Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Blessington, Marguerite, countess of

(Encyclopedia)Blessington, Marguerite, countess of, 1789–1849, English author and famous beauty, b. Ireland. At the age of 14 she was forced by her father into marriage with Capt. Maurice St. Leger Farmer, a sadi...

Lauderdale, John Maitland, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Lauderdale, John Maitland, duke of lôˈdərdāl [key], 1616–82, Scottish statesman. He entered public life as a staunch Presbyterian and was one of the commissioners who signed the Solemn League an...

Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 3d duke of

(Encyclopedia)Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 3d duke of, 1473–1554, English nobleman, prominent in the reign of Henry VIII; son of Thomas Howard, the 2d duke. He married (1495) a daughter of Edward IV and thus became br...

Chatham, William Pitt, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Chatham, William Pitt, 1st earl of chătˈəm [key], 1708–78, British statesman, known as the Great Commoner. Proud, dramatic, and patriotic, Chatham excelled as a war minister and orator. He was th...

Plumb, Sir John Harold

(Encyclopedia)Plumb, Sir John Harold, 1911–2001, British historian. Educated at the universities of Leicester (B.A., 1933) and Cambridge (Ph.D., 1936), he remained at Cambridge as a research fellow from 1938 and ...

Keith, James Francis Edward

(Encyclopedia)Keith, James Francis Edward, 1696–1758, Scottish field marshal of Prussia; brother of George Keith, 10th earl marischal [marshal] of Scotland. He participated in the Jacobite uprising of 1715 and in...

Overbury, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Overbury, Sir Thomas, 1581–1613, English author and courtier. He was a friend and adviser to Robert Carr, an Oxford acquaintance. The two quarreled violently when Overbury disapproved of Carr's marr...

Cornbury, Edward Hyde, Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Cornbury, Edward Hyde, Viscount kôrnˈbərē [key], 1661–1723, colonial governor of New York and New Jersey (1702–8). Appointed governor by William III, he became extremely unpopular, and his adm...

Winchilsea, Anne Finch, countess of

(Encyclopedia)Winchilsea, Anne Finch, countess of wĭnˈchəlsē [key], 1661–1720, English poet. In 1684 she married Heneage Finch, who became (1712) 4th earl of Winchilsea. Though her friendships extended to the...

Surrey, Henry Howard, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Surrey, Henry Howard, earl of, 1517?–1547, English poet; son of Thomas Howard, 3d duke of Norfolk. His irascibility and continuous vaunting of his descent from Edward I resulted in his imprisonment ...
 

Browse by Subject