Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 58.djvu/144

 

 VAN NOST, JOHN (d. 1780), sculptor, son of a maker of leaden figures for gardens (, Dict. of British Artists), was born in Piccadilly, London, early in the eighteenth century. About 1750 he went to Dublin, and worked there for many years as a sculptor. Among his works were a statue of Lord William Blakeney, erected in Sackville Street, but now removed; the equestrian statue of George II, now in Stephen's Green, and some minor sculpture. Redgrave erroneously says that Van Nost executed the statue of King William in College Green. He also did much of the sculpture in Dublin Castle, besides half-length statues of Thomas Prior [q. v.] and Samuel Madden [q. v.], copies of which were engraved by Charles Spooner [q. v.] He executed the statue of ‘Mr. Lawton, ex-mayor of Cork,’ in that city. He appears to have revisited England during 1780, but he died in Mecklenburgh Street, Dublin, at the end of September 1780.

 VAN RYMSDYK, JAN (fl. 1767–1778), painter and engraver, was a native of Holland, and at first practised as a portrait-painter. In 1767 he executed a mezzotint engraving of ‘Frederick Henry and Emilia Van Solms, Prince and Princess of Orange,’ from a painting by Jordaens at Devonshire House. Afterwards he settled at Bristol. His skill as a draughtsman and engraver brought him into the service of William Hunter (1718–1783) [q. v.], for whom he executed some of the admirable engravings which illustrate Hunter's ‘Anatomia Humani Gravidi Uteri,’ published in 1774. In 1778, in conjunction with his son Andrew, he published a series of plates from antiquities and curiosities in the British Museum, entitled ‘Museum Britannicum;’ a second and revised edition of this work was published in 1791.

His son, (d. 1780), gained a medal at the Society of Arts in 1767, and in 1778 exhibited two enamels at the Royal Academy. He assisted his father in his works, and died at Bath in 1780. The name is sometimes anglicised erroneously as ‘Remsdyke.’

 VANS, PATRICK, of Barnbarroch (d. 1597), lord of session and ambassador, was the second son of Sir John Vans of Barnbarroch by Janet, only child of Sir Samuel MacCulloch of Myreton, keeper of the palace of Linlithgow. He was educated for the church, and became rector of Wigton. In 1568 he succeeded to the family estates on the death of his elder brother, and on 1 Jan. 1576 he was appointed an ordinary lord of session on the spiritual side. On 21 Jan. 1587 he was admitted a member of the privy council (Reg. Privy Council, Scotl. iv. 162). In May of the same year he was sent, along with Peter Young, ambassador to Denmark, to arrange for a marriage between James VI and Anne, princess of Denmark (, Memoirs, p. 64;, Memoirs, p. 363), and, having arrived home in August (, p. 65; p. 364), he was on 1 Oct. exonerated for his proceedings in Denmark (Reg. Privy Council, Scotl. iv. 219). When the ships conveying the princess to Scotland in October 1589 were driven back by storm, and the king resolved to send a special embassy to fetch her, Vans was named one of the principal ambassadors for that purpose (ib. iv. 421), and, when the king resolved himself to embark, was especially chosen to accompany him (, History, v. 67). After witnessing the marriage, he, on the king's resolving to remain in Denmark until the spring, returned to Scotland to report the marriage to the council, arriving in Scotland on 15 Dec. (, p. 81). In 1592 he was elected a lord of the articles, and in June of the same year received an annual pension of 200l. He was again chosen a lord of the articles on 16 July 1593, and at the same time was appointed to a commission for the provision of ministers and augmentation of stipends. He died on 22 July 1597, and was succeeded by his son, Sir John Vans, one of the gentlemen of the chamber to King James.

Though the name of Sir Patrick Vans has not by any ballad editor been associated with the old ballad of ‘Sir Patrick Spens,’ the supposition that he is the hero of it is at least as probable as any other theory as to