Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 16.djvu/390

 ‘Two Hours' Herborization at Aden.’ Of the forty species he collected in that short period in so frequented a locality, no less than eleven were new to science.

He was stationed at Banda until 1850, when he was chosen one of the five commissioners for the settlement of the Punjab, first at Mooltan, and afterwards at Jullundur; but his Indian career was finally cut short by sunstroke. His chief publications were on the botany of India in the ‘Transactions’ and ‘Journal’ of the Linnean Society; on the Indian Caryophyllaceæ in the ‘Flora of British India;’ a ‘Grammar of Kashmiri,’ and a volume on ‘Pollen’ in 1878. His local lists have been warmly praised in Hooker and Thomson's introductory essay to their ‘Flora Indica.’ He died suddenly in the island of Eigg 30 July 1881.

[Proc. Linn. Soc., 1880–2, p. 63; Trimen's Journ. Bot. (1881), 288; Cat. Sci. Papers, ii. 444, vii. 594.]  EDGEWORTH, RICHARD LOVELL (1744–1817), author, was born in Pierrepoint Street, Bath, 31 May 1744. The Edgeworth family, said to have come originally from Edgware, Middlesex, had settled in Ireland about 1583. Edward Edgeworth, bishop of Down and Connor, left a fortune to his brother, Francis Edgeworth, clerk of the hanaper. The descendants of Francis Edgeworth were men of talent and vivacity, given to marrying early and often, acquiring fortunes with their wives, increasing them at court or in military service, and spending them in play. ‘Protestant Frank,’ great-grandson of the clerk of the hanaper, raised a regiment for William III, ‘married successively several wives,’ and died, leaving a son Richard, aged eight, with an encumbered inheritance. Richard Edgeworth went to the bar, by advice of a sensible guardian, lived steadily, and restored the family fortunes. He married Jane, daughter of Samuel Lovell, a Welsh judge, and had by her eight children, four of whom died early. The eldest son, Thomas, also died when Richard was in his sixth year. He thus became heir to the estate, the other two children being daughters. One of them, Margaret, afterwards married John Ruxton of Black Castle, co. Meath, and was the favourite aunt of Maria Edgeworth [q. v.] Edgeworth's first tutor was Patrick Hughes of Edgeworthstown, who had been one of Goldsmith's masters. In August 1752 he was sent to the school of a Dr. Lydiat at Warwick, afterwards to Dr. Norris's school at Drogheda, and finally to a Mr. Hynes at Longford. Though a clever lad, with a turn for mechanics, excited by an early sight of an electrical machine, he was more distinguished for physical prowess than for scholarship, and was first-rate at running, jumping, and riding. He performed many exploits of this kind during the festivities which celebrated his eldest sister's (Mary's) marriage to Francis Fox of Fox Hall, co. Longford. One night after a dance he went through a mock ceremony of marriage with the daughter of his old master Hughes (see, Goldsmith, i. 32). His father thought it necessary to get the marriage annulled by a suit of jactitation. Admission to the library at Pakenham Hall, the seat of Lord Longford, gave a more intellectual turn to his pursuits, and a violent passion for field sports soon died out. On 26 April 1761 he entered Trinity College, Dublin, as a fellow commoner, and spent six months in dissipation. He became ashamed of his waste of time, and on 10 Oct. 1761 entered Corpus College, Oxford, as a gentleman commoner. Oxford was recommended by the neighbourhood of Paul Elers, an old friend of his father's, who had given up the bar on marrying an heiress, Miss Hungerford. He now lived upon her estate, Black Bourton, near Oxford, had grown indolent, and was getting into difficulties. Edgeworth, though he took to his studies, and made valuable friendships, was often at Black Bourton. He fell in love with Elers's daughter, Anna Maria, eloped with her to Scotland, and married her in 1763 while still an undergraduate. His father forgave him after a time, and the ceremony was repeated in due form a few months later. The young couple passed a year at Edgeworthstown, apparently after the birth of his eldest son at Black Bourton in 1764. His mother died soon afterwards, and in 1765 he returned to England, and took a house at Hare Hatch, near Maidenhead. He had already repented of his marriage, but resolved to bear the evil with ‘firmness and temper.’ Mrs. Edgeworth was a good manager, but was ‘not cheerful,’ and vexed him by querulous complaints. The ‘lamenting of a female with whom we live does not render home delightful’ (Memoirs, i. 179). While at Hare Hatch, Edgeworth was keeping terms in the Temple. He made the acquaintance of Sir Francis Blake Delaval, who shared his interest in conjuring tricks and mechanical contrivances. Delaval was a man of fashion, and given to betting on the turf. A desire to know the result of a race at Newmarket led Edgeworth to invent a plan for telegraphing. He tried the experiment at Hare Hatch. It is said to have been the first attempt at telegraphic communication. He made other inventions for sailing carriages and for a kind of velocipede. Delaval's death freed him from a dangerous 