Benjamin Hoadly was an English prelate. He was born in 1676 and died in 1761. He was educated at Cambridge; took orders in 1700, and after being settled in London distinguished himself in controversy with Bishop Atterbury and others. A staunch low-churchman, he was appointed Bishop of Bangor in 1715. A sermon preached before the king in 1717 gave rise to the 'Bangorian Controversy' regarding the divine authority of the king and the church. He was translated to the see of Hereford in 1721, to Salisbury in 1723, and Winchester in 1734. Research Benjamin Hoadly
A constable was an officer of high rank in several of the mediaeval monarchies. Among the Franks, after the major domus, or mayor of the palace, had become king, the comes stabuli became the first dignitary of the crown, commander-in-chief of the armies, and highest judge in military affairs. The connetable, however, acquired so much power that Louis XIII in 1627 abolished the office entirely. Napoleon re-established it, but it vanished with his downfall.
In England the office of lord high constable was created by William the Conqueror, and became hereditary in two different families, as annexed to the earldom of Hereford. Since the attainder of Stafford, however, in 1521, lord high constables have been appointed only to officiate on special occasions. The office of lord high constable of Scotland, expressly reserved in the treaty of union, is hereditary in the noble family of Erroll.
In the common modern acceptation of the term constables are police officers in towns, counties, etc, having as their duties the repression of felonies, the keeping of the peace, the execution of legal warrants, etc. Research Constable
David Cox was an English landscape painter. He was born in 1783 at Birmingham, and died in 1859. He was apprenticed to a locket and miniature painter. He travelled for two years with Macready as a scene painter and after 1801 settled at Dulwich near London and supported himself by teaching drawing. He joined the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1813 and was drawing master at Hereford from 1814 to 1826. Later he took up painting in oils, under the influence of the painter W. Muller. In 1841 he returned to Birmingham, and to the rest of his life belong his greatest paintings, both in water-colours and in oils. His works are chiefly English landscapes, and his pictures are now very highly valued. Among some that have brought high prices are The Vale of Clwyd, Peace and War, Going to the Hayfield, Going to Market, The Skylark, The Church at Bettws-y-Coed, The Sea-shore at Rhyl. Favid Cox ranks with John Constable and a few others as among the greatest English landscape-painters of the earlier period. Research David Cox
Sir Edward Elgar was a British composer. He was born in 1857 at Broadheath, Worcestershire and died in 1934. Self-taught, for some time he acted as conductor of the Worcester Instrumental Society, and as organist at St. George's, Worcester, but when later he turned to composition he resigned both these positions. In 1892 he produced the Black Knight, and this was followed by several oratorios, cantatas, and other works, including The Light of Life, a short oratorio (Worcester Festival, 1896); King Olaf, a cantata (North Staffordshire Festival, 1896);' Imperial March (1897); Te Deum (Hereford Festival, 1897); Caractacus (Leeds Festival, 1898); and Orchestral Variations later known as 'Enigma Variations' in 1899, an orchestral work based on an unheard theme, which brought him worldwide acclaim. In 1900 his famous sacredcantata, The Dream of Gerontius, was produced at the Birmingham Festival (repeated at Dusseldorf in 1901 and at the Niederrheinische Musik Fest in 1902), and added immensely to his already considerable reputation. He went on to compose other works including 'Pomp and Circumstance', and in 1904 was knighted. Research Edward Elgar
Sir George Biddell Airy was a British astronomer. He was born in 1801 at Alnwick, Northumberland and died in 1892. Educated at Hereford, Colchester, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was senior wrangler in 1823. At Cambridge he was Lucasian professor of mathematics, and subsequently Plumian professor of astronomy and experimental philosophy, in the latter capacity having charge of the observatory. In 1835 he was appointed astronomer-royal, and as such his superintendence of the observatory at Greenwich was able and successful. He resigned this post with a pension in 1881. He wrote largely and made numerous valuable investigations on subjects connected with astronomy, physics, and mathematics. Among separate works published by him may be mentioned Popular Astronomy, On Sound and Atmospheric Vibrations, A Treatise on Magnetism, On the Vndulatory Theory of Optics, On Gravitation. Research George Airy
Henry IV was King of England from 1399 to 1413. He was born in 1367 and died in 1413. Henry IV was the eldest son of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, third son of Henry III. by the heiress of Edmund, earl of Lancaster, second son of Henry III and the first king of the house of Lancaster.
He was made Earl of Derby and Duke of Hereford, but having in 1398 preferred a charge of treason against Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, he was banished with his adversary. On the death of John of Gaunt in 1399 Richard withheld Henry's inheritance, and Henry, landing in England, gained possession of Richard's person. The deposition of Richard by parliament, and the election of Henry, was followed by the murder of the late king. A plot against the king in 1400 was discovered in time to prevent its success, and many executions of men of rank followed; but an insurrection in Wales under Owen Glendower proved more formidable.
The Scots were decisively defeated by the Percies at Homildon, and their leader, the Earl of Douglas, was captured in 1402. An order from Henry not to permit the ransom of that nobleman and other Scottish prisoners was regarded as an indignity by the Percies, who set Douglas free, made an alliance with him, and joined Glendower. The king met the insurgents at Shrewsbury in 1403, the battle ending in the defeat and death of Percy. The Earl of Northumberland was pardoned, and but few victims were executed.
A new insurrection, headed by the Earl of Nottingham and Scrope or Scroop, archbishop of York, broke out in 1405, but was suppressed by the king's third son, Prince John. The rest of this king's reign was comparatively untroubled. In 1405 James, son and heir to King Robert of Scotland, was captured at sea on his way to France, and was detained a prisoner in England. Henry died in 1413, and was succeeded by Henry V. Research Henry IV
Richard Baxter was an English nonconforming divine. He was born in 1615 at Rowton, Shropshire and died in 1691. He was ordained in 1638 and became parish minister of Kidderminster in 1640. The imposition of the oath of universal approbation of the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England (the coetera oath) detached him from the Establishment. After the battle of Naseby he accepted the chaplaincy of Colonel Whalley's regiment. He can scarcely be said, however, to have separated as yet in spirit from the Establishment. He upheld the monarchy, condemned the execution of the king and the election of Oliver Cromwell, preached against the Covenant and against separatists and sectaries, but his piety won him the respect of all parties. At the Restoration he became king's chaplain, but declined the bishopric of Hereford, and on the passage of the Act of Uniformity threw in his lot entirely with the nonconformists. In 1685 he was arrested, refused a hearing by Jeffreys, and imprisoned. After his release he lived in retirement. He left about 150 treatises, of which his Saints' Everlasting Rest and Call to the Unconverted have been the most popular. Research Richard Baxter
Thomas Traherne was an English poet. He was born in 1636 at Hereford and died in 1674. The son of a shoemaker he was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and in 1657 became rector of Credenhill near Hereford, and afterwards chaplain to Sir Orlando Bridgeman, lord keeper of the seals. Two manuscripts by Thomas Traherne were discovered on a bookstall in 1896 and were subsequently edited and published in 1903 and 1908. Research Thomas Traherne
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Hereford
