BLAIR, WILLIAM ROBERT; b. 29 May 1811; adm. 25 Sep 1822 (Singleton's).
Bovill, Elliot Charles, 1848-1893
BOVILL, SIR ELLIOT CHARLES, brother of William Edward Bovill (qv); b. 23 Apr 1848; adm. 28 Jan 1857 [check]; QS 1863; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1867, matr. 12 Jun 1867; BA 1871; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 23 Apr 1869, called to bar 27 Jan 1873; equity draughtsman and conveyancer; hon. sec., Elizabethan Club, 1873-9; Assist. Judicial Commissioner, Cyprus, 1879-81, Judicial Commissioner 1881-3, Chief Justice 1883-92; knighted 11 Aug 1884; Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements from 13 Aug 1892 ; m. 27 Jul 1876 Anna, younger dau. of Rev. John Tahourdin White DD, Rector of St. Martin’s, Ludgate, London; d. at Singapore 24 Mar 1893.
Brett, William Baliol, 1815-1899
BRETT, WILLIAM BALIOL, 1ST VISCOUNT ESHER, brother of Wilford George Brett (qv); b. 13 Aug 1815; adm. (G) 11 Jan 1830; Gonville and Caius Coll. Cambridge, adm. pens. 25 Jun 1835, matr. Mich. 1835; rowed in Cambridge eight against Leander 1837, 1838, and against Oxford 1839; stroked the Cambridge Subscription Rooms eight which won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley 1841; BA 1840; MA 1845; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 30 Apr 1839, called to bar 29 Jan 1846, Bencher 1861-8; Northern circuit; QC 22 Feb 1861; contested (Cons) Rochdale 1865; MP (Cons) Helston 5 Jul 1866 - Aug 1868; Solicitor-Gen., 10 Feb - Aug 1868; knighted 29 Feb 1868; Serjeant-at-law; Justice of the Common Pleas 24 Aug 1868-75; Judge of the High Court, Queen’s Bench Division, 1875-6; Lord Justice of Appeal 27 Oct 1876 - Apr 1883; Privy Councillor 28 Nov 1876; Master of the Rolls 3 Apr 1883 - Oct 1897; cr. Baron Esher 24 Jul 1885; cr. Viscount Esher 11 Nov 1897; Hon. Fellow, Gonville and Caius Coll., 7 Oct 1886; a Busby Trustee 18 May 1886 - Jun 1890; m. 3 Apr 1850 Eugénie, only dau. of Louis Mayer, Lyon, France, and step-dau. of Col. John Gurwood CB; d. 24 May 1899. DNB.
BRITTON, JAMES, only son of Rev. James Britton, Head Master of Durham GS, subsequently Vicar of Bossall, Yorkshire North Riding, and Isabella, sister of Henry Forster Mills (qv); b. 25 Oct 1790; in school list 1803; KS (aged 14) 1805; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1809, matr. 17 May 1809; BA 1813; MA 1815; ordained deacon 6 Mar 1812 (Chester, lit. dim. from York), priest 18 Dec 1814 (York); Curate, Ware, Herts.; Vicar of Great Bardfield, Essex, 17 Jul 1829-40; m. 22 Aug 1818 Julia, dau. of Richard Down, Bartholomew Lane, London, banker; d. 18 May 1871.
Brown, George Francis, 1828-1872
BROWN, GEORGE FRANCIS, son of John Brown, Batcombe, Somerset; b. 12 Nov 1828; adm. 28 Sep 1841 (Scott's); QS 1843; elected to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1847, adm. pens. 13 May 1847, scholar 1848, matr. 1847; ordained deacon 1854 (Guiana), priest 1857 (Bath & Wells); Curate, St. Ives, Cornwall, 1859, subsequently Batcombe, Somerset, and Bridport, Dorset; d. 14 Jun 1872.
Brown, Langton Edward, 1808-1886
BROWN, LANGTON EDWARD, brother of Walter Lucas Brown (qv); b. 3 Aug 1808; adm. 24 Sep 1822 (Singleton's); KS 1823; elected to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1827, adm. pens. 29 May 1827, scholar 1828; BA 1832; ordained deacon 1832, priest 1833 (both Oxford); various curacies 1832-44; Vicar of Dormington with Bartestree, Herefs., from 8 Oct 1844; m. 23 Sep 1855 Christianna Rachel, youngest dau. of Rev. Charles John Bird, Rector of Mordiford, Herefs.; d. 10 May 1886.
BRUCE, THOMAS, 7TH EARL OF ELGIN AND 11TH EARL OF KINCARDINE (S), second son of Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin and 9th Earl of Kincardine (S), and Martha, dau. of Thomas Whyte, London, banker; b. 20 Jul 1766; succ. elder brother as 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine (S), 15 Jul 1771; adm. 5 Oct 1778, having previously been at Harrow Sch.; left 1782; St. Andrews Univ.; Univ. Paris; Ensign, 3rd Foot Guards, 6 Apr 1785; Capt., 65th Foot, 9 May 1789; Maj., local rank on continent, 8 May 1793; Lieut. -Col., Elgin’s Fencible Infantry, 28 Nov 1794-1802, and also of a second Regt. Fencible Infantry, which he raised, 17 Apr 1795-1802; Brevet Col., 29 Apr 1802; Maj. -Gen., 25 Oct 1809; Lieut. -Gen., 4 Jun 1814; Gen., 10 Jan 1837; a Scottish Representative Peer 1790-1807, 1820-41; British Envoy on special mission to Vienna 1790-1; Envoy to Brussels, 18 Aug 1792-4; Minister Plenipotentiary to Berlin, 15 Aug 1795-8; Ambassador to Constantinople, 13 Apr 1799- Jan 1803; Privy Councillor 3 Jul 1799; while in Constantinople employed agents to acquire for him the Elgin Marbles (purchased from him by the British Government in 1816 and deposited in the British Museum); while on way home to Britain from Turkey, detained in France as prisoner of war May 1803- Jun 1806; m. 1st, 11 Mar 1799 Mary, only child of William Nisbet MP, Dirleton, Haddingtonshire; m. 2nd, 21 Sep 1810 Elizabeth, youngest dau. of James Townshend Oswald MP, Dunnikier, Fifeshire; d. at Paris 14 Nov 1841. DNB.
BRYDGES, JAMES, 1ST DUKE OF CHANDOS, fourth but eldest surviving son of James Brydges, 8th Baron Chandos, Ambassador to Constantinople, and Elizabeth, eldest dau. of Sir Henry Bernard, Kt., Bridgnorth, Shropshire, Turkey merchant; b. 6 Jan 1673/4; adm. 1686; an interesting letter, written by his father from Constantinople, confides his “three poor little boys (all the treasure the kind God of his kind mercy hath spared me)” to Richard Busby (qv), then Head Master (GM 1792, i, 39); New Coll. Oxford, matr. 21 Jun 1690; FRS 30 Nov 1694; MP Hereford Jul 1698 - 16 Oct 1714; member, Council to Lord High Admiral, 29 Mar 1703 - 5 Apr 1705; Paymaster-Gen. of the Forces Abroad, 10 May 1705 – Sep 1713; succ. father as 9th Baron Chandos 16 Oct 1714; cr. Earl of Carnarvon 19 Oct 1714 and Duke of Chandos 29 Apr 1719; Lord Lieut., Herefordshire 11 Sep 1721 - 16 Jul 1741, and of Radnorshire from 11 Sep 1721; Privy Councillor 11 Nov 1721; Chancellor, Univ. of St. Andrews; the “princely” Chandos expended some £200, 000 in building his country house at Canons, near Edgware, Middlesex; Handel spent two years there composing anthems for the chapel, and writing Esther, his first English oratorio; Defoe describes the splendour of the house in his Tour through England, and Pope refers to it as “Timon’s Villa” in his Epistle to Lord Burlington; m. 1st, 27 Feb 1695/6 Mary, dau. of Sir Thomas Lake, Kt., Canons, Whitchurch, Middlesex; m. 2nd, 4 Aug 1713 Cassandra, dau. of Francis Willoughby FRS, naturalist, Wollaton, Notts. ; m. 3rd, Apr 1736 Lydia Catharine, widow of Sir Thomas Davall MP, and dau. of John Vanhatten; d. 9 Aug 1744. DNB.
BULL, HENRY EDWARD, elder son of Henry Bull (qv); b. 8 Mar 1843; adm. 4 Oct 1856 (James'); Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 16 Oct 1861; played cricket v. Cambridge 1863, and for Gentlemen v. Players 1864; hon. sec. and treasurer, Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club; landowner; JP (1889) Buckinghamshire; m. 1st, 24 Sep 1867 Florentia, elder dau. of William Watts, Hanslope Park, Bucks.; m. 2nd, by 1881, Caroline H. ---; d. 31 May 1905.
BURDETT, SIR FRANCIS, BART., brother of Robert Burdett (adm. 1776, qv); b. 25 Jan 1770; adm. 16 Sep 1778; expelled as one of the ringleaders of the rebellion “up School” against Samuel Smith (qv), Head Master, autumn 1786; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 13 Dec 1785; Grand Tour (France, Italy) 1789-91; succ. his grandfather as 5th baronet, 15 Feb 1797; MP Boroughbridge 1796-1802, Middlesex 1802- 9 Jul 1804, 4 Mar 1805 - 10 Feb 1806, Westminster 1807-37, Wiltshire North from 1837; denounced the war with France, and frequently protested against the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act; imprisoned on political charges in 1810 and 1820; a zealous advocate of parliamentary reform, and of Catholic emancipation; a vehement opponent of flogging in the army, and corruption in parliament; a staunch Radical until the passage of the Reform Act of 1832, but afterwards became a strong Tory and “thanked God there was another House”; m. 5 Aug 1793 Sophia, youngest dau. of Thomas Coutts, London, banker; d. 23 Jan 1844. DNB.