Page:History and characteristics of Bishop Auckland.djvu/187

 160 HISTORY OP BISHOP AUCKLAND. appointed Surveyor-General, and held that office till 1827, when grief for the loss of his beloved wife induced him to resign and return to England. He resided for some time in the city of Durham ; and in June, 1842, in consideration of his distinguished character as a man of science, he was admitted to the honorary degree of M. A. in the University of Durham. In 1845, having the rank of Major-General, and being colonel of the 14th regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, he was appointed to the command of the district of Rohilcund, and died at Umballah on the 20th of March, 1848, in the 71st year of his age. EALPH SHERWOOD. Ealph Sherwood was the second son of Thomas Sherwood,* Esq., surgeon, and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of Ralph Bowser, Esq., and was bom at Bishop Auckland on the 3rd of April, 1798. He received a liberal education, first at the Grammar School in this town, and subse- quently at Witton-le-Wear, under the Rev. John Farrer. He was in his boyhood what is generally termed a scamp, beiog particularly fond of playing practical jokes, and was usually the first to lead the van when any bonfires or other school-boy amusements were on the tapis. He was destined, like his father, for the medical profession ; and, with this view, he studied for some time in London. He was afterwards removed to Edinburgh, where he' studied anatomy imder James Wilson, Esq., at St George's Hospital. At that place, his quickness and talent, his great attention to anatomical and surgical pursuits, the accuracy of his pencil and pen in sketching oflF-hand in the hospital — ^to which he had access — ^those varied morbid and other appearances produced by nature, or the hand of the operator, soon gained for him the notice and approbation of men whose lightest word was praise. During his abode in Edinburgh, he seems to have formed an acquaintance with some of the most eminent men of letters of that tima In a letter written by James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, to Robert Surtees, Esq., dated December 19th, 1819, acknowledging the receipt of a volume of his History of Durham, he mentions Ralph Sherwood. He also became possessed, whilst there, of five very amusing letters written by Joseph Ritson, the Stockton antiquarian, addressed to Mr. Laing, which, with a portrait of their author, etched by himself,t he communi- repatation as a physician, and in oases of fraotnre of the shall, or other accidental or natural derangements of the head, he was eminently sacoessfoL One of these in partioaUr deserves to be recorded. A boy named John Pickering fell from a hi^h wall near Jock's How, and alighted upon his head. Dr. Sherwood, thonah altogether in despair of saving him, trepanned the boy, which effected a perfect care. He was consalted on this extraordinaiy operation by almost every eminent practitioner m the kingdom. The boy wore a silver plate attached to the side of his head. He was a sdioUr of Lord Crewe's charity, and was frequently sent for from school by Bishop Barrington (through whose instrumentality the operation was performed), to go to the Castle to be examined by men of eminence who came there for that puiposei Amongst his other active employments, Thomas Sherwood stole many an hoar which he consecrated to the history, the poetrr, and biography of his own county. Surtees, in the introduction to his " History of Durham," thus acknowledges the valuable assistance he received from nim :— " lliere are still other favours, which it is difficult, from their varied and extensive nature, to reduce to any particular head, nor is it easy to draw the line where personal acknowledgments should end ; yet it would be unpardonable to omit the name of Thomas Sherwood, £sq., without the valued assistance of whom the present work would never have been undertaken." Soon after his retirement to Snow Hall, he lost a daughter, as also his favourite son Ralph, who were both taken from him bv death within a few weeks of each other. Other troubles came apon him, and, overcome by the gloom which surrounded him, the unhappy father would talk incoherently of his lost daughter from morning till night, or sift gazing upon a picture of his son in one of his characters. Reason reeled in her seat ; she received not from him that ** sweet oblivions antidote" so often administered to others ; the conflict was soon over ; and he harried into eternity. His body was found in the Tees, at the distance of a field from his own house, and was afterwards buried in Staindrop church-yard by the side of his father and mother and children, February 28th, 1830, at the age of 60 years. And thus are laid side by side the father and the son, both men of undoubted snd acknowledged genius. But though no sculptured marble marks the place Where sleep two of the nobles of their race, Tet Nature, in her amplitude of pride^ Shall for her favourite sons a monument provide. There shall the spirit of true Junius weep. And o'er their humble graves its niffhtlv vigils keep ; And from their mouldering frames snail flowers spontaneous springs And o'er the hallow'd spot a balmy fragrance fling, t Several Auckland celebrities were also etched by him, amonnt whom may be named " Old Ned Baoon," a weIl*known itineraat collector of hare and rabbit skins ; also Julius CsMsr Martin, anoUier familiar worthy. Google Digitized by J
 * TfaoniM Sherwood, E«q^ M.D^ father of the above, who resided in Biahop Anckland for several years, attained considerable