Modern English biography

p._ 328. NOTE.--The monthly army list July 1851 says he died 8 Jany., but according to Hart’s quarterly army list of July 1851 he died 21 Feb. PITT, GEORGE DEAN- (eld. son of preceding). _b._ 14 June 1823; ensign 48 foot 11 Oct. 1839; lieut. 80 foot 1844, captain 4 May 1849, placed on h.p. 30 Dec. 1864; A.D.C. to major general in New Zealand 1848–51; captain instructor at Hythe 1855–8; district inspector of musketry, Australia 1858–64; assistant military secretary, New Zealand 1864–70; D.A. and Q.M.G. Cape of Good Hope 1872–7; lieut. col. brigade depôt at Guildford 1877 to 1880; M.G. 7 June 1880; placed on retired list with hon. rank of L.G. 30 Aug. 1882; C.B. 10 Aug. 1866; keeper of the Regalia in Tower of London 25 Aug. 1882 to death. _d._ Tower of London 4 April 1883. PITT, GEORGE DIBDIN. _b._ 1799; first appeared under R. W. Elliston at the Surrey theatre as Sir Archy M’Sarcasm 1827, and remained at the Surrey many years as a most successful actor; acting and stage manager at the Pavilion, Coburg and Surrey theatres, a severe malady obliged him to retire from the stage; wrote the following dramas The whistler or the fate of the lily of St. Leonard’s, Victoria theatre 18 Jany. 1833, Reprinted as The lily of St. Leonard’s; The last man or the miser of Eltham, Surrey theatre 20 June 1833; The Eddystone elf, Sadler’s Wells 1833; The prisoner of Rochelle, Surrey 23 Jany. 1834; Simon Lee, City of London theatre 1 April 1839; Susan Hopley or the vicissitudes of a servant girl, Victoria 31 May 1841; The beggar’s petition, City theatre 18 Oct. 1841; Sweeney Todd, the barber of Fleet street, Britannia 1842, founded on T. Prest’s story The string of pearls, which he wrote in the Penny Sunday Times 1841; The twins, Adelphi 1844; The Jersey girl, Surrey theatre; Marianne or the child of charity, Victoria theatre; Rookwood, Victoria 27 Oct. 1845; also The last nail; The lord mayor’s fool; The maid, the mill, and the ferry; The devil’s bridge; The bride of Aldgate; and The devil’s punch bowl; he wrote upwards of 700 pieces for the stage; author of The wreck of the heart or the story of Agnes Primrose 1842; The sea-fiend or the abbot of St. Mark’s 1846. _d._ Bethnal green, London 16 Feb. 1855. _The Era 25 Feb. 1855 p._ 10. PITT-BYRNE, JULIA CLARA (2 dau. of Hans Busk 1772–1862). _b._ about 1820; _m._ 28 April 1842 William Pitt-Byrne, proprietor of Morning Post, _d._ 8 April 1861; contributed to Fraser’s Magazine, Once a week, and other periodicals; author of A glance behind the grilles of religious houses in France 1855; Flemish interiors 1856; Realities of Paris life 1859; Undercurrents overlooked 1860; Red, white, and blue 1862; Cosas de Espana 1866; The Beggynhoff 1869; Feudal castles of France 1869; Gheel the city of the simple 1869; Pictures of Hungarian life 1869; Curiosities of the search room 1880; Gossip of the century 1892. _d._ 16 Montagu st. Montagu sq. London 29 March 1894. _Men of the Time 1887 p._ 188. PITTIS, SIR FRANCIS. _b._ Newport, Isle of Wight 1812; member of first Newport school board; mayor of Newport 1852, and for the eighth time 1887; presented with an address and a painting by George Cole 14 March 1880; chief promoter and subscriber to the Jubilee clock tower, Newport 1887; knighted at Osborne 12 Aug. 1887; received the jubilee decoration 1887. _d._ Newport house, Newport 3 Nov. 1889. _bur._ St. Thomas’ churchyard 8 Nov. _The Isle of Wight County press 9 Nov. 1889 p._ 5. PLACE, FRANCIS (son of Simon Place, keeper of a sponging house in Vinegar yard, Drury lane, London). _b._ 3 Nov. 1771; apprenticed to a leather-breeches maker 1785–9; worked at his trade from 1789; joined the London Corresponding society 1794; opened a tailor’s shop with another man at 29 Charing Cross 1799; a tailor alone at 16 Charing Cross 1800 to 1833; resided at 21 Brompton sq. 1833 to 1852; member of committee of British and foreign school society to 1815; stayed some months with Jeremy Bentham and James Mill at Ford Abbey 1817; collected much of the materials for Joseph Hume’s parliamentary work 1812 etc.; issued from his shop James Mill’s Essays from the supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica, and many tracts by himself and others; agitated against the sinking fund 1816–23; got the laws against combinations of workmen repealed after ten years’ work 1824, and prevented their being reenacted 1825; made preparations for civil war during the crisis of May 1832, when he drew up a placard with the words ‘Go for gold and stop the Duke,’ which caused a run upon the bank of England; drafted for Wm. Lovett the Peoples’ charter 1838; wrote history of the Reform bill 1836–9, the manuscript of which is at the British Museum; author of Illustrations and proofs of the principles of population 1822; A letter to a minister of state respecting taxes on knowledge 1831, 3 ed. 1835; kept and indexed his political correspondence 1814 to death; 71 volumes of his manuscripts are in the British Museum. _d._ at his daughter’s house, Foxley terrace, Hammersmith 1 Jany. 1854. _W. Bates’s Maclise portrait gallery_ (1883) 344–50 _portrait_; _Fortnightly Review Dec. 1892 pp._ 767–79; _Fraser’s Mag. xiii_ 427 (1836) _portrait_. PLACE, LOUISA (dau. of Mr. Simeon). _b._ 16 Oct. 1797; first appeared in London at Lyceum theatre as Harriet in Is he jealous 9 July 1816; played Julia in the Rivals at opening of the Haymarket theatre 4 July 1821; played at Covent Garden as Miss Hardcastle in She stoops to conquer Nov. 1821; retired from the stage; played again at the Olympic and Adelphi theatres; acted in Born to good luck at Adelphi 22 July 1856; and in Morton’s French Lady’s maid 22 May 1858; _m._ (1) about 1816 William Chatterly, comedian, _b._ 21 March 1787, _d._ 20 April 1821; she _m._ secondly 13 Feb. 1830 Mr. Place, who _d._ before his wife; she _d._ 37 Brompton square, London 4 Nov. 1866. _The Era 18 Nov. 1866 p._ 81; _E. L. Blanchard’s Life_ (1891) 161, 197–8, 331. PLANCHÉ, JAMES ROBINSON (son of Jacques Planché, watchmaker 1734–1816). _b._ Old Burlington st. Piccadilly, London 27 Feb. 1796; articled to a bookseller 1810; wrote Amoroso, king of Little Britain for Drury Lane 21 April 1818, and Rodolph the wolf Olympic Pavilion 21 Dec. 1818; The Vampire or the bride of the isles, English opera house 9 Aug. 1820, when the vampire trap was first used; wrote ten pieces for Adelphi theatre 1820–1; his opera Maid Marian was produced at Covent Garden 3 Dec. 1822; present at coronation of Charles X in Paris 29 May 1825; wrote the libretto to Weber’s Oberon, Covent Garden 12 April 1826; managed the musical arrangements at Vauxhall gardens 1826–7; produced at Covent Garden Charles XIIth, a drama 11 Nov. 1828, and his version of Scribe and Auber’s opera Gustave Trois 13 Nov. 1833; managed the Adelphi theatre for S. J. Arnold 1830; author with Charles Dance of Olympic Revels, Olympic 3 Jany. 1831, and Riquet with the tuft Dec. 1836; managed the Olympic July to Dec. 1838; director of costume and reader of the plays at Covent Garden 1839; wrote plays for the Haymarket 1843–7; superintended the decorations at the Lyceum for Madame Vestris Oct. 1847, and wrote for her The pride of the market 18 Oct. 1847, The island of jewels 26 Dec. 1849, and other burlesques; his Mr. Buckstone’s Ascent of Mount Parnassus produced at Haymarket 28 March 1853, and Love and fortune, a comedy, Princess’s 24 Sept. 1859; My lord and my lady, Haymarket 12 July 1861 ran 50 nights; Orpheus in the Haymarket Dec. 1866 ran till Easter 1867; King Christmas masque at Gallery of illustration 26 Dec. 1871; F.S.A. 24 Dec. 1829, resigned 1852; a founder of British archæological association Dec. 1843; rouge croix pursuivant of arms 13 Feb. 1854, and Somerset herald 7 June 1866 to death; arranged col. Augustus Meyrick’s collection of armour for exhibition at Manchester 1857, and at South Kensington Dec. 1868; rearranged the armour at Tower of London 1869; granted civil list pension of £100, 21 June 1871; author of The descent of the Danube from Ratisbon to Vienna 1828; The history of British costumes 1834, 3 ed. 1874; The pursuivant of arms or heraldry founded upon facts 1852, 3 ed. 1874; The conqueror and his companions, 2 vols. 1874; A cyclopædia of costumes, 2 vols. 1876–9; Extravaganzas, 5 vols. 1879, with portrait; wrote 72 original pieces, also 96 translations and adaptations. _d._ 10 St. Leonard’s terrace, Chelsea 30 May 1880. _Planché’s Recollections and reflections_, 2 _vols._ (1872); _Biograph iii_ 225–38 (1880); _Journal of British Archæol. Association xxxvi_ 261–5 (1880); _C. R. Smith’s Retrospections i_ 257–76 (1883); _Illustrated Review_, _ii_ 353–55 (1870); _Cartoon portraits_ (1873) 102–103; _Illust. news of the world vii_ 273 (1861) _portrait_; _The Critic xix_ 444 (1859) _portrait_; _Theatre ii_ 95–99 (1880) _portrait_. PLANK, WILLIAM (son of James Plank). _b._ Wandsworth, Surrey 7 Nov. 1767; educ. under W. Franks at Clapham to 1781; apprenticed to his brother James Plank, a calico printer, London 28 May 1782; took up his freedom in the Salters’ Co. 20 Oct. 1789, the father of the Salters’ Co.; resided at Harrow from 1811; had a dinner party on 7 Nov. 1867, and _d._ Harrow 19 Nov. 1867, being 100 years and 12 days old. _W. J. Thom’s Longevity of man_ (1879) 252–5; _G.M. iv_ 783, 833 (1867). PLANT, JAMES (son of Robert Fisher Plant, stationer, Leicester). _b._ Leicester 1818; a well known geologist; F.G.S.; an authority on questions respecting coal and water supply; a frequent attendant at meetings of the British association. _d._ Leicester 8 Nov. 1892. PLANT, JOHN (brother of the preceding). _b._ Leicester Oct. 1819; educ. at the national school and at the mechanics’ institution; articled to T. Paget, surgeon, Leicester; an assistant in his father’s business; hon. sec. of Leicester naturalists’ club 1844; curator of the Literary and philosophical society’s museum; discovered fossiliferous keuper sandstone near Leicester 1844; sec. and librarian of the library, Leicester 1846, where he arranged and catalogued 10,000 books; librarian and curator of the Museum and public library, Peel park, Salford Oct. 1849 to April 1892, it became one of the chief attractions in Manchester and the most popular holiday resort in Lancashire, the library containing 60,000 volumes; F.G.S. 1864; lieut. 56 Salford rifle volunteers 12 April 1873, captain 8 Jany. 1876 to April 1885; made a special study of the coal measure fishes near Manchester, and of the Cambrian fossils near Dolgelly; a selection of his fossils is in the British museum, including the olenus planti named after him; author of Guide to the general collections in the Salford museum 1860; Catalogue of the library of the Manchester geological society 1875; Descriptive catalogue of pictures in the Salford art gallery and museum 1883. _d._ Rhosnegir, near Holyhead 18 Jany. 1894, portrait placed on walls of Salford free library 1893. _Geological magazine June 1892 pp._ 286–8 _portrait_; _The Times 10 Jany. 1894 p._ 5; _The Library vi_ 93 (1894). PLANT, NATHANIEL (brother of the preceding). _b._ Leicester 1832; curator of museum of Leicester philosophical and literary society 5 years; spent 16 years in Brazil mining and exploring 1851–67; F.G.S. 1867, F.R.G.S. _d._ London Aug. 1875. PLANT, THOMAS LIVESLEY (son of George Halewood Plant, iron merchant). _b._ Low Moor, Bradford, Yorkshire 1819; educ. St. Cuthbert’s college, Ushaw, near Durham; representative in Birmingham of W. H. Smith and Son, the advertising contractors 1849–81; kept systematic records of meteorology 1837 to death, furnished meteorological information to The Times and contributed to the local press; author of Meteorology: its study important for our good, Birmingham 1862. _found dead_ in the train at New st. station, Birmingham 31 Aug. 1883. _Athenæum 8 Sept. 1883 p._ 310. PLATT, JAMES (son of Henry Platt of Dobcross, Saddleworth, Yorkshire, maker of woollen machinery, removed to Oldham 1821, _d._ 1842). _b._ 1823 or 1824; partner in Hibbert, Platt and Sons, Oldham 1845; member of Oldham town council; M.P. Oldham 31 March 1857 to death; accidentally shot by Josiah Radcliffe when shooting on the moors at Greenfield 27 Aug. 1857, _d._ Ashway Gap, near Oldham 27 Aug. 1857. _Fortunes made in business iii_ 426–7 (1887). PLATT, JOHN T. (brother of James Platt, _d._ 1857). _b._ Dobcross 15 Sept. 1817; member of firm of Hibbert, Platt and Sons of Oldham 1837, Joseph Platt _d._ 1845, Mr. Hibbert _d._ 1846; firm employed 2,500 men, business converted into a limited liability company 1 Jany. 1868, chairman of the company to his death; sheriff of Carnarvon 1863; helped to obtain incorporation of Oldham 1849; mayor 1854, 1855, and a third time; gave large sums to the Oldham lyceum 1847–65; M.P. Oldham 13 July 1865 to death. _d._ Hotel Maurice, Paris 18 May 1872. _bur._ Oldham, statue unveiled at Oldham Sept. 1878. _I.L.N. lx_ 537 (1872) _portrait_; _Fortunes made in business iii_ 419–85 (1887) _portrait_. NOTE.--The commercial prosperity of Oldham is mainly due to his influence as an engineer and a large employer of labour and to his untiring energy. PLATT, THOMAS (4 son of Samuel Platt, clerk of the papers of court of king’s bench). _b._ Blackfriars, London 14 Sept. 1800; educ. St. Paul’s school 1812–16; barrister L.I. 9 June 1826; author of A practical treatise on the law of covenants 1829; A treatise on the law of leases, 2 vols. 1847. _d._ Brockley lodge, Finchley, Middlesex 14 Dec. 1886. PLATT, SIR THOMAS JOSHUA (eld. son of Thomas Platt of Brunswick sq. London, solicitor). _b._ 1789; educ. Harrow and Trin. coll. Camb., B.A. 1810, M.A. 1814; barrister I.T. 9 Feb. 1816, bencher 1835–45; became a leader on the home circuit; K.C. 27 Dec. 1834; baron of court of exchequer 27 Jany. 1845, retired 2 Nov. 1856; knighted at St. James’s palace 23 April 1845. _d._ 59 Portland place, London 10 Feb. 1862. _bur._ Highgate cemet. _Ballantine’s Some experiences_, _8 ed._ (1883) 46–47; _Foss’s Judges ix_ 244–5 (1864). PLATT, THOMAS PELL (son of Thomas Platt). _b._ London 1798; pensioner of Trin. coll. Camb. 25 Nov. 1815, scholar 3 April 1818, minor fellow 2 Oct. 1820, major fellow 2 July 1823; B.A. 1820, M.A. 1823; librarian of the British and foreign bible society some years and a defender of the society in 1827 from an attack made on their publications in the Quarterly Review June 1827 pp. 1–28; an early member of Royal Asiatic society and acted as one of its oriental translation committee many years; F.S.A.; author of A catalogue of the Æthiopic biblical MSS. in the royal library of Paris and in the library of the British and foreign bible society 1823; edited Evangelia sancta in linguam Amharicam 1824; Evangelia sancta Æthiopice 1826; The Gospels in Syriac 1829; The Ethiopic Didascalia 1834; The books of the Old Testament in Amharic 1871; author of Facts respecting versions of scripture published by the Bible Society in reply to the Quarterly Review 1827, 3 ed. 1828; The literal interpretation of scripture enforced 1831. _d._ Dulwich hill, Surrey 31 Oct.