Adams, William Davenport (1851–1904), journalist and compiler of reference works, was born at Park Terrace, New Park Road, Brixton, on 28 December 1851, the elder surviving son of William Henry Davenport Adams (1828–1891), then a private tutor, and his wife, Sarah Esther, née...
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Lewis Melville
revised by Nilanjana Banerji
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Brown, James Duff (1862–1914), librarian and compiler of music reference books, was born on 6 November 1862 at 3 Reid Terrace, Stockbridge, Edinburgh, the second of seven children of James Brown of St Fergus, Aberdeenshire, a bookkeeper, and his wife, Margaret Douglas of ...
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Chisholm, Hugh (1866–1924), journalist and editor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, was born at 21 Harewood Square, London, on 22 February 1866. His father, Henry Williams Chisholm (1809–1901), became a senior civil servant, chief clerk of the exchequer, and author of The Great Account of Annual Public Income and Expenditure from 1688 to 1869...
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Gilbert, Richard (c. 1794–1852), printer and editor of reference works, was born in St John's Square, Clerkenwell, London, the second son of Robert Gilbert, printer. His mother's name is not known. He had at least one sister, whose name is unknown. He began his working life as an accountant for the ...
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L. C. Sanders
revised by H. C. G. Matthew
Gorton, John G. (d. 1835
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Sir John Alexander Hammerton (1871–1949) by Howard Coster, 1945 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Bridget Hadaway
revised
Hammerton, Sir John Alexander (1871–1949), author and editor of reference works, was born in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire, on 27 February 1871, the second in a family of two sons and one daughter of James Hammerton (1832/3–1874/5), clog maker of Oldham, and his second wife, ...
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Robin Myers
Haydn, Joseph Timothy (1788/1793–1856), newspaper editor and compiler of reference works, was born in Lisbon on 24 November 1788 or 1793, the son of Thomas Haydn, an expatriate protestant Irishman. In 1809 he fled Napoleon's invading army in a 'once-Danish frigate' sailing to ...
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Gillian Thomas
Hogarth [married name Courtney], Janet Elizabeth (1865–1954), writer and encyclopaedia editor, was born on 27 November 1865 at Barton upon Humber, Lincolnshire, the second daughter and fifth child of the Revd George Hogarth (1827–1902), rector of Barton, and his wife, Jane Elizabeth (1834–1921)...
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Jones, Stephen (1763–1827), journal editor and compiler of reference works, was born in London and baptized at St Martin-in-the-Fields on 25 October 1763, the son of Giles Jones [see under Jones, Griffith], author, and Ellen Jane Maria Fewtrell. His uncle was ...
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Maker: Frederick Hollyer
Sir Sidney Lee (1859–1926) by Frederick Hollyer V&A Images, The Victoria and Albert Museum
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Alan Bell and Katherine Duncan-Jones
Lee, Sir Sidney (1859–1926), second editor of the Dictionary of National Biography and literary scholar, was born Solomon Lazarus Lee at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London, on 5 December 1859, the elder son of Lazarus Lee, merchant, and his wife, Jessie Davis. He had a younger brother and four sisters, of whom the eldest of the family, ...
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Maunder, Samuel (1785–1849), compiler of reference works, belonged to a Devon family settled near Barnstaple. His sister Ann married William Pinnock, well known in his time as the promoter of the educational Catechisms, published in eighty-three parts between 1837 and 1849. Maunder took part in their preparation, although ...
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Charlotte Fell-Smith
revised by Stephen Roberts
Philp, Robert Kemp (1819–1882), Chartist and compiler of reference works, was born in Falmouth on 14 June 1819, the son of Henry Philp (1793–1836), a shoemaker, and his wife, Elizabeth. His grandfather, Robert Kemp Philp (1769–1850), was the Unitarian minister of Falmouth and one of the earliest supporters of ragged schools....
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Platts, John (1775–1837), Unitarian minister and compiler of reference works, was born at Boston, Lincolnshire. For seven or eight years he officiated as a Calvinist minister there, but then became a Unitarian. Ordained by Charles Wellbeloved and Robert Aspland, he ministered at Spain Lane Chapel...
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G. Le G. Norgate
revised by Elizabeth Baigent
Potts, Thomas (1778–1842), compiler of reference works, was the son of Edward Potts (1721–1819) of Glanton, near Alnwick, Northumberland. Thomas Potts was a solicitor, and at one time was connected with Skinners' Hall. In 1803 he lived in Camden Town, and he later lived at ...
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Sir Leslie Stephen (1832–1904) by George Charles Beresford, 1902 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Stephen, Sir Leslie (1832–1904), author, literary critic, and first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, was born at his father's house in Kensington Gore, later 42 Hyde Park Gate, London, on 28 November 1832. His grandfather was James Stephen (1758–1832), master in ...
