DONELLAN, JOHN, son of Lieut. -Col. --- Donellan; b. 6 Nov 1737; adm. Jan 1750/1 (Porten's); in school list 1752; RMA Woolwich; Gent. Cadet 4 Mar 1753; Ensign, 39th Foot 13 Nov 1755; Capt. Company of Foot, EICS Bengal 15 Dec 1757; served on expedition to Golconda and wounded at Chumbole 14 Dec 1758; court-martialled and dismissed the service 28 Apr 1759; on return to England became known as “Diamond” Donellan from a stone which he brought back from India; Master of Ceremonies at Brighton, and at The Pantheon, Oxford Street, London; restored to rank of Capt, half-pay, 39th Foot, c. 1772; convicted at Warwick Assizes Mar 1781 of having poisoned his brother-in-law Sir Theodosius Edward Allesley Boughton, Bart., at Lawford Hall, Warwickshire, with a dose of laurel water; m. Jun 1777 Theodosia, only dau. of Sir Edward Boughton, Bart.; hanged at Warwick 2 Apr 1781. [Perhaps bapt. Saddleworth, Yorks., 3 Nov 1737 (sic), son of Richard Donellan and Mary Whitehead (IGI)]

GIBBON, EDWARD, only son of Edward Gibbon (qv), and his first wife; b. 27 Apr 1737; adm. Jan 1747/8 (Porten's); left Aug 1750, on account of ill-health; Magdalen Coll. Oxford, adm. fellow commoner 3 Apr 1752; received into Roman Catholic church 8 Jun 1752, but returned to Protestantism at Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1753; became attached to Susanne Curchod (afterwards Mme Necker), but at his father’s wish the engagement was broken off; adm. to Academy, Lausanne 1 Dec 1756; officer in Hampshire Militia 12 Jun 1759-70; author, Essai sur l’Etude de la Litterature, 1761; met John Baker Holroyd (afterwards Lord Sheffield) at Lausanne 1764; in Italy 1764-5; the idea of writing on the decline and fall of the Roman Empire first occurred to him when in Rome on 15 Oct 1764; author, Mémoires Littéraires de la Grande Bretagne, 1767-8, jointly with his Swiss friend Deyverdun; author, Critical Observations on the Sixth Book of the Aeneid, 1770, attacking Warburton; settled in London 1772; elected to The Club 1774; MP Liskeard 1774-80, Lymington 25 Jun 1781-4; a Commissioner for Trade and Foreign Plantations 6 Jul 1779 - Jun 1782; Professor of Ancient History, Royal Academy, from 1787; FSA 20 Nov 1788, FRS 27 Nov 1788; author, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1776-87, 4 vols.; defended the chapters on Christianity in a Vindication, 1779; retired to Lausanne 1783; his Miscellaneous Works, edited by his friend Lord Sheffield, and including his Memoirs of My Life and Writings, were published in 1796; d. unm. 16 Jan 1794. DNB.

ADEANE, JAMES WHORWOOD, only son of Simon Adeane, Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, and Mary, dau. of Hon. Henry Brydges (qv); bapt. 14 Dec 1740; adm. (aged 9) Jun 1750 (Porten's); in school list 1754; entered army 1755; Lieut., 71st Foot 29 Sep 1757; Capt., 67th Foot 22 Feb 1761; Lieut. & Capt., 1st Troop Horse, Grenadier Guards 21 Dec 1763; Maj., 8 Jun 1768; Capt. & Lieut. -Col., 1 Aug 1770; Col., 19 Feb 1779; ADC to King George III 27 Feb 1779; Maj-Gen., 20 Nov 1782; Col., 45th Foot, from 11 Sep 1788; Lieut. -Gen., 3 May 1796; Gen., 1801; an Extra Groom of the Bedchamber 20 Aug 1784 - Jan 1788, Groom of the Bedchamber from 20 Jan 1788; MP Cambridge 1780 - May 1789, Cambridgeshire from 19 May 1789; of Babraham, Cambs.; m. 5 Mar 1763 Anne, dau. of Robert Jones MP, Babraham, Cambs.; d. 15 Apr 1802.

BERTIE, HON. PEREGRINE FRANCIS, brother of Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon (qv); b. 13 Mar 1741; adm. (aged 9) Sep 1750 (Porten's); in school list 1754; entered Royal Navy; Lieut., 17 Dec 1759; Cdr., 1 Jan 1762; Capt., 6 Nov 1762, commanding HMS Shannon; travelling in Italy 1765; MP Oxford from 1774; m. 7 May 1790 Elizabeth, dau. of William Hutchins, Yattendon, Berks.; d. 20 Aug 1790.

BERTIE, WILLOUGHBY, 4TH EARL OF ABINGDON, second son of Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon, and Anna Maria, dau. of Sir John Collins, Kt.; nephew of William Bertie (qv); b. 16 Jan 1740; adm. Jun 1750; (Porten's, Jones); in school list 1754; Magdalen Coll. Oxford, matr. 29 Jan 1759; MA 20 Jan 1761; succ. his father as 4th Earl of Abingdon 10 Jan 1760; in Italy and Switzerland 1763-5 and again 1770; a friend and supporter of John Wilkes MP; spoke frequently in House of Lords in defence of popular rights, and opposed Government policy on America; sympathised with the French Revolution; sentenced to three months’ imprisonment and a fine of £100 for libelling an attorney whom he had once employed, 12 Jan 1795; a curious satire on the Earl’s career, entitled An Adieu to the Turf, was published anonymously in 1778 (see Notes and Queries, 12th ser., iv, 16, 55); author of Thoughts on Mr Burke’s Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol on the Affairs in America, 1777, and other pamphlets; m. 7 Jul 1768 Charlotte, dau. of Vice Adm. Sir Peter Warren KB MP; d. 26 Sep 1799. DNB.

BYNG, GEORGE, 4TH VISCOUNT TORRINGTON, elder son of George Byng, 3rd Viscount Torrington, Major-Gen. in the Army, and Elizabeth, dau. of Lionel Daniel; b.; adm. (aged 8) May 1749 (Porten's); in school list 1754; succ. father as 4th Viscount Torrington, 17 Apr 1750; Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. nob. 28 Oct 1757, matr. 1757; MA 1759; Grand Tour (Italy) 1760-1; Minister Plenipotentiary at Brussels, 31 Jul 1782 - Jun 1792; m. 10 Jul 1765 Lady Lucy Boyle, only dau. of John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork and 5th Earl of Orrery (qv); d. 14 Dec 1812.

CHESTER, HENRY, eldest son of Henry Chester, Briggins Park, Hunsdon, Herts., and Mary Thomas; b. 26 Feb 1738/9; adm. Jun 1751 (Porten's); in school list 1754; apprenticed to Richard Ivatt (qv), Six Clerks’ Office, 8 Aug 1755; a clerk in the Six Clerks’ Office; of Eversley, Hampshire, later of West Lavington, Wilts.; m. 24 Jun 1760 Hetty, eldest dau. of William de Billinghurst, Mitchen Hall, Peper Harow, Surrey; d. 28 Oct 1786.

CONYBEARE, WILLIAM, son of Right Rev. John Conybeare DD, Bishop of Bristol and Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and Jemima, dau. of William Juckes, Hoxton Square, London; b. 23 Sep 1739; adm. Jan 1752 (Porten's); KS 1752; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1757, matr. 8 Jun 1757, Westminster Student 5 Jan 1758 - void 21 Aug 1778, Tutor 1767-74, Junior Censor 1765-6, Senior Censor 1769-70, Librarian 1776; BA 1761; MA 1764; BD and DD 1775; Proctor 1770; ordained deacon 10 Oct 1762, priest 17 Jun 1764 (both Oxford); Prebendary of York 2 Oct 1769 – res 13 Jul 1803; Curate, Drayton, Oxfordshire, 1774, Cowley, Oxfordshire 1774; Rector of St. Botolph’s, Bishopsgate, London, from 1 Aug 1776; m. 19 Aug 1778 Margaret Esther, dau. of Daniel Josias Olivier (qv); d. 5 Apr 1815.

COOKES, THOMAS, son of Henry Cookes, Leytonstone, Essex, and Jane, dau. of Robert Magraith, Loughlougher Castle, co. Tipperary; b. 2 Apr 1735; adm. Jun 1749 (Porten's); in school list 1752 (as Cooke); Worcester Coll. Oxford, matr. 15 Jun 1754; ordained deacon 1776 (Canterbury) to curacy Swalecliffe, Kent, priest 1777 (lit. dim. from Caterbury); Rector of Notgrove, Gloucs.; m. 14 Feb 1765 Anne, only dau. of John Denham, Welling, Kent; d. 1 Dec 1809.

COURTENAY, HENRY REGINALD, second son of Henry Reginald Courtenay (qv); b. 27 Nov 1741; adm. Apr 1751 (Porten's); Min. Can. 1754; KS 1755; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1759, matr. 19 Jun 1759, Westminster Student 5 Jan 1760 - void 26 Jan 1769 (expiry year of grace as R. Sapperton), Tutor 1763-7; BA 1763; MA 1766; DCL 1774; Rector of Sapperton, Gloucs., 1768-73; Prebendary of Exeter 1772-94; Prebendary of Rochester Sep 1773 - Jun 1774, Sep 1783 - Mar 1797; Rector of Lee, Kent, from 1773; Chaplain to King George III (occurs -1773-93-); Rector of St. George’s, Hanover Square, London, from 6 Jun 1774; consecrated Bishop of Bristol, 11 May 1794; translated to Exeter 10 Mar 1797; m. 20 Jan 1774 Lady Elizabeth Howard, dau. of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham; d. 9 Jun 1803. DNB.