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

ASTON, SIR ARTHUR INGRAM (_younger son of Henry Hervey Aston of Aston, Cheshire, who d. Madras 23 Dec. 1798 aged 37 from a wound received in a duel with major Allen_). _b._ London 23 Dec. 1798; ed. at Brasen. coll. Ox., created M.A. 18 June 1817; sec. of embassy at Paris 11 Jany. 1833; min. plenipo. there for short periods 9 times between 19 April 1833 and 14 Sep. 1838; envoy extraord. and min. plenipo. at Madrid 13 Feb. 1840 to 13 Nov. 1843; G.C.B. 10 Nov. 1843; pensioned 8 March 1846; sheriff of Cheshire 1850. _d._ Aston hall, near Runcorn 5 May 1859. ASTON, JAMES JONES (_2 son of Benjamin Richard Aston of 71 Banner st. Finsbury, coal merchant_). _b._ 71 Banner st. 12 Dec. 1822; barrister M.T. 6 Nov. 1846; went Northern circuit; Q.C. for county palatine of Lancaster 1867; Q.C. 24 March 1880; author of _Chancery practice of the county palatine of Lancaster_ 1852. (_m._ 7 Sep. 1854 Sarah Margaret eld. dau. of Thomas Eccles of Walton-le-dale, Lancs.) _d._ 13 Pembroke gardens, Kensington 17 Jany. 1885. ASTON, JOHN PARTINGTON (_son of John Aston of Manchester, liquor merchant_.) _b._ Manchester 9 Nov. 1805; ed. at Manchester gr. sch.; solicitor at Manchester 1829 to death; one of leading conveyancing and patent lawyers; solicitor and sec. of Owens college, Manchester; contributed prose and verse to periodicals; author with W. H. Ainsworth of _Sir John Chiverton_ 1826. _d._ Higher Broughton, Manchester 11 May 1882. _Admission register of Manchester school iii_, 112 (1874). ATHERLEY, MARK KER (_2 son of Arthur Atherley M.P. for Southampton who d. 21 Oct. 1844 aged 74_). Ensign 15 foot 28 Aug. 1823; lieut. col. 92 foot 23 Nov. 1849 to 5 June 1863 when placed on h.p.; commanded a brigade in the Crimea 4 Nov. 1855 to 13 March 1856; brigadier general Malta 1863–68; col. of 109 foot 14 Feb. 1873, of 93 foot 30 Jany. 1880 and of 92 foot 5 April 1880 to death; general 1 Oct. 1877. _d._ 11 March 1884 in 80 year. ATHERSTONE, EDWIN. _b._ Nottingham 17 April 1788; author of _The fall of Nineveh, a poem_, _2 vols._ 1828–68; _The Sea Kings in England, an historical romance_, _3 vols._ 1830; _The handwriting on the wall, a story 3 vols._ 1858; _Israel in Egypt_ 1861 a poem of nearly 20,000 lines; granted civil list pension of £75 Oct. 4 1858 and another of £25 Jany. 16 1860. _d._ 19 Macaulay buildings, Bath 29 Jany. 1872. ATHERTON, CHARLES (_3 son of Nathan Atherton of Calne, Wilts attorney_). _b._ Calne 1805; ed. at Queen’s coll. Cam.; 33 wrangler 1828, B.A. 1828; resident engineer of river Clyde 1832–34; manager of business of Claud Girdwood and Co. of Glasgow, ironfounders 1834–37; chief engineer at Woolwich dockyard 6 April 1847 to 31 Dec. 1848 and 8 Sep. 1851 to 26 July 1862; at Devonport dockyard 1 Jany. 1849 to 7 Sep. 1851; consulting engineer in London 1862–70; M.I.C.E. 19 Feb. 1828. _d._ Sandown, Isle of Wight 24 May 1875. _Min. of proc. of Instit. of C.E. xlii_, 252–55 (1875). ATHERTON, SIR WILLIAM (_only son of Rev. Wm. Atherton of Battle Bridge Middlesex, Wesleyan minister 1775–1850_). _b._ Glasgow October 1806; special pleader 1832–39; barrister I.T. 22 Nov. 1839, bencher 1851; went northern circuit of which he became leader; Q.C. July 1851; Q.C. for duchy of Lancaster 1851–60; M.P. for Durham 9 July 1852 to death; judge advocate of the fleet and counsel to the Admiralty 1854 to 16 Dec. 1859; solicitor general 16 Dec. 1859 and attorney general 4 July 1861 to Sep. 1863; knighted by the Queen at St. James’s palace 23 Feb. 1860. (_m._ 15 April, 1843 Agnes Mary younger dau. of Thomas James Hall, chief magistrate at Bow st. London, she _d._ 26 March 1866). _d._ 13 Westbourne terrace, Hyde Park 22 Jany. 1864. ATHLUMNEY, WILLIAM MEREDYTH SOMERVILLE, 1 Baron. _b._ 1802; ed. at Harrow; paid attaché at Berlin 1829–32; M.P. for Drogheda 1837–52 and for Canterbury 1854–65; under sec. of state for Home department 5 July 1846 to 22 July 1847; chief sec. for Ireland 22 July 1847 to Feb. 1852; P.C. 22 July 1847; raised to peerage of Ireland as Baron Athlumney 14 Dec. 1863 and to peerage of United Kingdom as Baron Meredyth 3 May 1866. _d._ Dover 7 Dec. 1873. ATHOLE, GEORGE AUGUSTUS FREDERICK JOHN MURRAY, 6 Duke of. _b._ Great Cumberland place, London 20 Sep. 1814; took part in the Eglinton tournament 28–30 Aug. 1839; grand master mason of Scotland 1843–63; succeeded his uncle as 6 Duke of Athole 14 Sep. 1846; K.T. 28 Oct. 1853; pres. of Highland and Agricultural Societies 1858–62; kept Otter hounds at Dunkeld. _d._ Blair castle, Perthshire 16 Jany. 1864. ATKINS, EDWARD. _b._ 1818; played at T.R. Birmingham 1851–61; made his début in London at Drury Lane 28 Oct. 1861; played Jem Dalton in Tom Taylor’s drama _The Ticket of leave man_ at Olympic theatre 27 May 1863 to 16 Sep. 1864 406 times, and more than 600 times afterwards in different theatres; played Autolycus in _A winter’s tale_ at Drury Lane 28 Sep. 1878. _d._ 5 Carlton road west, Peckham 8 April 1883. _Tallis’s Drawing room table book part_ 16, _portrait_. ATKINS, EDWIN. Manager with his brother John Atkins of Zoological gardens situated between Farnworth st. and Butler st. Liverpool which were established in 1832 by Thomas Atkins, keeper of a travelling menagerie, the gardens were eventually turned into a limited liability company, and in 1863 the place was dismantled and the land sold; started for interior of Africa 1852. _d._ on a small island of the White river, a branch of the Nile Jany. 1854. ATKINS, EDWIN MARTIN (_eld. son of Atkins Edwin Martin-Atkins of Walcot in Bath_). _b._ 1808; ed. at Rugby; matric. Magd. coll. Ox. 26 July 1825 aged 17, B.A. 1829; sheriff of Berkshire 1844; F.S.A. 10 Dec. 1857; the original of the Squire depicted by Tom Hughes in _The scouring of the White Horse_ 1859. _d._ Weston super Mare 5 May 1859. ATKINSON, CHARLES CALEB (_eld. son of Caleb Atkinson of Hillingdon, Middlesex_), _b._ 1793; barrister M.T. 6 June 1834; sec. of University college London 1835 to July 1867; sub editor of _The Sphinx_; owner of _The Athenæum_ for short time. (_m._ 1831 Harriet dau. of George Swimley of Henley on Thames). _d._ Alexandra road, Kilburn, London 11 Jany. 1869. ATKINSON, FENTON ROBINSON. _b._ Leeds 12 Nov. 1784; admitted attorney May 1810; practised at Manchester; a leading bankruptcy lawyer; sold his library Dec. 1817 and his other library of 13,000 volumes May 1858 a ten days sale; member of Chetham, Camden, Hakluyt, Shakspere and Percy Societies and Warton club; contributed to _Bibliographiana_, originally published in the _Manchester Exchange Herald_ 1815–16 and afterwards as a small vol. of which only 24 copies were issued 1817. _d._ The Grove, Withington, Lancs. 9 June 1859. _Law Times xxxiii_, 212, 257 (1859). ATKINSON, SIR HENRY ESCH (_3 son of Henry Wm. Atkinson 1753–1834 provost of Company of moneyers_). _b._ 1792; entered navy 2 Feb. 1807; commander 30 April 1827; employed in the Coast Guard 1835–38; retired captain 1 April 1856; knighted by lord lieutenant of Ireland 1836; superintendent of convicts in Van Diemen’s Land