Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Everest, Sir George ēvˈrəst [key], 1790–1866, British surveyor, b. Breconshire, Wales. He worked on the trigonometrical survey of India from 1806 to 1843. He became superintendent of the survey i...

(Encyclopedia) Davies, Sir John dāˈvĭs [key], 1569–1626, English poet. A successful lawyer, he served as solicitor general and attorney general in Ireland from 1603 to 1619. His works include Nosce Teipsum (159...

(Encyclopedia) Pepperrell, Sir William, 1696–1759, American colonial military commander, b. Kittery Point, Maine (then part of Massachusetts). A wealthy merchant, landowner, and businessman, he became a colonel in...

(Encyclopedia) Dunster, Henry, c.1612–1659, first president of Harvard, b. Lancashire, England, educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge (M.A., 1634). He emigrated to New England in 1640 and was almost at once (Au...

(Encyclopedia) Carey, Henry, 1687–1743, English author. After the first collection of his poems appeared in 1713, he turned to writing for the stage. Primarily a writer of farce comedy, his greatest success was Ch...

(Encyclopedia) Treece, Henry, 1912–66, English poet and novelist. He served as an intelligence officer in the Royal Air Force during World War II, after which he taught school for many years. He is noted chiefly f...

(Encyclopedia) Purcell, Henry pûrˈsəl [key], c.1659–1695, English composer and organist. Often considered England's finest native composer, Purcell combined a great gift for lyrical melody with harmonic inventi...

(Encyclopedia) Napier, Sir Charles James nāˈpēr, nəpērˈ [key], 1782–1853, British general; brother of Sir William Napier. He served with distinction in the Napoleonic Wars. Stationed (1822–30) on the Greek...

(Encyclopedia) McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold, 1819–1907, British arctic explorer. As a lieutenant in the navy he was assigned to his first arctic service in 1848, when Sir James Clark Ross went in search of the ...

(Encyclopedia) Henry I, 1068–1135, king of England (1100–1135), youngest son of William I. He was called Henry Beauclerc because he could write. He quarreled with his elder brothers, William II of England and Ro...