Modern English biography, volume 1 (of 4), A-H by Frederic Boase

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