Modern English Biography (volume 1 of 4) A-H

AGER, Joseph (son of Joseph Ager of London, apothecary). b. London; entered at Pembroke coll. Ox. 1 April 1800 aged 18, Ossulston scholar; B.A. 1803, M.A. 1807, M.B. 1807, M.D. 1810; fellow of his college; F.R.C.P. 30 Sep. 1811, Gulstonian lecturer 1812, and Censor 1815, 1825 and 1835; delivered the Materia Medica lectures 1827–28: F.R. Med. and Chir. soc. 1814; assistant phys. to Marylebone infirmary many years; greatly assisted Robert Hooper, M.D. in the formation of his pathological museum. d. 85 Great Portland st. London 17 July 1857 in 77 year.

AGLIO, Agostino. b. Cremona 15 Dec. 1777; painter at Rome 1797; went to England, Dec. 1803; painted scenery at the Opera house, London 1804, and at Drury Lane theatre 1806; largely employed in decoration of country mansions in England and Ireland; decorated Pantheon in Oxford st. 1811; ceiling of R.C. chapel in Moorfields 1819 where he also executed the altarpiece; produced many easel pictures about 1820; exhibited 22 pictures at British Institution, 8 at the Suffolk st. gallery 1825–56, and 13 at the R.A. 1830–46; painted 2 portraits of the Queen; decorated the Olympic theatre, which was reopened 26 Dec. 1849; published Mexican Antiquities 9 vols. 1830–48; drew many works in lithography. d. 87 Beresford st. Walworth 30 Jany. 1857. bur. Highgate cemetery.

AGLIONBY, Henry Aglionby. b. 28 Dec. 1790; M.P. for Cockermouth (lib.) 12 Dec. 1832 to death. d. The manor house, Caterham, Surrey 31 July 1854. I.L.N. vi, 184 (1845) portrait.

AGNESI, Louis Ferdinand Leopold, stage name of L. F. L. Agniez. b. Erpent, Belgium 17 July 1833; ed. at the Conservatoire, Brussels; a baritone singer of the first rank; member of Italian opera company at Drury Lane; sang at the fifth triennial Handel festival at Crystal palace 19–26 June 1874. d. 56 Loudoun road, Hampstead 2 Feb. 1875.

AGNEW, Thomas. b. Liverpool Dec. 1794; fellow student with John Gibson the sculptor; partner with Vittoria Zannetti of Market st. lane, Manchester 1816, who was then the only art dealer in the north of England except Burland of Liverpool; carried on business in Exchange st. Manchester 1826 to Oct. 1861 when he retired; published many works of art and not less than 1000 engravings; alderman of Salford from its incorporation 16 April 1844 and mayor 1850; gave many pictures and prints to the free museum and library at Peel park, Salford. d. Fair Hope, Eccles. Manchester 24 March 1871. bur. churchyard of St. Mark’s Worsley 29 March.

AHMUTY, James, 2 Lieut. Bengal artillery 7 Sep. 1791; colonel commandant 29 Aug. 1824 to death; general 15 Sep. 1855. d. 14 Chesham place, Belgrave sq. London 12 Jany. 1864 aged 89.

AIKENHEAD, Mary (eld. child of David Aikenhead of Cork, physician who d. 28 Dec. 1801, by Mary eld. dau. of Mr. Stacpole of Cork, merchant, she m. (2) Mr. Bernard of Palace Anne and d. 1809). b. Cork 19 Jany. 1787; received into R. C. church 6 June 1802 and confirmed 2 July 1802; took name of Sister Mary Augustine, June 1812; superior of the first convent of sisters of charity William st. Dublin Aug. 1815 to 1827; made her perpetual vows 9 Dec. 1816; superior of convent at Sandymount 16 Aug. 1831; superior general of the Irish foundation of Sisters of charity 1843; lived at convent of Our Lady’s Mount, Harold’s Cross, Dublin Sep. 1845 to death. d. Our Lady’s Mount, 22 July 1858. Mary Aikenhead by S.A. 2 ed. revised 1882, portrait.

AIKIN, Arthur (1 son of John Aikin, M.D. of Warrington, Lancs. 1747–1822 by Martha dau. of Arthur Jennings of Harlington, Bedford, she d. 1830 aged 83). b. Warrington 19 May 1773; ed. there and at Palgrave in Norfolk; studied classics under Gilbert Wakefield, and chemistry under Dr. Priestley; settled in London 1796; one of the founders of Geological Society of London 1807, which was incorporated 23 Apl. 1823; one of the secretaries and a member of council; lecturer on chemistry at Guy’s hospital 1816–52; secretary of Society for encouragement of arts, manufactures and commerce 1817–40, where he read more than 40 lectures; chairman of its committee of chemistry 1840; the first treasurer of Chemical Society 30 March 1841; F.L.S. 1818; the first hon. sec. of Institution of Civil Engineers 2 Jany. 1818; one of specially selected members of the Athenæum club; much employed in drawing specifications of patents for improvements in chemical manufactures, in which Lord Lyndhurst held him to excel all other persons; made many chemical analyses for patentees and public companies; lived at 19 John st. Adelphi 1817–40; at 7 Bloomsbury sq. 1840 to death; edited The annual review 1802–1806; author of Journal of a tour through north Wales, and part of Shropshire 1797; Manual of mineralogy 1814, 2 ed. 1815. d. 7 Bloomsbury sq. London 15 April 1854. J. Kendrick’s Profiles of Warrington worthies, 2 ed. 1854, portrait; European Mag. lxxv, 387 (1819) portrait; Proc. of Linnæan society, ii, 304–306 (1855); Minutes of proceedings of institution of civil engineers, xiv, 120–23 (1855).

AIKIN, Lucy (only dau. of John Aikin, M.D. of Harrington 1747–1822). b. Warrington 6 Nov. 1781; author of Epistles on women, a poem 1810, Lorimer, a tale 1814, Memoirs of the court of Queen Elizabeth, 2 vols. 1818; Memoirs of the court of King James I, 2 vols. 1822; Memoirs of the court of King Charles I, 2 vols. 1833; Life of Addison 1843; lived at Church row, Hampstead, June 1822 to 1830; at 18 Church row 1830–44; in London 1844–45; at Wimbledon 1845–50; at John st. Hampstead 1850 to death. d. Milford house, Hampstead 29 Jany. 1864. bur. near east end of old churchyard of Hampstead. Memoirs, miscellanies and letters of the late Lucy Aikin, edited by P. H. Le Breton 1864; J. Kendrick’s Profiles of Warrington worthies, 2 ed. 1854, portrait.

AIKMAN, James. A bookseller in Edinburgh; author of Poems, chiefly lyrical 1816; An account of the tournament at Eglinton 1839; The animal kingdom 1861; editor and proprietor of a weekly paper called The Star. d. Edinburgh 21 May 1860 aged 81.

AILESBURY, Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1 Marquess of (3 and youngest son of Thomas Bruce 1 earl of Ailesbury 1729–1814, by his 1 wife Susanna dau. of Henry Hoare of Stourhead, Wilts and widow of honble. Charles Boyle, she d. 4 Feb. 1783). b. Seamore place Mayfair, London 12 Feb. 1773; M.P. for Marlborough (tory) as Charles B. B. Bruce commonly called Lord Bruce 30 May 1796 to 19 April 1814, when he succeeded; col. of Wiltshire yeomanry 1798–1811; col. commandant of Wiltshire militia 25 July 1811 to 1827; K.T. 20 May 1819; created Viscount Savernake of Savernake Forest co. Wilts, Earl Bruce of Whorlton co. York, and Marquess of Ailesbury co. Buckingham 17 July 1821. (m. (1) 10 April 1793 Henrietta Maria 1 dau. of Noel Hill, 1 baron Berwick, she d. 2 Jany. 1831. m. (2) 20 Aug. 1833 Maria Elizabeth youngest dau. of honble. Charles Tollemache and widow of Charles John Clarke, she was b. 27 Oct. 1809). d. Tottenham park near Marlborough 4 Jany. 1856. bur. in family vault in parish church of Great Bedwyn, Wilts 12 Jany.

AILESBURY, George Wm. Frederick Brudenell-Bruce, 2 Marquess of (elder son of the preceding). b. Lower Grosvenor st. London 20 Nov. 1804; ed. at Ch. Ch Ox.; lieut. col. commandant Wilts yeomanry cavalry 30 June 1837 and col. 1 April 1876 to death; summoned to house of Lords in his father’s barony of Bruce 10 July 1838; kept a racing stud 1840 to death; won the St. Leger with St. Albans 12 Sep. 1860; succeeded his father 4 Jany. 1856; aide de camp to the Queen with rank of colonel 13 March 1857 to death; P.C. 18 June 1859; master of the horse to the Queen 24 June 1859 to July 1866 and 16 Dec. 1868 to Feb. 1874; lord lieut. of Wilts 25 March 1863 to death; K.G. 23 May 1864; succeeded his cousin as 8 Earl of Cardigan 28 March 1868. (m. 11 May 1837 Mary Caroline 2 dau. of George Augustus Herbert, 11 Earl of Pembroke, she was b. 22 March 1813). d. Savernake park, Marlborough 6 Jany. 1878. Baily’s Mag. iv, 217–20 (1862) portrait.

AILSA, Archibald Kennedy, 2 Marquess of (1 son of Archibald Kennedy, styled Earl of Cassilis 1794–1832, by Eleanor only dau. of Alexander Allardyce of Dunottar, co. Kincardine, she d. 16 Nov. 1832). b. Dunottar, Aug. 1816; succeeded his grandfather 8 Sep. 1846; K.T. 7 March 1859; Lord. lieut. of Ayrshire 7 Dec. 1861 to death. (m. 10 Nov. 1846 Julia 2 dau. of Sir Richard Mounteney Jephson, 1 baronet). d. Culzean castle, Maybole, N.B. 20 March 1870 from injuries received in the hunting field.

AINGER, Rev. Thomas (youngest son of William Ainger of Whittlesea, Cambs.) b. Whittlesea 1 Aug. 1799; ed. at Norwich gr. school and St. John’s Coll. Cam.; B.A. 1821, M.A. 1824; C. of St. Giles ch. Reading 1 Sep. 1822; Asst. minister of St. Mary’s, Greenwich 1825; P.C. of Hampstead 28 March 1841 to death; founded in Hampstead, the Parochial Association in aid of the Society for the propagation of Gospel 1845; founded the Church Extension Association 1858; Preb. of St. Paul’s Cath., Aug. 1859; preached his last sermon Easter day 5 April 1863. (m. 4 Aug. 1828 Frances only dau. of Wm. Barnard of Deptford Green). d. the Parsonage, Hampstead 15 Nov. 1863. bur. in churchyard of parish church 20 Nov. The last sermons of the Rev. Thomas Ainger, M.A., with a memoir of the author prefixed 1864.

AINSLIE, Frederick George. 2 lieut. 21 foot 24 April 1828; lieut. col. 23 April 1852 to death. d. on board the “Andes” in Scutari harbour 14 Nov. 1854 aged 45, of wounds received at battle of Inkerman 5 Nov.

AINSLIE, Rev. Gilbert (youngest son of Henry Ainslie, M.D. of Hall Garth Lancashire, he was senior wrangler 1781 and d. 1834, by Agnes dau. of Wm. Ford of Coniston Water Head). b. 1793; ed. at Charterhouse and Pemb. coll. Cam. 8 wrangler and B.A. 1815, M.A. 1818; foundation fellow of his college 1816; treasurer, tutor, bursar and lecturer; laid first stones of university library at Cam. Sep. 1837, and of the Fitzwilliam museum 2 Nov. 1837; Master of his college 15 Aug. 1828 to death; Vice Chancellor of the Univ. 1828 and 1836. (m. 2 Dec. 1829 Emily 2 dau. of Wm. Coxhead Marsh of Park hall, Essex). d. Pembroke college lodge 9 Jany. 1870. bur. at Over Kellet, Lancs. 14 Jany.

AINSLIE, Hugh. b. Bargeny Mains, parish of Dailly, Ayrshire 5 April 1792; emigrated to New York 1822; established several breweries, mills and factories in the western States; author of A pilgrimaqe to the land of Burns 1822; Scottish songs, ballads and poems 1855. d. Louisville Kentucky 11 March 1878.

AINSLIE, Sir Robert Sharp, 2 Baronet. b. 1777; M.P. for Mitchell, Cornwall 6 July 1802 to 24 Oct. 1806; succeeded 22 July 1812. d. Chingford, Essex 14 March 1858.

AINSWORTH, James (son of Jeremiah Ainsworth of Manchester). b. Manchester 5 March 1783; ed. at Manchester free gr. sch. and by Rev. Joshua Brookes; apprenticed at the infirmary Manchester 1798; studied at Univ. of Edin.; surgeon to the infirmary Manchester 1806; the first to commence anatomical lectures in Manchester; one of the ablest operators of his day, and the first who tied the internal iliac artery successfully; one of the founders of Natural history society, and of Botanical and horticultural society; member of Manchester literary and philosophical society Jany. 1805 to death; hon. F.R.C.S. 1843. d. Cliff point, Higher Broughton near Manchester 28 Oct. 1853. Admission Register of Manchester school ii, 202–204 (1868).

AINSWORTH, Peter, b. 24 Nov. 1790; M.P. for Bolton, (radical) 9 Jany. 1835 to 23 July 1847. d. Smithills hall, Bolton 18 Jany. 1870.

AINSWORTH, William Harrison (elder son of Thomas Ainsworth of Manchester, solicitor 1778–1824, by Ann Harrison 1778–1842 eld. dau. of Rev. Ralph Harrison of Manchester, Presbyterian minister). b. King st. Manchester 4 Feb. 1805; ed. at the free gr. sch. 1817–22; articled 1821 to Alexander Kay of Manchester, solicitor; a publisher in London 1826–27; edited Bentley’s Miscellany, March 1839 to Dec. 1841; author of Jack Sheppard, 3 vols. 1839 which was produced in dramatic form simultaneously, at Adelphi, Queen’s, Sadler’s Wells, Victoria and Pavilion theatres in London, Oct. 1839; received £1000 from the ‘Sunday Times’ for ‘Old St. Paul’s’ 1841, and another £1000 for the ‘Lancashire Witches’ 1848; edited Ainsworth’s Magazine, Feb. 1842 to 1854; purchased New monthly magazine from Henry Colburn 1845; purchased Bentley’s Miscellany 1854 and combined with it Ainsworth’s Magazine, Jany. 1855; gave the flitch of bacon at Dunmow in Essex 19 July 1855 and 25 July 1857; granted a civil list pension of £100 a year 10 Dec. 1868; entertained at a banquet in the town hall, Manchester by the mayor, Thomas Baker 15 Sep. 1881; lived at the Elms, Kilburn; at Kensal manor house; at Brighton; at Tunbridge Wells; at Reigate. (m. 11 Oct. 1826 Anne Frances younger dau. of John Ebers of John st. London, publisher, she d. 6 March 1838). d. St. Mary’s road, Reigate 3 Jany. 1882. bur. Kensal Green cemetery 9 Jany. Manchester quarterly, i, 136–55 (1882) portrait; Maclise portrait gallery (1883) 256–62, portrait; J. H. Friswell’s Modern men of letters (1870) 257–72; Illustrated Review, ii, 321–23 (1872) portrait; Horne’s New spirit of the age, ii, 215–22 (1844).

Note.—His novel Mervyn Clitheroe is autobiographical; in March 1878 he presented a life size portrait of himself, painted by H. W. Pickersgill, about 1841 to the Chetham Library Manchester; the best portrait of him is the figure in the vignette by Cruikshank, which forms the standing title to monthly editorial gossip in early numbers of Ainsworth’s magazine. He was caricatured unmercifully by Thackeray in Punch. His books and the MSS. of 18 of his novels were sold by Sotheby in London for £463, 21–22 Aug. 1882. He was the author of upwards of 40 works of fiction.

AIRD, David Mitchell. Compositor at The Sun newspaper office, London; started a bimonthly magazine called The Student which lasted 6 months; edited The Mirror 1843; printed for the Countess de Brunetiere Tallien the first daily French paper published in England 1851 which failed; barrister M.T. 11 June 1867; wrote several books under pseudonym of Pamphilius. d. 2 Sussex gardens, Hyde park, London 15 June 1876. Head and Heart legacy by Pamphilius 1861, portrait.

AIRD, Thomas (2 child of James Aird of Bowden, Roxburghshire, portioner or farmer who d. aged 86, by Isabella Paisley, she d. aged 86) b. Bowden 28 Aug. 1802; ed. there, at Melrose and at Univ. of Edinburgh; edited Edinburgh Weekly Journal 1833; Dumfriesshire and Galloway herald at Dumfries 1835–63; presided at Scott centenary at Dumfries 9 Aug. 1871; author of The old bachelor in the Scottish village 1845; Poetical works 1848, 5 ed. 1878; contributed poetry and prose to Blackwood’s Magazine, d. Dumfries 25 April 1876. bur. near Robert Burns in St. Michael’s churchyard 1 May. Poetical works of T. Aird with a memoir by Rev. J. Wallace, 5 ed. 1878, portrait.

AIREY, Richard Airey, 1 Baron, b. Newcastle April 1803; ed. at Sandhurst; ensign 34 foot 15 March 1821; lieut. col. 10 Feb. 1838 to 12 Feb. 1847 when placed on half pay; military sec. to commander in chief 1 Oct. 1852 to 17 April 1854; quartermaster general in the Crimea 1 Sep. 1854 to Nov. 1855; quartermaster general of the forces 26 Dec. 1855 to 31 Oct. 1865; governor and commander in chief at Gibraltar 10 Nov. 1856 to 4 Sep. 1870; col. 17 foot 20 July 1860 to 1 May 1868; col. 7 foot 1 May 1868 to death; adjutant general 1 Oct. 1870 to 31 Oct. 1876; general 9 April 1871; pres. of commission of inquiry into results of new short service system 1879; K.C.B. 5 July 1855, G.C.B. 13 March 1867; created Baron Airey of Killingworth, Northumberland 29 Nov. 1876. d. the Grange, Leatherhead 13 Sep. 1881. bur. Kensal Green cemetery 17 Sep. A. W. Kinglake’s History of the war in the Crimea (1863–75); Sir A. M. Tulloch’s The Crimean commission 1881; I.L.N. lxix, 500, (1876), portrait.

AIRLIE, David Graham Drummond, 5 or 7 Earl of. b. London 4 May 1826; succeeded 20 Aug. 1849; a representative peer for Scotland 18 March 1850 to death; F.R.G.S. 1859; K.T. 12 March 1862; high comr. to general assembly of Church of Scotland 1872–73. d. at an hotel in Denver city, Colorado 25 Sep. 1881. bur. Cortachy, Forfarshire 3 Nov.

AITCHISON, George. b. Leyton, Essex 21 Dec. 1792; student at Royal academy; clerk of the works to St. Katherine’s dock company 1827, docks were opened 25 Oct. 1828; A.I.C.E. 1828; district surveyor of Woolwich 1844. d. Muscovy court, Trinity square, London 12 June 1861. Minutes of proc. of Instit. of C.E. xxi, 569–71 (1862).

AITCHISON, Sir John (3 son of Wm. Aitchison of Drummore, East Lothian, by Jane eld. dau. of James Mylne of Langridge, East Lothian). b. 1789; ensign Scots fusilier guards 25 Oct. 1805; lieut. col. 11 Aug. 1837 to 23 Nov. 1841; commanded Mysore division of Madras army 2 June 1845 to 1851; col. 72 foot 29 Dec. 1851 to 27 Aug. 1870; general 30 July 1860; col. Scots fusilier guards 27 Aug. 1870 to death; K.C.B. 21 June 1859; G.C.B. 13 March 1867. (m. 31 Oct. 1857 Ellen Elizabeth youngest dau. of Thomas Mayhew of Fairfield house, Suffolk). d. 4 Devonshire place, London 13 May 1875.

AITKEN, David. Educ. high school and univ. of Edinburgh; D.D. 8 July 1843; licensed by presbytery of Edin. 28 March 1821; minister of parish of Minto 14 Sep. 1827 to 16 Nov. 1864; lived in Edin. 1866 to death; corresponded with Georg Hegel the German philosopher; offered chair of church history in univ. of Edin. 1843; wrote an article on German literature in Edinb. Review, xlvi, 304–51 (1827); F.R.S. Edin. 1868. d. Charlotte square, Edin. 27 March 1875.

AITKEN, John. Member of Manchester geological society 1863, pres. twice; author of part of Thomas Newbigging’s History of the forest of Rossendale 1868, and of many papers in geological periodicals. d. Clifton villas, Urmston 29 July 1884 aged 64.

AITKEN, Rev. Robert (son of Robert Aitken). b. Crailing near Jedburgh 22 Jany. 1800; a schoolmaster in Sunderland; ordained deacon by Bishop Van Mildert 1823; minister of Wesleyan Zion chapel, Waterloo road, Liverpool to 20 Dec. 1840; C. of Perranuthnoe, Cornwall 1842–44; domestic chaplain to Earl of Caithness 1844–64; minister of Episcopalian church, Coatbridge about Oct. 1847 to 1848 or 1849; V. of Pendeen, Cornwall 1849 to death; the church, of which he was the architect, was built for him by his parishioners 1854; domestic chaplain to Earl of Seafield 1864 to death; well known throughout England as a preacher of almost unrivalled fervour; author of many sermons and pamphlets. d. on platform of Great Western railway station, Paddington 11 July 1873. bur. Pendeen 18 July. Boase and Courtney’s Bibliotheca Cornubiensis i, 2 and iii, 1025; John Smith’s Our Scottish clergy 2 Series 80–87 (1849); Church Times 6 Aug. to 24 Sep. 1875.

AITKEN, Robert Dickson. b. Hawick, Roxburghshire 8 May 1801; a gardener, then a horsebreaker; left Hawick 1857; purchased estate of Reston Mains, Berwickshire, worth many thousands; tried in the sheriff court at Greenlaw 31 May 1860, for making people of Dunse believe he was heir to a large estate, when found guilty and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment with hard labour; his career was dramatised by George Duckenfield, theatrical manager; he played the chief part in this drama at Berwick and other border towns; delivered a lecture in Hawick 31 May 1864 entitled “How I did the Dunse dunces.” d. the poor house, Hawick 30 April 1879.

AITKEN, William. b. Dunbar 1814; kept a school at Ashton-under-Lyne; went to the United States 1842; grand master of the Odd-fellows there 1846; author of A journey up the Mississipi river; and of articles in the Quarterly magazine of Odd-fellows; committed suicide at Ashton 27 Sep. 1869. Quarterly magazine of Odd-fellows i, 129–32 (1858) portrait.

AITKEN, William Costen. b. Dumfries 3 March 1817; worked for R. W. Winfield of Birmingham, brassfounder 1844–64; took out a patent for ornamenting cornice poles, &c. with porcelain or glass which was much used; manager at Skidmore’s Art manufacturing company, Coventry, retired 1872; chief organiser of Industrial Exhibition at Bingley house, Birmingham 1849, from which Prince Albert took the idea of Exhibition of 1851; contributed descriptive notes signed W.C.A. to Illustrated catalogue of Great Exhibition 1851; wrote about a third of Birmingham and the Midland hardware district 1865; wrote in the Art Journal. d. Birmingham 23 March 1875. Birmingham Daily Post 24 March 1875.

AITON, John (youngest son of Wm. Aiton 1760–1848, sheriff substitute of Lanarkshire). b. Strathaven, June 1797; studied theology at univ. of Edinburgh; licensed by presbytery of Hamilton 30 Nov. 1819; minister of parish of Dolphington 14 April 1825 to death; D.D. Glasgow, March 1836; author of Life and times of Alexander Henderson 1836; Clerical Economics 1842, 2 ed. 1846; The lands of the Messiah, Mahomet, and the Pope 1852; Manual of domestic economy 1857. d. Pyrgo park, Havering, Essex 15 May 1863.

AITON, John Townsend. Gardener at Kensington palace 1831 to death. d. Kensington palace 4 July 1851 aged 74.

AKERMAN, John Yonge (son of John Akerman of St. Mary Newington, Surrey who d. 2 Nov. 1835 aged 50). b. London 12 June 1806; F.S.A. 16 Jany. 1834; started the Numismatic Journal June 1836, the first English periodical devoted to the illustration of coins; one of the secretaries of Numismatic society 1836–60, the first regular meeting was held 22 Dec. 1836; edited Journal of Numismatic Society 1837–60; and Numismatic Chronicle 1838–60; gold medallist of French Institute; joint sec. with Sir Henry Ellis of Society of Antiquaries 2 May 1848 and sole sec. 1853–24 June 1860; lived at Abingdon 1860 to death; author of Numismatic Manual 1832; Descriptive catalogue of rare Roman coins, 2 vols. 1834; Legends of old London 1853 and 18 other books; author of many papers in the Archæologia and Numismatic Journal. d. Abingdon 18 Nov. 1873. Numismatic Chronicle xiv, 13–19 (1874).

AKHURST, William. b. Hammersmith 29 Dec. 1822; went to Australia 1850; sub-editor and musical critic on the Argus daily paper in Melbourne; wrote 14 pantomimes; wrote The siege of Troy burlesque which was performed 60 nights, a run without precedent in Australia; returned to England 1870; wrote pantomimes for Astley’s, Pavilion, and Elephant and Castle theatres. d. on board the “Patriarch” on his voyage to Sydney 7 June 1878.

ALABASTER, Harry. Interpreter in consulate Bangkok Siam 30 Nov. 1864 to 31 Dec. 1871; author of The modern Buddhist, translated by H.A. 1870; The wheel of the law, Buddhism, illustrated from Siamese sources 1871. d. Bangkok Siam 8 Aug. 1884.

ALBANO, Benedetto. b. in kingdom of Naples about 1796; fled to England at the Bourbon restoration 1815; employed by Messrs. Rennie in London; naturalised by 1 & 2 Vict. cap. 42, 9 May 1838; converted Covent garden theatre into an opera house at a cost of nearly £30,000, 1846; A.I.C.E. 1831, M.I.C.E. 1840. d. 75 Welbeck st. Cavendish sq. 7 Nov. 1881.