Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 12.djvu/200

 Thomas Syddall,’ and others, Edinburgh, 1750, 8vo.

 COPSI, COPSIGE, or COXO, (d. 1067), a thegn noted for his wisdom in council, administered the government of Northumberland under Tostig, the earl, at the time of the Northumbrian revolt of 1065. He lost office at the deposition of his master, and may have shared his banishment, for he is said to have taken part in Tostig's expedition against England in the spring of 1066. After the coronation of William the Conqueror, Copsi, like the other northern lords, made his submission to the new king at Barking. When William was about to visit Normandy, he granted Copsi the earldom of Bernicia, or Northumberland north of the Tyne. This grant involved the deposition of Oswulf, the descendant of the ancient earls. By thus appointing a native as his lieutenant, William hoped to gain the obedience of the yet unconquered north, while Copsi probably looked on his appointment by the Norman king simply as a means of self-aggrandisement. Having gathered an army, he marched northwards and dispossessed Oswulf, who was forced to betake himself to the forests and mountains. Before long, however, the banished earl formed a band of men, like himself of broken fortunes, and came upon Copsi unawares while he was feasting at Newburn on 12 March 1067. The earl fled for refuge to the nearest church. Oswulf's men set the church on fire, and so forced Copsi to come forth. When he came to the door, Oswulf cut off his head. The Normans, who called him ‘Coxo,’ made a hero of him, and William of Poictiers speaks in warm terms of the nobility of his birth and of his fidelity to the king, declaring that his men pressed him to side with his own people against the Conqueror, and that his death was the consequence of his faithfulness. He gave several gifts of land to the church of Durham, and a silver cup, which was there in the time of the writer of the Durham history.

 CORAM, THOMAS (1668?–1751), philanthropist, was born at Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire, in 1667 or 1668. His father is supposed to have been captain of a ship. In 1694 he was settled at Taunton, Massachusetts. By a deed dated 8 Dec. 1703 he gave fifty-nine acres of land at Taunton to be used for a schoolhouse, whenever the people should desire the establishment of the church of England. In the deed he is described as ‘of Boston, sometimes residing in Taunton,’ and he seems to have been a shipwright. He gave some books to the library at Taunton, one of which, a Book of Common Prayer, given to him by Speaker Onslow, is (or was in 1844) preserved in St. Thomas's Church, Taunton. In 1704 Coram helped to obtain an act of parliament giving a bounty on the importation of tar from the colonies. In 1719 he was stranded off Cuxhaven, when sailing for Hamburg in the Sea Flower, and the ship was plundered by the neighbouring inhabitants. He then settled in London, where he carried on business for some time. He became known for his public spirit. Old Horace Walpole (afterwards Lord Walpole) called him (18 April 1735) ‘the honestest, most disinterested, most knowing person about the plantations he had ever talked with’ (, Walpole, iii. 243). He obtained an act of parliament taking off the prohibition upon deal from Germany and the Netherlands. In 1732 he was appointed one of the trustees for Georgia, then founded through Oglethorpe's exertions. In 1735 he brought forward a scheme for settling unemployed English artisans in Nova Scotia. The plan was approved by the board of trade, and after being dropped for a time was carried out before Coram's death. Brocklesby also states that on some occasion he obtained a change in the colonial regulations in the interest of English hatters, and refused to take any reward from his clients except a hat. Meanwhile he had become interested in another object. Going into the city upon business he had been frequently shocked by the sight of infants exposed in the streets, often in a dying state. He began to agitate for the foundation of a foundling hospital. He laboured for seventeen years, and induced many ladies of rank to sign a memorial (given in ‘Account of Foundling Hospital,’ 1826). A charter was at last obtained, considerable sums subscribed, and the first meeting of the guardians was held at Somerset House 20 Nov. 1739. At a later court a vote of thanks was presented to Coram, who requested that thanks should also be given to the ladies interested. Some houses were first taken in Hatton Garden, where children were first admitted in 1741. A piece of land was bought for 7,000l. Lord Salisbury, the owner, insisted that the whole of his ground ‘as far as Gray's Inn Lane’ should be taken; but he subscribed 500l. himself. The foundation was laid 16 Sept. 1742. The west wing was finished, and the 