Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 32.djvu/441

Leigh  was suspended (see Cal. Committee for Compounding, ii. 1499). He died on 21 Dec. 1653, and was buried in the chancel of Newnham Church. He married, first, Susan, daughter of Richard Norman, esq., by whom he had no issue, and secondly, Audrey, daughter and coheir of John, baron Butler of Bramfield; she died 16 Sept. 1652, leaving two daughters, Elizabeth, second wife of, fourth earl of Southampton [q. v.], and Mary, wife of George Villiers, fourth viscount Grandison, whose granddaughter married Robert Pitt, and was mother of the first Earl of Chatham. The earldom devolved, according to a special limitation, upon Leigh's son-in-law, the Earl of Southampton; the barony of Dunsmore, together with the baronetcy, became extinct.

[Colvile's Warwickshire Worthies, p. 506, with authorities there given; Burke's Extinct Peerage, p. 319; Rogers's Protests of the Lords, p. 12; Commons' Journals, iii. 573, 666; Fuller's Worthies, ed. Nichols, ii. 423; Nugent's Memorials of Hampden (Bohn), p. 262; Clarendon's History, passim.]  LEIGH, HENRY SAMBROOKE (1837–1883), author and dramatist, son of [q. v.], was born in London on 29 March 1837, and at an early age engaged in literary pursuits. From time to time appeared collections of his lyrics, under the titles of ‘Carols of Cockayne,’ 1869 (several editions); ‘Gillott and Goosequill,’ 1871; ‘A Town Garland. A Collection of Lyrics,’ 1878; and ‘Strains from the Strand. Trifles in Verse,’ 1882. His verse was always fluent, but otherwise of very slender merit.

For the stage he translated many French comic operas. His first theatrical essay was in collaboration with Charles Millward in a musical spectacle for the Theatre Royal, Birmingham. His ‘Falsacappa,’ music by Offenbach, was produced at the Globe Theatre on 22 April 1871; ‘Le Roi Carotte’ at the Alhambra on 3 June 1872; ‘Bridge of Sighs,’ opera-bouffe, at the St. James's, 18 Nov. 1872; ‘White Cat,’ a fairy spectacle, at the Queen's, Long Acre, on 2 Dec. 1875; ‘Voyage dans la Lune,’ opera-bouffe, at the Alhambra, on 15 April 1876; ‘Fatinitza,’ opera-bouffe (the words were printed), adapted from the German, at the Alhambra on 20 June 1878; ‘The Great Casimir,’ a vaudeville, at the Gaiety, on 27 Sept. 1879; ‘Cinderella,’ an opera, with music by J. Farmer, at St. James's Hall, on 2 May 1884 (the words were published in 1882); ‘The Brigands,’ by H. Meilhac and L. Halévy, adapted to English words by Leigh, was printed in 1884. For ‘Lurette,’ a comic opera, Avenue, 24 March 1883, he wrote the lyrics; and with Robert Reece he produced ‘La Petite Mademoiselle,’ comic opera, Alhambra, on 6 Oct. 1879. He edited ‘Jeux d'Esprit written and spoken by French and English Wits and Humorists,’ in 1877, and wrote Mark Twain's ‘Nightmares’ in 1878.

His last theatrical venture—a complete failure—was ‘The Prince Methusalem,’ a comic opera, brought out at the Folies Dramatiques (now the Kingsway), Great Queen Street, London, on 19 May 1883. He was a Spanish, Portuguese, and French scholar, a brilliant and witty conversationalist, and a humorous singer. He died in his rooms in Lowther's private hotel, 35 Strand, London, on 16 June 1883, and was buried in Brompton cemetery on 22 June.

[Era, 23 June 1883, p. 8; Illustrated London News, 30 June 1883, p. 648, with portrait.]  LEIGH, JAMES MATHEWS (1808–1860), painter and author, born in 1808, was nephew of the elder [q. v.], and the son of a well-known bookseller in the Strand. He studied painting under, R.A. [q. v.], and adopted the line of historical painting. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1830, sending 'Joseph presenting his Brethren to Pharaoh' and 'Jephthah's Vow.' Soon after he made a long visit to the continent to study the works of the old masters. About this time also he devoted himself to literature, and published privately in 1838 'Cromwell,' an historical play in five acts, and later 'The Rhenish Album.' After a second visit to the continent Leigh resumed work as a painter, and continued to send sacred subjects or portraits to the Royal Academy and other exhibitions up to 1849. Leigh is better known as a teacher of drawing than as a painter. He started a well-known painting school in Newman Street, Oxford Street, which was largely attended, and was a formidable rival to the better-known school kept by [q. v.] Leigh died in London on 20 April 1860. His son, Henry Sambrooke Leigh, is separately noticed.

[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Graves's Dict. of Artists, 1700-1880; obituary notices; Royal Academy Catalogues.]  LEIGH, JARED (1724–1769), amateur artist, apparently the son of Jared Leigh, was born in 1724. His father is said to have descended from the family of Leigh of West Hall, Cheshire. He became a proctor in Doctors' Commons, and died prematurely 1 May 1769; he was buried in St. Andrew's Wardrobe. He was married and left issue; one of his daughters married Francis