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Sir Charles Webb Dance
Colonel Sir Charles Webb Dance (1785 – 13 November 1844) was a British Army officer during the Napoleonic Wars and a pioneer of motoring in the first third of the 19th century. An enthusiastic motorist, he did a great deal to encourage engineers who were engaged in the invention and development of steam road vehicles. He was the second son of George Dance the Younger and his wife, Mary Gurnell. His paternal grandfather was George Dance the Elder and his uncles included James Love, and Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland. Nathaniel Smith was both an uncle and cousin once removed. His cousins included William Dance and Sir Nathaniel Dance. Biography In May 1802, at the end of his school days, Dance went to Brasenose College, Oxford. However, he only stayed a year. It was apparent that an academic life did not suit him. In July 1803, Dance joined the 3rd Dragoon Guards. He served under the Duke of Wellington in Portugal and Spain, and later in France and Belgium. He distin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Salter (artist)
William Salter (1804 – 22 December 1875) was an English portrait painter of the 19th century. He painted a range of subjects - his best known works are '' The Waterloo Banquet'' (1836) in Apsley House and the related studies. Life Salter was baptised on 26 December 1804 in Honiton, Devon, where he was also educated. He was able to work in James Northcote's studios from 1822. Five years later he went on a Grand Tour to Italy. His picture of ''Socrates before his Judges'' was painted whilst he was in Italy and is credited with his favourable reception in Florence and Padua, even teaching history painting at the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts until returning to England in 1833. He remained a member of the Florentine Academy until his death. Honiton had a new church built in 1835 and Salter contributed his own altarpiece ''Descent from the Cross'' to it for free three years later. He and his patron Lady Berghersh (the Duke of Wellington's niece) both exhibited at the British In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland
Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, 1st Baronet (8 May 1735 – 15 October 1811) was an English painter and politician. Early life The third son of architect George Dance the Elder, Dance (he added the 'Holland' suffix later in life) studied art under Francis Hayman, and like many contemporaries also studied in Italy. There he met Angelica Kauffman and painted several historic and classical paintings. Career On his return to Britain, he became a successful portrait painter. With Hayman and his architect brother, George, he was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768. He was commissioned to paint King George III and his queen, plus Captain James Cook and actor David Garrick. His group portrait ''The Pybus Family'' (1769) is in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. In 1790, he gave up his artistic career and became Member of Parliament for East Grinstead in Sussex. He served this seat until 1802 when he moved to Great Bedwyn in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Footman
A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage. Etymology Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman delivered messages.The Concise Oxford Dictionary, He might run beside or behind the carriages of aristocrats, running alongside the coach to make sure it was not overturned by such obstacles as ditches or tree roots. A footman might also run ahead to the destination to prepare for his lord's arrival. Roles The name was applied to a household domestic worker, servant who waited at table and attended, rode on his employer's coach or carriage in case of untoward incidents. In many cases, a footman was expected to serve as an armed bodyguard. Many were skilled with pistols to defend their employer's coach against Highwayman, highwaymen. The ''first footman'' was the designation given to the highest-ranking servant of this class in a given hous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goldsworthy Gurney
Sir Goldsworthy Gurney (14 February 1793 – 28 February 1875) was a British surgeon, chemist, architect, Construction, builder, lecturer and consultant. He was a prototypical British gentleman scientist and inventor of the Victorian era. Amongst many accomplishments, he developed the oxy-hydrogen Blowpipe (tool), blowpipe, and later applied its principles to a novel form of illumination, the Bude-Light; developed a series of early steam-powered road vehicles; and laid claim—still discussed and disputed today—to the blastpipe, a key component in the success of steam locomotives, engines, and other coal-fired systems. Events surrounding the failure of his steam vehicle enterprise gave rise to controversy in his time, with considerable polarisation of opinion. His daughter Anna Jane Gurney (1816–1895) was devoted to him. During her lifetime, she engaged in a campaign to ensure the blastpipe was seen as his invention. Biography Gurney was born in St Merryn, Cornwall, Engla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Coach
A steam bus is a bus powered by a steam engine. Early steam-powered vehicles designed for carrying passengers were more usually known as steam carriages, although this term was sometimes used to describe other early experimental vehicles too. History 1830-1895 Regular intercity bus services by steam-powered buses were pioneered in England in the 1830s by associates of Goldsworthy Gurney, Sir Goldsworthy Gurney and by Walter Hancock among others, running reliable services over road conditions which were too hazardous for horse-drawn transportation. Steam carriages were much less likely to overturn, and did not "run away with" the customer as horses sometimes did. They travelled faster than horse-drawn carriages ( over and an average of over longer distances). They could run at a half to a third of the cost of horse-drawn carriages. Their brakes did not lock and drag like horse-drawn transport (a phenomenon that increased damage to roads). According to engineers, steam carri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
