Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 13.djvu/385

 D'Aguilar, K.C.B., a distinguished officer in the Crimean war.

[Royal Military Calendar; Gent. Mag. for July 1855; for the Chinese expedition his despatch in Colburn's United Service Magazine for August 1847; information contributed by General Sir C. L. D'Aguilar.]

 DAHL, MICHAEL (1656–1743), portrait-painter, born in 1656 at Stockholm, was pupil of the Danish painter Klocker. In 1678 he came to England, and after a short residence there, travelled and studied in France and afterwards in Italy. In 1688 he settled as a portrait-painter in London, and gradually attained repute and large employment in his art. He was patronised by Princess (afterwards queen) Anne and Prince George, and by many of the nobility, in whose family galleries most of his works still extant are to be found. The portrait of Charles XI of Sweden at Windsor, the series of portraits of admirals at Hampton Court, and the portrait of Lord justice-general Mackenzie, known as Earl of Cromarty, as one of Queen Anne's secretaries of state, painted in 1708, and now in the Parliament House in Edinburgh, are from his brush. Two of his portraits of Prince George have been engraved. His own portrait is engraved in Walpole's ‘Anecdotes,’ and another and earlier portrait by himself, and a very good example of his style of work, is in the collection of Mr. Tregellas of Morlah Lodge, Brompton. His work is characterised by care in execution and faithfulness of portraiture. His colouring is good, and the accessories are rendered honestly, though in the conventional and rather tasteless style of the time. It must be confessed, however, that his work is not distinguished by either originality or genius. He was content to represent his patrons as he found them in accordance with the rules of portrait-painting as then understood, and though in regard of the number and position of his clients he has been styled the rival of Kneller, to whose practice he in fact succeeded, his want of refinement and matter-of-fact, if not commonplace style, cannot entitle him to a place in competition with the best works of that master. To imagination, the rarest gift of the portrait-painter, by virtue of which he renders on his canvas not the bodily presence merely, but even the character of his subject, Dahl can certainly lay no claim. He died in London on 20 Oct. 1743, and was buried in St. James's Church, Piccadilly. His son, also a portrait-painter, though even less gifted than his father, died three years before him.

 DAINTREE, RICHARD (1831–1878), geologist, was born at Hemingford Abbotts, Huntingdonshire, in December 1831. He was educated at the Bedford grammar school and at Christ's College, Cambridge. Suffering from delicate health in his younger days, he was recommended to try the effects of a voyage to Australia. He sailed for Melbourne, and landed there towards the end of 1852. Having a taste for scientific pursuits, he was brought into contact with Mr. A. R. C. Selwyn, the government geologist of Victoria. This acquaintance led to his being chosen by Mr. Selwyn as his assistant in 1854.

In 1856 Daintree returned to England and entered as a student in Dr. Percy's laboratory in the Royal School of Mines, in which he worked from November 1856 to May 1857. He was a zealous student, became an efficient assayer and a fairly good practical chemist, and at the same time learned photography, which he found of great use to him in his future geological surveys. In August 1857 Daintree returned to Melbourne, and in 1858 he was appointed field geologist on the geological survey of Victoria, which had been established on a firm basis by the energy of the director, Mr. A. R. C. Selwyn, and he actively worked on that survey for seven years. He commenced his work in the Western port district, especially directing his attention to the Cape Paterson coal formation. He explored the Bass river, and underwent severe privation in penetrating the dense scrubs of that district.

In 1864 Daintree resigned his position on the Victorian survey, and entered into pastoral pursuits on the river Clarke, Burdekin river, North Queensland. About this period he made an examination of the New South Wales coalfield, and studied the order of the modes of occurrence of gold in the rocks. After which he communicated to the Geological Society of London his views on the origin of these auriferous deposits. In 1869 Daintree was appointed government geologist for North Queensland. During the three years between 1869 and 1871 he examined large areas in North Queensland, including the Gilbert and Etheridge rivers and the Ravenswood district, which has since proved to be highly auriferous. In 1872 the Queensland government appointed Daintree special commissioner to the London exhibition, and in consequence he left the colony. He was appointed agent-general to the colony of Queensland in March 1872. He held that post until 1878, when he was compelled to resign it by failing health. On his retirement he was made C.M.G. A constant 