July 1839; V. of Roehampton, Surrey 1842–72; R. of West Allington Lincs. 1872 to death; edited John Bull weekly paper 1848–56; author of Henry Pestalozzi and his plan of education 1831; The Standard of Catholicity 1840, 2 ed. 1844; Vindication of the Church 1844; The life of St. Paul 1849; Bishop Blomfield and his times 1857. d. West Allington 19 Jany. 1874.
BICHENO, James Ebenezer (son of Rev. James Bicheno of Newbury, Berks, baptist minister who d. 9 April 1831 aged 80). b. Newbury 1785; F.L.S. 7 April 1812, secretary 1825–32; barrister M.T. 17 May 1822; comr. to inquire into expediency of introducing Poor Law into Ireland 1833–36; colonial sec. in Van Diemen’s Land Sep. 1842 to death, arrived out there 10 April 1843; a founder of Royal Society of Van Diemen’s Land 1844; author of An inquiry into the nature of benevolence 1817; Observations on the philosophy of criminal jurisprudence 1819; Ireland and its economy 1830. d. Hobart Town 25 Feb. 1851. Proc. of Linnæan Soc. ii, 180 (1855).
BICKERS, Henry. b. near Leicester square, London; bookseller in Noel st. Soho, in Leicester square 1833 to death; partner with H. J. Bush 1847–63; published many standard works 1863 to death. d. 83 Cumberland road, London 6 Aug. 1875 aged 69.
BICKERS, Henry (son of the preceding). Head of firm of Bickers and Son, publishers Leicester square, London 1875 to death. d. Dulwich 1 Dec. 1884 aged 49. His copyrights were sold at Hodgson’s Chancery lane for £8,500 March 1885.
BICKERSTETH, Robert (youngest son of Henry Bickersteth of Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmoreland, surgeon). b. Kirkby Lonsdale 1787; M.R.C.S. 1806, F.R.C.S. 1843; practised at Liverpool 1807 to death; surgeon to Liverpool infirmary 1810–50. d. 2 Rodney st. Liverpool 17 April 1857. Lancet i, 441 (1857).
BICKERSTETH, Right Rev. Robert (4 son of Rev. John Bickersteth, R. of Sapcote. co. Leicester who d. 2 Sep. 1855 aged 74). b. Acton, Suffolk 24 Aug. 1816; ed. at Queen’s coll. Cam., B.A. 1841, M.A. 1848, D.D. 1857; ordained deacon 1841, priest 1842; C. of Sapcote 1841–43; C. of St. Giles’s Reading 1843–45; Inc. of St. John’s church Clapham 1845–51; R. of St. Giles’s in the Fields, London 1851–56; canon residentiary of Salisbury April 1854–56; bishop of Ripon 30 Nov. 1856 to death, consecrated in Ripon Minster 18 June 1857; pres. of Church Congress at Leeds 8 Oct. 1872; edited The weekly visitor 1851; author of Bible landmarks 1850; Means of grace 1851 and many charges and sermons. d. the palace Ripon 15 April 1884. bur. in south end of Cathedral churchyard 19 April. Our bishops and deans by Rev. F. Arnold ii, 103–16 (1875); Orthodox London by Rev. C. M. Davies, 2 series (1875) 135–42, 394–95; Illust. news of the world iii, (1859), portrait; I.L.N. xxx, 43 (1857), portrait, lxxxiv, 401 (1881), portrait; Graphic xxix, 400 (1884), portrait.
BICKERTON, Thomas. Educ. at Andersonian Univ. of Glasgow; L.R.C.S. Edin. 1851, L.S.A. 1851; house surgeon to Warrington dispensary; surgeon to the Emigration service; practised at Liverpool 1854 to death; surgeon to the Eye and Ear infirmary; consulting surgeon to London and North Western railway company; a skilful operator in ophthalmic surgery. d. Mount Pleasant, Liverpool 13 April 1872 aged 45. British Medical journal i, 459 (1872).
BICKMORE, Rev. Charles. Ed. at Trin. coll. Cam., B.A. 1840, M.A. 1843; ad eund. Ox. 1853; Incorp. at Trin. coll. Ox. 1857, B.D. and D.D. 1857; C. of Bebbington, Cheshire 1840–43; asst. Min. at Temple Church Balsall, Warwick 1848–54; Min. of Christ Church Leamington 1856–70; author of A course of historical and chronological instruction; A series of questions and answers on Dr. Smith’s History of Greece. d. Highlands, Leamington 12 May 1880 aged 73.
BICKNELL, Elhanan (son of Wm. Bicknell of London, serge manufacturer who d. 21 Nov. 1825 aged 77). b. Blackman st. London 21 Dec. 1788; joined a firm at Newington Butts engaged in the sperm whale fishery 1809 retired from business 1859; lived at Herne hill, Surrey 1819 to death where he formed a splendid collection of pictures by Gainsborough, Turner, Roberts and other modern British painters, this collection was sold at Christie’s 25–29 April 1863 for sum of £74,380. d. Herne hill 27 Nov. 1861. Waagen’s Treasures of art ii, 349–54 (1854).
BICKNELL, Henry Edgeworth (younger son of John Bicknell of Lincoln’s Inn, barrister). b. 1787; ed. at Greenwich; clerk to the registrars of high court of Chancery June 1809; senior registrar to 11 July 1859 when he retired on a superannuation allowance of £2,250; served under 14 Lord Chancellors. d. 28 Upper Bedford place, Russell sq. London 20 Feb. 1879 in 92 year.
BICKNELL, Herman (3 son of Elhanan Bicknell 1788–1861). b. Herne hill 2 April 1830; ed. at Paris, Hanover, Univ. coll. London and St. Bartholomew’s hospital; M.R.C.S. 1854; assistant surgeon of 81 Foot 16 May 1855 and of 84 Foot 15 Feb. 1861; served during Indian mutiny; explored parts of Java, Thibet and the Himalayas; went to Cairo 1862; joined the annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Mohammed at Mecca May 1862, a dangerous exploit which no other Englishman had achieved without disguise of person or nationality; climbed nearly all the chief mountains in Switzerland; travelled over nearly the whole globe; author of Hafiz of Shiraz, selections from his poems translated from the Persian by H. Bicknell 1875. d. 48 Seymour st. Portman sq. London 14 March 1875. bur. at Ramsgate. H. Bicknell’s Hafiz of Shiraz (1875) ix-xii, 365–68.
BIDDER, George Parker (son of Mr. Bidder of Moreton Hampstead, Devon, stonemason). b. Moreton Hampstead 14 June 1806; was exhibited about England as the ‘calculating phenomenon’; ed. at Camberwell gr. sch. 1818–19 and Univ. of Edin. 1819–24; engaged on the ordnance survey 1824–25; civil engineer in London 1825–77; A.I.C.E. 1825, M.I.C.E. 1837, member of council 1847 to death, vice pres. 1854, pres. 1860 and 1861; a founder of Electric Telegraph company 1846; constructed Victoria docks. London 100 acres for less than £870,000 in 1853; engineer of Royal Danish railway opened 1855; originator of railway swing bridge, the first of which was erected at Reedham in Norfolk; lieut. col. commandant of Engineer and railway volunteer staff corps 1865. d. Ravensbury, Dartmouth 20 Sep. 1878. I.L.N. xxviii, 267–68 (1856), portrait; Min. of Proc. of Instit. of C.E. xv, 251–80 (1856), lvii, 294–309 (1879), his contributions to these proceedings embrace the whole range of engineering and require no less than 16 columns of the general indexes for citation.
BIDDER, Samuel Parker. b. 10 Nov. 1843; assistant manager to Victoria Docks graving company; took out 2 patents for apparatus for breaking down coal, shale, stone and other minerals 1868; took out a patent for safety lamps 1869, which have come into very general use in South Wales; A.I.C.E. 1 Dec. 1868. d. Southsea 10 Jany. 1878.
BIDDLE, Richard Junius (3 son of Richard Biddle, of Wooton under Edge, co. Gloucester). b. 9 Nov. 1832; a marine artist; exhibited 6 sea pieces at Suffolk st. exhibition, and Royal Academy 1877–80. d. 30 Nov. 1882.
BIDDLECOMBE, Sir George (son of Thomas Biddlecombe of Sheerness dockyard, who d. 12 Sep. 1844). b. Portsea 5 Nov. 1807; officer in H.E.I. Co’s. navy 1825–28; second master R.N. May 1828; master of 6 different ships 1836–50; master of the Baltic fleet on board Duke of Wellington 14 March to 27 Dec. 1854; assistant master attendant in Keyham yard, Devonport 26 Feb. 1855 to 5 Nov. 1864; master attendant of Woolwich yard 5 Nov. 1864 to Jany. 1868; C.B. 13 March 1867; staff captain 1 July 1867; knighted at Windsor Castle 26 June 1873; granted a Greenwich hospital pension 29 May 1874; author of Art of rigging 1848; Remarks on the English Channel 1850, 6 ed. 1863; Naval tactics and trials of sailing 1850; Steam fleet tactics 5 Nov. 1857. d. 68 Granville park, Lewisham 22 July 1878. Autobiography of Sir George Biddlecombe 1878.
BIDDULPH, Edward. Second lieutenant Bengal artillery 1806; lieut. col. 6 Dec. 1839 to 6 Oct. 1846; C.B. 22 May 1843. d. Fitzroy terrace, Regent’s park, London 3 Dec. 1858 aged 70.
BIDDULPH, Robert. b. 1801; ed. at Harrow and Brasenose coll. Ox.; M.P. for city of Hereford 12 Dec. 1832 to 17 July 1837; sheriff of Hereford 1857. d. 31 Eaton place, London 28 Feb. 1864.
BIDDULPH, Robert Myddelton. b. Manchester sq. London 20 June 1805; ed. at Eton and Ch. Ch. Ox.; M.P. for Denbigh 1830–32, for Denbighshire 1832–34 and 1852–68; colonel of Denbigh militia 3 March 1840 to death; lord lieut. of Denbighshire 1841 to death; aide-de-camp to the Queen 1869 to death, d. 35 Grosvenor place, London 21 March 1872.
BIDDULPH, Samuel. b. Hyson Green near Nottingham 23 Dec. 1840; a lace maker; professional cricketer; a good batsman and bowler and a first-rate wicket keeper; employed by the Marylebone Club at Lord’s cricket ground, London 1863 to death, d. Mornington st. Nottingham 7 March 1876.
BIDDULPH, Sir Theophilus, 6 Baronet. b. East Barnet, Herts 25 March 1785; succeeded 30 July 1841; sheriff of Warwickshire 1849. d. Birdingbury hall, Rugby 15 July 1854.
BIDDULPH, Sir Theophilus William, 7 Baronet. b. Nursling, Hants 18 Jany. 1830; succeeded 15 July 1854. d. Mentone 1 March 1883.
BIDDULPH, Sir Thomas Myddelton (2 son of Robert Biddulph of Ledbury, Herefordshire who assumed name of Myddelton and d. 1843). b. 29 July 1809; ed. at Eton; cornet 1 Life Guards 7 Oct. 1826; captain 16 May 1834 to 31 Oct. 1851 when placed on h.p.; Master of the Queen’s household 16 July 1851 to 3 March 1866 and 16 July 1878 to death; one of joint keepers of Queen’s privy purse 3 March 1866, sole keeper 30 April 1867; receiver general of Duchy of Cornwall 31 March 1866; general 1 Oct. 1877; K.C.B. 27 March 1863; P.C. 22 Dec. 1877. d. Abergeldie Mains near Balmoral 28 Sep. 1878. bur. churchyard of Clewer near Windsor 7 Oct. Queen Victoria’s More leaves from the journal of a life in the Highlands (1884) 375–78; Graphic xviii, 392 (1878), portrait.
BIDWELL, John. Superintendent of consular department in Foreign Office 15 Jany. 1826 to 30 Sep. 1851 when he retired on pension. d. Park place, St. James’s st. London 31 Oct. 1853 aged 70.
BIDWELL, John Carne (eld. child of Joseph Bidwell of Exeter, merchant). b. Exeter 1815; a merchant at Sydney N.S.W. 1838; made an exploring voyage to New Zealand 1839; comr. of crown lands and chairman of bench of magistrates for district of Wide Bay N.S.W.; discovered the Bunya Bunya tree (afterwards-named after him Araucaria Bidwelli) and the Nymphæa gigantea; author of Rambles in New Zealand 1841. d. Tinana, Maryborough, Australia March 1853.
BIGG, Henry Heather (son of Mr. Bigg of London, surgical instrument maker). b. Dean st. Southwark 23 July 1826; studied at St. George’s hospital; a surgical instrument maker in London; made the substitutes for lost limbs of our soldiers wounded in Crimean war; A.I.C.E. 4 March 1862; author of On artificial limbs 1855; Orthopraxy the mechanical treatment of deformities 1865, 3 ed. 1877; The gentle treatment of spinal curvature 1875. d. 56 Wimpole st. Cavendish sq. London 30 April 1881. Min. of Proc. of Instit. of C.E. lxviii, 317–20 (1882).
BIGG, John Stanyan. b. Ulverston, Lancashire 14 July 1828; editor of the Ulverston Advertiser 1848 to about 1854 and 1860 to death, and proprietor 1863 to death; editor of the Downshire Protestant about 1854–60; author of The sea King, a metrical romance in 6 cantos 1848; Night and the Soul, a dramatic poem 1854; Alfred Staunton, a novel 1860; Shifting scenes and other poems 1862. d. 7 Hoad terrace, Ulverston 19 May 1865. Ulverston Advertiser 25 May 1865 p. 4, col. 5.
BIGGAR, William. Editor and proprietor of The railway times weekly paper. d. Thorpe banks, Willow vale, Shepherd’s Bush 27 Dec. 1872 in 64 year.
BIGGE, Arthur (7 son of Charles Wm. Bigge of Linden, Northumberland). b. 18 May 1818; ed. at Rugby and Univ. coll. Ox., B.A. 1840, M.A. 1843; fellow of All Soul’s college, bursar 1848–58; barrister I.T. 7 June 1844; stipendiary magistrate for Brighton (the first) 3 Feb. 1855 to 3 May 1884; started the plan of presenting to the deserving aged poor of Brighton on St. Thomas’s day annually sum of 10/– each. d. 23 Cambridge road Hove, Brighton 28 Aug. 1885.
BIGGE, Rev. John Frederic. Educ. at Univ. coll. Durham, B.A. 1840, M.A. 1843; V. of Ovingham 1841–47; V. of Stamfordham 1847 to death; author of many articles in Transactions of Tyneside Naturalists field club. d. Newcastle 28 Feb. 1885 in 71 year.
BIGGS, James. b. Canterbury; bookseller at 18 Strand, London, removed to 421 Strand; started 13 May 1843 The Family Herald or useful information and amusement for the million in weekly numbers and monthly parts, this paper in a few years attained a circulation of 260,000 copies per week; founded Biggs’s Charity 1863 for granting pensions of £10 a year to printers and their widows over 55 years of age. d. 421 Strand, London 22 May 1859 aged 64, leaving nearly £50,000 in legacies to about 300 charities and individuals.
BIGGS, John. b. Leicester 1801; manufacturer at Leicester; mayor 1840, 1847 and 1855; M.P. for Leicester 1856–1862; took out a patent for lacemaking 1844. d. Leicester 4 June 1871.
BIGGS, William. b. Leicester 1805; mayor of Leicester 1842 and 1849; M.P. for Newport, Isle of Wight 9 July 1852 to 21 March 1857. d. Upper Parliament st. Liverpool 3 Oct. 1881 in 77 year.
BIGLAND, Wilson Braddyll. b. Bigland hall, Holker, Lancashire 20 July 1788; entered navy 21 Oct. 1801; captain 6 March 1821; retired V.A. 2 Oct. 1857; K.H. 25 Jany. 1836. d. Lansdowne place, Leamington 19 Nov. 1858.
BIGNOLD, Sir Samuel (youngest son of Thomas Bignold of Norwich, banker). b. Norwich 13 Oct. 1791; secretary of Norwich Union Fire insurance company 1814 and of Norwich Union Life insurance company 1818; sheriff of Norwich 1830 and mayor 1833, 1848, 1853 and 1873; knighted by the Queen at St. James’s Palace 3 May 1854; M.P. for Norwich 1854–1857. (m. 1815 Elizabeth only child of Wm. Atkins of Ridlington, Norfolk, she d. 30 March 1860). d. Surrey st. Norwich 2 Jany. 1875. I.L.N. lx, 181, 189 (1872), portrait.
BIGSBY, John Jeremiah (eld. son of John Bigsby of Nottingham, physician 1760–1844). b. Nottingham; baptised at St. Peter’s church 14 Aug. 1792; ed. at Univ. of Edin., M.D. 1814; assistant surgeon in the army 14 March 1816; physician at Newark 1827–46; lived in London 1846 to death; F.G.S. 1823, Murchison medallist 1874, founded Bigsby gold medal 1877; F.R.G.S. 1850; F.R.S. 3 June 1869; author of The shoe and canoe, or pictures of travel in the Canadas 2 vols. 1850; Thesaurus Siluricus the flora and fauna of the Silurian period 1868; Thesaurus Devonico-Carboniferus the flora and fauna of the Devonian and Carboniferous periods 1878. d. 89 Gloucester place, Portman sq. London 10 Feb. 1881. Quarterly Journal of Geol. Soc. xxxvii, 39–41 (1881).
BIGSBY, Robert (only son of Robert Bigsby 1764–1825, registrar of archdeaconry of Nottingham). b. Castle gate, Nottingham 11 April 1806; ed. at Repton school; a virtuoso or collector of relics and memorials of illustrious characters; author of The triumph of Drake, a poem 1839; Miscellaneous poems and essays 1842; Visions of the times of old, or the antiquarian enthusiast 3 vols. 1848; Ombo, a dramatic romance in 12 acts 1853; Historical and topographical description of Repton 1854; Irminsula, or the great pillar, a mythological research 1864; Memoir of the order of St. John of Jerusalem 1869 and 10 other books; granted civil list pension of £100 16 Jany. 1860; member of order of St. John of Jerusalem; F.S.A., F.R.S.; a knight of St. James of Portugal. d. 4 Beaufort terrace, Peckham Rye, London 27 Sep. 1873. The Freemason 18 Oct. 1873 p. 677.
BILBY, Thomas. b. Southampton 1794; musical composer; best known as composer of the hymn tune called “Joyful.” d. Islington, London 24 Sep. 1872.