Modern English biography

KNIGHT, JOHN BAVERSTOCK (2 son of John Forster Knight, land agent). _b._ Langton parsonage near Blandford, Dorset 3 May 1785; assistant to his father; water-colour painter; exhibited 4 pictures at R.A. 1818–19; published some etchings of old buildings in Dorset 1816. _d._ West Lodge, Piddle Hinton, Dorset 14 May 1859. KNIGHT, John Peake. _b._ Nottingham 13 Jany. 1828; clerk in Midland railway co. Derby 1841, in audit office of Brighton railway 1846; superintendent South Eastern railway 1854 to 1869; general manager London, Brighton and South Coast railway 1869 to death; adopted interlocking of signals, the block system, the Westinghouse break 1878, Pullman cars 1877 and electric lighting; lieut.-col. Engineer and Railway volunteer staff-corps 19 March 1870 to death; member of legion of honour 1878; A.I.C.E. 7 May 1872. _d._ Chigwell, Epping forest 23 July 1886. _Min. of Proc. of Instit. of C.E. lxxxvii_ 456–8 (1886). KNIGHT, JOHN PRESCOTT (son of Edward Knight, comedian 1774–1826). _b._ Stafford 1803; clerk to a West India merchant, Mark lane, London, who failed; studied with Henry Sass and George Clint; student at R.A. 1823; painter first of theatrical portraits, then a fashionable portrait painter; exhibited 227 pictures at R.A., 22 at B.I. and 26 at Suffolk st. 1824–78; A.R.A. 1836, professor of perspective 1839–60, R.A. 1844, sec. 1848 to May 1873; a knight of the legion of honour 1878; held high office in the Catholic Apostolic church. _d._ 24 Maida Hill West, London 26 March 1881. _Sandby’s History of royal academy_, _ii_ 174 (1862); _Art Journal_ (1849) 209, _portrait_, (1881) 159; _I.L.N. xxx_ 418, 420 (1857), _portrait_, _and 9 April 1881 p._ 349, _portrait_. KNIGHT, JOSEPH PHILIP (youngest son of Francis Knight, V. of Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire). _b._ Bradford-on-Avon 26 July 1812; published a set of six songs under name of Philip Mortimer 1832; composed many songs alone and with Haynes Bayly; went to U.S. of America 1839, where he composed his song Rocked in the cradle of the deep 1846 which was sung by Braham; C. of St. Agnes, Scilly 1846–50; composed about 160 songs, most popular being She wore a wreath of roses 1840; Why chime the bells so merrily 1844; Say, what shall my song be to-night 1844; Melodies of leisure hours 1855, ten numbers; The abandoned 1882; with Haynes Bayly, Of what is the old man thinking 1875. _d._ Great Yarmouth in straitened circumstances 1 June 1887. KNIGHT, Lewis Edward. _b._ 13 March 1833; cornet 17 light dragoons 17 Sep. 1850, lieut.-col. 19 July 1864 to 9 July 1865 when placed on h.p.; lieut.-col. Cape Mounted rifles 1866–70; lieut.-col. brigade depot 1873–78; lieut.-col. 81 foot 6 Dec. 1879 to 7 Jany. 1880; M.G. 5 Oct. 1880; brigadier general Belfast district 19 April 1884 to death. _d._ Milgate near Maidstone 20 Jany. 1886. KNIGHT, MARY ANN (dau. of Mr. Povey). _b._ Birmingham 26 July 1804; sang at Drury Lane 3 June 1817; appeared as Margaretta in No song, no supper, at Drury Lane 1819, and was long a popular ballad singer; the first lady to sing at Dramatic Fund dinners; went with her brother John Povey to America; appeared as Floretta in The Cabinet, at Park theatre, New York 30 Nov. 1826; an actress in comic opera, later on played chambermaids, country girls and elderly spinsters; played at Park theatre, New York 1841–8, made money which she lost in American securities; reduced to blindness by grieving for loss of her only child 1845, when she returned to England. (_m._ Edward Knight, musician, son of Edward Knight the actor). _d._ 33 Grove place, Brompton, London 16 Oct. 1861. _Ireland’s Records_, _i_ 511–2 (1866). KNIGHT, ROBERT. Editor of the Bombay Times about 1860, which became a daily journal as The Times of India, sold his interest in it; commenced the Indian Economist a monthly serial; established The Indian Statesman 1859; removed to Calcutta and amalgamated The Statesman as a daily with The Friend of India; author of The Imam commission unmasked 1859; The Indian empire and our financial relations thereto 1866; Speech on Indian affairs 1866; India, a review of England’s financial relations thereto 1868; Manchester and India 1877. _d._ Calcutta 2 Feb. 1890. KNIGHT, SAMUEL JOHNES (son of Thomas Johnes). _b._ Ludlow 1756; ed. Christ Church, Oxford, fellow of All Souls’, B.A. 1778, M.A. 1782; V. of Allhallows, Barking, Essex, May 1783 to death; R. of Welwyn, Herts. 11 Aug. 1797 to death; took name of Knight by r.l. 30 Sep. 1813. _d._ Welwyn 8 July 1852. KNIGHT, SUSAN (dau. of an actor called Williamson or O’Shaughnessy and sister of Richard John or Obi Smith actor and of Mrs. Sarah Bartley actress). _b._ York 26 March 1784; heroine of the York circuit when under Tate Wilkinson; acted at Bath some years; first appeared at Drury Lane 17 June 1813 as Ella Rosenberg; at Milton st. theatre under John Kemble Chapman’s management; at the Olympic under Madame Vestris. _m._ as his second wife in 1807 Edward Knight the actor known as little Knight, he was _b._ Birmingham 1774, _d._ London 21 Feb. 1826; she _d._ 13 Dec. 1859. _Theatrical Inquisitor_, _ix_ 381–84 (1816), _portrait_; _Era 18 Dec. 1859 p._ 11. KNIGHT, WILLIAM (natural son of a landed proprietor in Aberdeenshire). _b._ near Portgordon, Banffshire 1825; ed. at parish school of Keith and at St. Andrews where he gained a bursary; clerk in office of A. Torrie of Aberdeen, advocate; a shoemaker in Aberdeen 1846–51; in Edinburgh 1853–56 and in Aberdeen again. _d._ in the infirmary, Dundee Aug. 1866. _Auld Yule and other poems. By Wm. Knight with recollections of the author’s life_, _pp. xxi–xl_ (1869), _portrait_; _Norrie’s Dundee Celebrities_ (1873) 271. KNIGHT, WILLIAM (son of William Knight of Painswick, Gloucs.). _b._ 1790; ed. Balliol coll. Oxf., B.A. 1813, M.A. 1816; R. of St. Michael’s, Bristol 1816–75; hon. canon of Bristol 1864 to death; author of Church missionary jubilee 1848. 1848; Lectures on prophecies concerning Antichrist 1855; Psalms and hymns 1862; The arch of Titus and the spoils of the Temple 1867. _d._ 5 Wetherill place, Grosvenor place, Clifton 5 Aug. 1878. KNIGHT, WILLIAM HENRY (son of John Knight of Newbury, Berkshire, schoolmaster). _b._ Newbury 26 Sep. 1823; in a solicitor’s office at Newbury; painter in London from 1844, studied at British museum and R. Academy; exhibited 29 pictures at R.A., 17 at B.I. and 8 at Suffolk st. 1844–64; his best known work is The broken window. _d._ Claremont cottage, Claremont place, Wandsworth road, Surrey 31 July 1863. _Art Journal_ (1863) 133, 191; _Sydney Armytage’s Beautiful pictures_ (1875) 51–2. KNIGHT, VALENTINE. _b._ 1792; gold and silver dial maker and engine-turner 4 Newcastle place, Clerkenwell 1828–51, Knight’s dials were long in demand particularly by Americans; took Thomas Burr into partnership 1842; retired with a large fortune 1851; chairman of meeting to establish British Horological Institute 15 June 1858, president to death; an early director of Mutual life assurance co.; president of Watch and clock makers’ asylum; satirised in an engraving published by Askew & Co. 5 Butcher hall lane, entitled Sir Stultus Walentine, knight and champion of St. James’ Herriddittaries. d. Thornycroft, Leatherhead, Middlesex 17 Nov. 1867. _Pinks’s Clerkenwell_ (1881) 318, 753; _Horological Journal 1 Dec. 1867 pp._ 37–38. KNIGHT, W. H. _b._ 29 Nov. 1812; on the staff of The Sporting Life; connected with several daily newspapers; edited John Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanac some years to death; resided at 46 George st. Hampstead road, London a long time. _d._ Middlesex hospital, Berner’s st. London 16 Aug. 1879. KNIGHTLEY, SIR CHARLES, 2 Baronet (1 son of rev. Charles Knightley 1753–87, R. of Preston Capes, Northamptonshire). b. Preston Capes 30 Jany. 1781; ed. at Rugby and Ch. Ch. Oxf., D.C.L. 1834; succeeded his uncle 29 Jany. 1812; on his mare Benvolio cleared 31 feet over a fence and a brook at Brixworth hill, a spot since known as Knightley’s leap; a breeder of hounds and short horns and a great farmer; contested Northhants. 1831; M.P. Southern division of Northhants. 1834–52; master of the Pytchley hunt 1817–18; wrote in Post and Paddock pp. 322–5 Auld Lang Syne, and in Silk and Scarlet, pp. 70–82 Olden Times. _d._ Fawsley court near Daventry 30 Aug. 1864. _Sporting Review_, _xxxvi_ 1–7 (1856), _portrait_, _lii_ 320 (1864); _H. O. Nethercote’s Pytchley Hunt_ (1888) 45–47, _portrait_; _Northamptonshire election_ (1831). KNILL, RICHARD (4 child of Richard Knill, carpenter, _d._ 1826). _b._ Braunton near Barnstaple 14 April 1787; congregational missionary in Madras 1816–19 and at St. Petersburg 1820–33; travelled in United Kingdom advocating claims of the foreign missions 1833–41; minister at Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucs. 1 Jany. 1842 to 1848, at Chester 1848 to death; author of The farmer and his family 1814; some account of John Knill 1830; The happy death-bed 1833; Memoirs of female labourers in the missionary cause 1839; A Scotchman abroad 1841. _d._ 28 Queen st. Chester 2 Jany. 1857. _Birrell’s Life of R. Knill_ (1878), _portrait_; _Waddington’s Congregational history_, _v_ 185–96 (1880). KNOCKER, EDWARD (youngest son of Wm. Knocker of Dover, solicitor). _b._ Dover 1804; solicitor at Dover 1826–74, member of the common council 1827–35, town clerk 1860–8, alderman several times, mayor 1871; registrar of the Cinque Ports many years; hon. librarian to Dover corporation; F.S.A. 5 March 1874; author of On the antiquities of Dover 1858; An account of the grand court of Shepway, held on Bredenstone hill, Dover for the installation of viscount Palmerston as constable of Dover and warden of the Cinque ports Aug. 25, 1861. 1862; The footsteps of the Lord: being a continuous narrative 1870. _d._ Torquay 25 Dec. 1884. KNOLLIS, FRANCIS MINDEN (eld. son of rev. James Knollis of Donnington, Berkshire). _b._ Donnington 14 Nov. 1816; ed. at Lincoln coll. Oxf.; demy Magd. coll. 1836–9, fellow 1839 to death, bursar 1846; B.A. 1837, M.A. 1840, B.D. 1850, D.D. 1851; R. of Congerstone, Leics. 1840–2; R. of Brandeston, Norfolk 1847–8; domestic chaplain to Lord Ribblesdale 1849 to death; P.C. of Horspath, Oxon. 1849–50; Inc. of Fitzhead near Taunton 1856–61; author of The sophistry of words, or the cause and effects of inadequate appellations of sin considered. Oxford 1837, anon.; A wreath for the altar. Leicester 1838; A short explanation of all the holydays of the church 2 ed. 1839; The silver trumpet, or the child’s companion to the christian year. Norwich 1849; A tutor’s counsels to his old pupils, or a week’s hints for a quiet life 1863, and 14 other books. _d._ Bournemouth 26 Aug. 1863. _J. R. Bloxam’s Register of Magdalen college_, _vii_ 340–2 (1881). KNOLLYS, SIR WILLIAM THOMAS (eld. son of general Wm. Knollys who claimed to be 8 earl of Banbury 1763–1834). _b._ 1 Aug. 1797; styled Viscount Wallingford 1797–1813; ed. at Harrow and Sandhurst; ensign 3 foot guards 9 Dec. 1813, adjutant 1821–7; lieut.-col. Scots fusilier guards 1850 to 25 March 1853 when placed on h.p., col. 20 June 1883; taught prince Albert his military duties 1850; governor of Guernsey 1 Aug. 1854 to 10 May 1855; commanded the camp at Aldershot 1855–60; col. of 62 foot 16 Nov. 1858 to 20 June 1883; general 17 June 1866; vice pres. of council of military education 1861–2; treasurer and comptroller of household of prince of Wales 1862–77, groom of the stole to the prince 22 March 1877 to death; gentleman usher of the black rod to House of Lords 22 March 1877 to death; receiver general of duchy of Cornwall 14 Oct. 1878 to death; LL.D. Oxf. 1863, D.C.L. Camb. 1864; K.C.B. 23 April 1867; P.C. 19 March 1872; author of A translation of the Odes of Horace, privately printed; Some remarks on the claim to the earldom of Banbury 1835; A journal of the Russian campaign of 1812 by R. E. P. J. De Frezensac, a translation 1852. _d._ House of Lords 23 June 1883. _bur._ Highgate cemet. 28 June. _Biograph_, _ii_ 507–10 (1879); _I.L.N. xlii_ 399, 400 (1863), _portrait_, _lxxxiii_ 5 (1883), _portrait_; _Graphic_, _xxvii_ 652 (1883), _portrait_. NOTE.--In his will which was proved 30 Aug. 1883 he styles himself “by hereditary descent and by the law of the land Earl of Banbury, Viscount Wallingford and Baron Knollys of Greys co. Oxon.” KNOTT, ROBERT ROWE. _b._ 1796; ed. St. John’s coll. Camb., B.A. 1819, M.A. 1824; lecturer at Rye and head master Rye gram. sch. 1822–35; C. and lecturer at St. Peter-upon-Cornhill, London 1835–38; V. of Helidan, Northants. 1838–49; chaplain of Donative of Tarrant Crawford, Dorset 1849–65; chaplain of West London union 1865–70; author of The new aid to memory. Parts 1 and 2 By A Cambridge M.A., Part 3 by the rev. R. R. Knight 1839–42, 2 ed. 1841–42; Part 1 Events of the history of England, and Part 2 Events of the history of Rome, were separately printed 1845 and