Showing 3241 results

Authority record

Beder, E. A. (Edward Arthur), 1895-1978

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/19494987
  • Person
  • 1895-1978

Edward Arthur Beder (1895-1978), political activist and author, was born in London, England in 1895 and subsequently emigrated to Canada where he established himself in business. In 1932, he became involved with the founders of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), at a time when he was writing for the 'Canadian forum'. He served as chairman of the Organization Committee for Ontario, organized the CCF Club in Toronto and other parts of the province and served as Vice-President of the first Ontario Provincial Council of the CCF. Beder also served as Secretary of the Canadian League Against War and Fascism and was Secretary of the Socialist Party of Canada (Ontario Section). Beder also lectured for the Workers' Education Alliance.

Bedford, Adeline Duchess

  • Person
  • 1852-1920

Lady Adeline Russell (nee Somers-Cocks), the Duchess of Bedford of Penal reform advocate. Education supervised directly by mother Virginia Pattle,wife of Charles Somers Somers-Cocks, third earl of Somers.

"The duchess of Bedford became one of those aristocratic and middle-class Victorian and Edwardian women who distinguished themselves in charity work, one of the few fields of public activity open to women. Early in her married life she led a movement to rescue women who were street dwellers or prostitutes around Victoria Station, London. At this time she was closely involved with the Associated Workers' League, which was concerned with the well-being of women at work."

Chair of Ladies' Committee of the Order of St. John after 1914.

"During the First World War the duchess of Bedford worked on a joint committee of the Red Cross and the order of St John of Jerusalem to provide nursing care for wounded service personnel. Between 1918 and 1920 she helped to establish a Sunshine Home for blind babies at Chorleywood near her home." (The Spectator, 1 May 1920).

For more information, see obituary at: http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/1st-may-1920/8/adeline-duchess-of-bedford-a-character-study-t .

Beer (family)

  • Family
  • fl. 1810-1920

The Beer family was established in Ontario by Christopher Beer, a retired commander in the British navy, who was granted several hundred acres of land in Metcalfe Township in the early 1800's. In the early 1900's, Jacob Beer, a descendent of Christopher Beer, lived in Strathroy, Ontario, and had five children: Christopher, Joan, Walter, Vivien and Winlow. Private Walter Beer was a soldier with the 48th Regiment (Highlanders) during World War I and was killed in action in France. Vivien Beer was engaged to Captain James R. Allan, who was also killed in action in France in 1916.

Bell, George G.

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/50737986
  • Person
  • 1920-2000

Brigadier-General George Gray Bell was a Vice-President at York University, Professor of Strategic Studies and decorated Second World War veteran. He was born in Toronto on May 24, 1920 and enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1940. In 1943, he graduated from the Royal Military College and served in the Netherlands and Germany in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (RCAC). Bell remained in the army after the war serving around the world in various capacities. He earned his PhD in International Relations from McGill University in 1972. In 1973, Bell became Assistant Deputy Minister to the Minister of the Treasury, Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Government of Ontario. In 1976, he was appointed Executive Vice-President and Professor of Strategic Studies at York University. At York, Bell also founded and became the first President of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies (CISS). From 1984 until its dissolution in 1987, he was a founding director of the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security (CIIPS). He received the Order of Canada in 1989. After his retirement Bell was the Honourary President of the RCAC Association, and he remained a senior research fellow at York until 1996. Bell died in Toronto, Ontario on October 15, 2000.

Bell, Ian

  • http://viaf.org/105149802
  • Person
  • 1954-

"Ian Bell is a Canadian folk musician, composer, and singer-songwriter who has been active in the Canadian folk music scene since the 1970s. With Anne Lederman, he was part of the seminal Canadian folk group Muddy York. Bell has performed at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival and the Mariposa Folk Festival, among others. He has contributed to the development and preservation of Canadian folk music for more than twenty-five years." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Bell_(musician)

Benn, Alfred William

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/12399378
  • Person
  • 1843-1915

(from Wikipedia entry)

Alfred William Benn (1843–1915) was an agnostic and an honorary associate of the Rationalist Press Association. His book A History of Modern Philosophy was published in the Thinker's Library series in 1930.

He was the author of The Greek Philosophers (2 vols, 1882); The History of English Rationalism in the Nineteenth Century (2 vols, 1906); and The History of Ancient and Modern Philosophy (2 vols, 1912).

Benn was also a member of the London Positivist Society and a friend of the lawyer and positivist Vernon Lushington. Lushington's daughter Susan recorded in her diary on 3 September 1889 that Benn and his wife visited the Lushington's Surrey home - Pyports, Cobham - and how Mrs Benn told her "how she came to be a positivist."

For more information, see Wikipedia entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._W._Benn .

Benson, Edward White

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/3252348
  • Person
  • 1829-07-14 - 1896-10-11

(from Wikipedia entry)

Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Married to Mary Sidgwick, the sister of philosopher Henry Sidgwick.

For more information, see Wikipedia entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Benson_(bishop).

Benson, Mary

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/139973271
  • Person
  • 1842-1918

(from Wikipedia entry)

Mary Benson (née Sidgwick; 1842 - 1918) was an English hostess of the Victorian era. She was the wife of Revd. Edward Benson, who during their marriage became Archbishop of Canterbury, i.e. chief bishop of the Church of England and of the world-wide Anglican communion. Their children included several prolific authors and contributors to cultural life. When she was widowed, she became involved with Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury. She was described by Gladstone, the British Prime Minister, as the 'cleverest woman in Europe'.

For more information, see Wikipedia entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sidgwick_Benson .

Berger, Jeniva

  • Person

Jeniva Berger, theatre critic, received a M.A. in Drama from the University of Toronto and has been reviewing theater in the Toronto area for a variety of publications. She was the Founding President of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association and is still involved with the Association as Chair of the annual Nathan Cohen Award for Excellence in Theatre Criticism. Her work on multicultural theatre in Canada has been published in the ’Canadian Encyclopedia’, the ’Oxford Companion to Canadian Drama’ and ’Contemporary Canadian Theatre’ (1985).

Berger, Jeniva

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/72646019
  • Person

Jeniva Berger, theatre critic, received a M.A. in Drama from the University of Toronto and has been reviewing theater in the Toronto area for a variety of publications. She was the Founding President of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association and is still involved with the Association as Chair of the annual Nathan Cohen Award for Excellence in Theatre Criticism. Her work on multicultural theatre in Canada has been published in the “Canadian Encyclopedia”, the “Oxford Companion to Canadian Drama” and “Contemporary Canadian Theatre” (1985).

Bergson, Henri-Louis

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/61541730
  • Person
  • 1859-10-18 - 1941-01-04

(from Wikipedia entry)

Henri-Louis Bergson (18 October 1859 - 4 January 1941) was a French continental philosopher often associated with French Spiritualism. Bergson was born in Paris. In 1891, he married Louise Neuberger, a cousin of Marcel Proust, who was the best man at Bergsons wedding. Bergsons philosophy professed the importance of intuition, perception, and experience over abstract rationalism. One of his most lasting concepts, later taken up by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, is that of multiplicity. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927 and the Grand-Croix de la Legion d`Honneur in 1930. His wife destroyed his writings (at his request) resulting in decline in interest in his works throughout the 20thC.

For more information, see Wikipedia entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Bergson .

Berke, Jack

  • Person

Jack Berke was involved with the Community Chamber Orchestra of York University as a musician (bassoon) as well as member of the Orchestra Board of Directors (Librarian).

Berlin, Gloria

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/2146822103907380965

Besant, Annie

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/68925562
  • Person
  • 1847-10-01 - 1933-09-20

(from Wikipedia entry)

Annie Besant (1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a prominent British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self-rule.

At age 20 she married Frank Besant, but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society (NSS) and writer and a close friend of Charles Bradlaugh. In 1877 they were prosecuted for publishing a book by birth control campaigner Charles Knowlton. The scandal made them famous, and Bradlaugh was elected M.P. for Northampton in 1880.

She became involved with union actions including the Bloody Sunday demonstration and the London matchgirls strike of 1888. She was a leading speaker for the Fabian Society and the Marxist Social Democratic Federation (SDF). She was elected to the London School Board for Tower Hamlets, topping the poll even though few women were qualified to vote at that time.

For more information, see Wikipedia entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Besant .

Archival material held at several institutions in the UK. See listing here: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F37089 .

Beuben and the Dark

  • http://viaf.org/311580108
  • Corporate body
  • 2012-

“Reuben and the Dark are a Canadian indie folk band from Calgary, Alberta.[1] Led by singer and songwriter Reuben Bullock,[2] the band also currently includes Sam Harrison (guitar/keys/vocals) Brock Geiger (guitar/keys/vocals), Nathan da Silva (bass/vocals), and Brendan 'Dino' Soares (drums).” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_and_the_Dark

Bevan, Edwyn

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/12419824
  • Person
  • 1870-02-15 - 1943-10-18

(from Wikipedia entry)

Edwyn Robert Bevan OBE, FBA (15 February 1870, London – 18 October 1943, London) was a versatile English philosopher and historian of the Hellenistic world. He was the fourteenth of sixteen children of Robert Cooper Lee Bevan, a partner in Barclays Bank, and his second wife Frances Emma Shuttleworth, daughter of Philip Nicholas Shuttleworth, Bishop of Chichester.

He had an academic position at King's College London. The Arabist Anthony Ashley Bevan was his brother, the conspiracy theorist Nesta Helen Webster was his youngest sister and the artist Robert Polhill Bevan a cousin. He married Daisy Waldegrave, daughter of Granville Waldegrave, 3rd Baron Radstock in 1896 and they had two daughters.

Bevan was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Andrews in 1922 and an honorary D.Litt. from Oxford in 1923. In 1942 he became a Fellow of the British Academy.

For more information, see Wikipedia entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwyn_Bevan .

Beveridge, James A.

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/103999032
  • Person
  • August 12, 1917 – February 16, 1993

[from Wikipedia entry]

James Beveridge (August 12, 1917 – February 16, 1993) was a Canadian filmmaker, author and educator. Beveridge was a pioneering filmmaker at the fledgling National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and rose to become Head of Production and Executive Producer at the NFB in postwar years.

When the Second World War broke out, Grierson sent Beveridge to Ottawa, to help establish the National Film Board of Canada. He was initially hired as a film cutter, then as an editor.[2] During the war, in various duties as editor, director and producer, Beveridge worked on more than 80 documentary films.[3] Films he directed, include The Voice of Action (1942), Banshees Over Canada (1943) and Look to the North (1944).[4]

Beveridge later became a war correspondent in the Royal Canadian Air Force, serving in Europe from 1944–1945. While working on the NFB documentary film, Inside Fighting Canada (1942), he had met fellow NFB colleague Jane Smart, also a director, scriptwriter and editor. Coming back to Canada after the Second World War, Beveridge married Jane Marsh (going by her married name, but divorced at the time), but their marriage was short-lived. [Note 1] According to Beveridge's daughter, he recounted that "I think Jane couldn't resist a man in an aviator's jacket. They had a brief and disastrous marriage after the war was over. When I once asked him about it, Dad told me that 'they were both too nutty' and so they went their separate ways."[4]

From 1947 to 1949, Beveridge was Head of Production and Executive Producer at the NFB. From 1951–1954, he was in charge of the European Office of the National Film Board, based in London. After 1954, Beveridge worked occasionally as an independent producer on contract to the NFB, before leaving the Board completely in 1962.[5]

Seeking work internationally, in 1954, Beveridge first began a project in India for the Burmah Shell Oil Company where he produced and directed 40 training films. In the same year, he had married Margaret Coventry, a colleague from his NFB days, and his son Alexander was born; Nicholas and Nina would follow. During his sojourn in India, his film,Himalayan Tapestry; The Craftsmen of Kashmir (1957) won the 1957 President's Gold Medal Award for Best Documentary Film.[5]

After a brief role as host and moderator on Lets Face It, the CBC public affairs television series in 1961, Beveridge became the Director, North Carolina Film Board where he produced 15 half-hour documentary and educational films from 1962–1964.[6]

Beveridge returned to Canada to head his own production company in 1965, producing a multi-screen presentation in the "Man in Control" theme pavilion at Expo 1967. From 1970, his filmmaking work again took him back to the Far East. While in Japan, Beveridge produced Hands (1975) for Mobil Sekiyu Oil Company, winning the Grand Prize, World Craft Council Film Festival, New York, 1975. Beveridge was also the scriptwriter on Transformations (1977) for Heavy Industries of India (Ministry of Industry, Government of India).[6]

Beveridge continued to be active as a filmmaker for the rest of his life, contributing as a screenwriter, consultant and advisor on a number of international projects. Increasingly, he collaborated with his wife, Margaret, on his many projects.[7][Note 2]

In 1970, Beveridge began teaching, as well as acting as a consultant to nascent rural television programs for UNESCO in India.[6] In the same year, he established the Department of Film at York University, Toronto and went on to launch the university's graduate film studies program, the first of its kind in Canada. While maintaining an active international career as a filmmaker, advocate and educator, he also taught at York University intermittently until 1987. During his tenure, Beveridge promoted joint ventures with India and developed a national program for adult literacy, sponsored by UNESCO.[9]

In recounting his work at the NFB and his close association with John Grierson, Beveridge was the author of John Grierson: Film Master (1978).[4] He was also the author of Script Writing for Short Films (1969) and co-author with Wilbur Lang Schramm, of Television and the Social Education of Women: A First Report on the Unesco-Senegal Pilot Project at Dakar, Issues 49-58 (1967). In 2006, Beveridge's life was made the subject of a film written and directed by his daughter, York alumna Nina Beveridge, entitled The Idealist: James Beveridge, Film Guru, which won the Platinum Remi Award for World Peace and Understanding at the 39th WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.[9]

[1] Beveridge, Nina. "The early days." Beevision Productions Inc., 2006. Retrieved: April 19, 2016.
[2] McInnes, Graham. One Man's Documentary: A Memoir of the Early Years of the National Film Board. Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba, 2004. pp. 214–215
[3] Lerner, Loren. Canadian Film and Video: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997. p. 887.
[4] Beveridge, Nina. "My Father: The National Film Board of Canada." Beevision Productions Inc., 2006. Retrieved: April 17, 2016.
[5] Beveridge, Nina. "Burmah Shell Corporation, Bombay." Beevision Productions Inc., 2006. Retrieved: April 17, 2016.
[6] Beveridge, Nina. "James Beveridge Filmography and Credits." Beevision Productions Inc., 2006. Retrieved: April 21, 2016.
[7] Beveridge, Nina. "My mother." Beevision Productions Inc., 2006. Retrieved: April 21, 2016.
[8] Caterpuri, Sadhan Mullick. "Nina Beveridge." beevision.com, January 1, 2014. Retrieved: April 21, 2016.
[9] "A tribute to film guru James Beveridge." York University, October 10, 2007. Retrieved: April 19, 2016.

Beyond the Pale

  • http://viaf.org/153559744
  • Corporate body
  • 2001-

“Beyond the Pale is a Toronto-based Canadian world/roots fusion band. Their style is rooted in klezmer, Balkan and Romanian music but heavily accented with contemporary and North American styles including bluegrass, jazz, reggae, funk and classical chamber music. They are known for unique songcraft, virtuosic musicianship, meticulous dynamics, and exuberant live performances. [...] The name of the band is a reference to the Eastern-European Jewish Pale of Settlement, from where their music is partially inspired.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_the_Pale_(band)

Bidini, Dave

  • http://viaf.org/65822104
  • Person
  • 1963-

"Dave Bidini is a Canadian musician and writer. Originally from Etobicoke, Ontario, he was a founding member of the rock band Rheostatics, and currently performs with Bidiniband. In addition, he has published several books about music, travel and sports, and has written feature journalism pieces and columns for numerous Canadian magazines and newspapers. He is the only Canadian to have been nominated for all three of Canada's main entertainment awards, the Gemini Award for television work, the Genie Awards for film work and the Juno Awards for music, as well as being nominated on Canada's national book awards program, Canada Reads." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Bidini

Bidiniband

  • http://viaf.org/153566410
  • Corporate body
  • 2007-

"Dave Bidini formed Bidiniband, featuring former Rheostatics member Don Kerr on drums, Paul Linklater on guitar, and Doug Friesen on bass. Their debut album, The Land is Wild, was produced by Kerr and was released on Pheromone Recordings in 2009. Bidini's website describes the album features "more songs about dead hockey players, cannibalism and lesbian school teachers." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Bidini

Big Little Lions

  • http://viaf.org/80148209299800460004
  • Corporate body

"Big Little Lions are an award winning duo who were born out of a collaboration that won them a JUNO Award in 2014. Since then they have been cranking out infectious folk pop songs that are jam-packed with emotion and tight harmonies that sound like the product of two people working side-by-side instead of living in different countries." https://biglittlelions.com/about

Bird, Bonnie

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/13182284
  • Person
  • 1914-1995

"Bonnie Bird, a Martha Graham dancer in the 1930's and an internationally known teacher, ...she studied with Graham, who invited her to join her company in New York. She performed from 1933 to 1937, appearing in works that included "Celebration," "American Provincial," "Panorama" and "Chronicle." ...Miss Bird played an important part in the founding and development of the American Dance Guild and the Congress on Research in Dance. In 1974, she began a long association with the Laban Center for Movement and Dance in London." (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/13/obituaries/bonnie-bird-graham-protegee-and-noted-dance-teacher-80.html)

Bird, Dickie

  • http://viaf.org/168292185
  • Person

Dickie Bird is an alter-ego for Richard Knechtel, a Canadian singer-songwriter and performer from Walkerton, Ontario. As Dickie Bird, he is a children's performer, performing "action packed shows filled with magic, props and lots of audience participation." Knechtel can also play guitar and harmonica. Knechtel "performs swing, pop, novelty, blues, country, comedy, and folk". http://richardknechtel.wordpress.com/about/

Birds of Bellwoods

  • http://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106089043
  • Corporate body
  • 2014-

Toronto-based alt-rock band

Birds of Chicago

  • http://viaf.org/307426352
  • Corporate body
  • 2012-2021

"Birds of Chicago is an Americana/folk band founded in March 2012 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The band is led by husband and wife, JT Nero and Allison Russell. Russell is formerly of the Canadian roots act Po' Girl.[1] The duo-fronted band refers to their music as "secular gospel". Nero, a Midwesterner with strong family ties to Chicago, Illinois, has made the Windy City his home since 2002. Russell grew up in Montreal and has lived with Nero in Chicago since 2009. After relocating to Nashville, Russell and Nero announced in February 2021 that Birds of Chicago would go on "indefinite hiatus" in order to focus on the release of Russell's solo album, 'Outside Child.'" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds_of_Chicago

bissett, bill, 1939-

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/96127023
  • Person
  • 1939-

bill bissett (1939- ), poet, artist and musician, was born in Halifax and educated at the University of British Columbia where he received his B.A. in 1956. He founded Blewointment Press in 1962 as a medium for young poets and published several of his own volumes under its imprint. bissett is the author of several books of poetry including, Fires in the temple (1966), Nobody owns the earth (1972), Medicine my mouths on fire, (1974), Canada gees [sic] mate for life (1985), and Inkorrect thots [sic] (1992). bissett has held several solo art exhibits in Vancouver, Toronto and London (Ont.). In addition, he has recorded several albums with his band The Luddites including Luddites (1988), Shining spirit (1989), and Luddites dreemin uv th nite [sic] (1991).

Black Sparrow Press

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/262971909
  • Corporate body
  • 1966-2003

"Black Sparrow Books, formerly known as Black Sparrow Press, is a book publisher originally founded in 1966 by John Martin of Santa Rosa, California. He founded this company in order to publish the works of Charles Bukowski and other avant-garde authors. He initially financed this company by selling his large collection of rare first editions. Typography and printing were the work of Graham Mackintosh of San Francisco, Noel Young and Edwards Brothers, Inc. Barbara Martin oversaw all of the title page and cover designs, which are still unique today.

Black Sparrow Press most prominently published the work of authors Charles Bukowski, John Fante, and Paul Bowles. A more complete list is shown below. These artists, now considered part of a contemporary 'alternative tradition,' were first established and nurtured under the auspices of Black Sparrow Press. Many of its titles are now highly collectible.

Black Sparrow Press sold the rights to publish Bukowski, Bowles and Fante to HarperCollins Publishers in 2002. At this point, John Martin retired. Martin then sold the remainder of his inventory for $1.00 to David R. Godine, Publisher who adopted the name Black Sparrow Books. Godine is now the exclusive licensed distributor of Black Sparrow Books while HarperCollins continues to print and reprint the books by Bukowski, Fante and Bowles, replicating the original designs. In 2010, Black Sparrow published Door to the River, a collection of essays by Aram Saroyan; Well Then There Now, a collection of poems by Juliana Spahr; and Cheyenne Madonna, a collection of linked short stories by Eddie Chuculate. Copies of all editions of Charles Bukowski's works published by the Black Sparrow Press are held at Western Michigan University, which purchased the archive of the publishing house after its closure in 2003."
-from Wikipedia entry available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sparrow_Books .

Black Umfolosi

  • Corporate body

“Black Umfolosi is a self taught Acappella (Imbube) singing and traditional dance group that was formed in 1982 by the then school age members who wanted to develop themselves and contribute to their community. Specialising in imbube music, gumboot dance and Zulu dance, Black Umfolosi has toured extensively nationally and internationally in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and Asia.” https://myriadartists.com/black-umfolosi/

Black, Naomi

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/246399844
  • Person
  • 1935-

Naomi Black is Professor Emerita of Political Science and Women's Studies at York University in Toronto, and an Adjunct Professor of Women's Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia. Her research interests have focused on international relations, nationalism and imperialism, women in politics and social feminism. Black was the first woman hired in York University's Department of Political Science in 1964 where she fought to legitimize the study of women and politics both within her department and without. She was a founder of both the undergraduate and graduate programmes in Women's Studies at York, and served on the Ontario Commission on the Status of Women. From 1985-1987, she served as the Status of Women adviser to the Office of the President at York University, during which time she founded "The Second Decade/La Deuxieme Decennie" newsletter in order to provide a voice to the women who work and study at York University, and to further the implementation of employment equity at York. Black also helped to establish York's Nellie Langford Rowell Women's Studies Library. Her publications include "Social Feminism" (1989), "Canadian Women: A History" (co-author; 1988, 1996 and 2011), "Feminist Politics on the Farm" (co-author; 1999), Virginia Woolf's "Three Guineas" (edited by Black in 2001), and "Virginia Woolf as Feminist" (2004). Black earned her BA from Cornell University, and her MA and PhD from Yale University. Her work was recognized with a honorary degree from York University in 2010.

Blackie, John Stuart, 1809-1895

  • Person
  • 1809-1895

John Stuart Blackie (1809–1895), classical and Scottish Gaelic scholar, was educated at the New Academy and afterwards at the Marischal College, in Aberdeen. After attending classes at Edinburgh University (1825–1826), Blackie spent three years at Aberdeen as a student of theology. In 1829 he went to Germany, and after studying at Göttingen and Berlin, he accompanied Bunsen to Italy and Rome. The years spent abroad extinguished his former wish to enter the Church, and at his father's desire he gave himself up to the study of law. By the time he was admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates (1834) he had acquired a strong love of the classics and a taste for letters in general. In May 1839 he was appointed to the newly instituted chair of Humanity (Latin) in the Marischal College. Difficulties arose in the way of his installation, but he took up his duties as professor in November 1841. Blackie published a translation of Aeschylus in 1850, which led to his appointment in 1852 to the professorship of Greek at Edinburgh University. A journey to Greece in 1853 prompted his essay On the Living Language of the Greeks. Scottish nationality was another source of enthusiasm with him; and in this connection he displayed real sympathy with highland home life and the grievances of the crofters. The foundation of the Celtic chair at Edinburgh University was mainly due to his efforts. In the 1880s and 1890s, he lectured at Oxford on the pronunciation of Greek, and corresponded on the subject with William Hardie. In May 1893, he gave his last lecture at Oxford. He died in Edinburgh in 1895.

Blanc, Louis

  • Person
  • 1811-1882

Louis Blanc was born on October 29, 1811. He was a French politician, historian, and socialist who favored reforms and called for the creation of cooperatives in order to guarantee employment for the urban poor.

Blanchard, Meaghan

  • http://viaf.org/102853572
  • Person

Meaghan Blanchard is a two time ECMA Award winning songwriter. She has played 47 shows in 14 days at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. A notable performance of hers was performing  for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their Honeymoon tour. https://meaghanblanchard.com/

Bley, Carla

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/44484407
  • Person
  • 1936-

Blind Boy Paxton

  • http://viaf.org/951148753679141320000
  • Person
  • 1989-

“An American musician from Los Angeles. A vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Paxton's style draws from blues and jazz music before World War II and was influenced by Fats Waller and "Blind" Lemon Jefferson. According to Will Friedwald in The Wall Street Journal, Paxton is "virtually the only music-maker of his generation — playing guitar, banjo, piano and violin, among other implements — to fully assimilate the blues idiom of the 1920s and '30s, the blues of Bessie Smith and Lonnie Johnson."” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerron_%22Blind_Boy%22_Paxton

Bloomfield, George 1930-2011

  • Person
  • 1930-2011

George Bloomfield was a Canadian film director, producer, actor, screenwriter and editor .

Bloxam, George W.

  • Person
  • fl. 1890-1893

Secretary of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Also Secretary of The British Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 1893, Bloxam published an Index of the Institutes' publications for the years 1843-1891.

Blue Rodeo

  • http://viaf.org/134800423
  • Corporate body
  • 1984-

“Blue Rodeo is a Canadian country rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario.” Members include(d): Jim Cuddy, Bazil Donovan, Greg Keelor, Glenn Milchem, Mike Boguski, Colin Cripps, Jimmy Bowskill, Cleave Anderson, Bob Wiseman, Mark French, Kim Deschamps, James Gray, Bob Packwood, and Bob Egan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Rodeo

Blunt, Walter, 1802-1868

  • Person
  • 1802-1868

Educated at Eton and St. John's College, Cambridge, he was a Fellow of King's College (1824-27), rector of Wilksby (1829-31) and vicar of Newark-upon-Trent, 1835-68. He was joint-editor of the Etonian.

Blunt, William O.

  • Person
  • -1910

May be Richard Blunt, the first Anglican bishop of Hull in the Church of England from 1891 to his death in 1910.

Body, George

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/4500240
  • Person
  • 1840-1911

(from ODNB entry by G.S. Woods)

Body, George (1840–1911), Church of England clergyman, born at Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devon, on 7 January 1840, was the son of Josiah Body, surgeon, and his wife, Mary Snell. He was educated at Blundell's School, Tiverton, from 1849 to 1857, and subsequently entered St Augustine's Missionary College, Canterbury. His intention of undertaking missionary work abroad had to be abandoned because of ill health. In 1859 he matriculated from St John's College, Cambridge, graduating BA in 1862 and proceeding MA in 1876. Subsequently he received from Durham University the degree of MA ad eundem (1884) and an honorary DD (1885). On 25 September 1864 he married Louisa Jane (b. c.1837), daughter of William Lewis of Sedgley.

Body was ordained deacon in 1863 and priest the following year. He served successively as curate of St James, Wednesbury (1863–5), Sedgley (1865–7), and Christ Church, Wolverhampton (1867–70). Like other ‘slum priests’, such as Charles Lowder and G. R. Prynne, he sought to bring the teaching and practices of the Oxford Movement to the working classes, combining evangelical fervour with Tractarian principles. Nominated rector of Kirby Misperton, Yorkshire, in 1870 he took an active part in the parochial mission movement. In 1883 he was appointed canon-missioner of Durham by Bishop Lightfoot, and for twenty-eight years carried on successful mission work among Durham miners. He had a fine reputation as a mission preacher: his sermons were remarkable for their directness and sincerity, an appeal enhanced by a west country burr which he retained to the end of his life.

Body's varied activities covered a wide area. He was proctor in convocation for Cleveland from 1880 to 1885, and for Durham in 1906, and vice-president of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (1890), and succeeded his friend Bishop G. H. Wilkinson as warden of the Sisterhood of the Epiphany, Truro, in 1891. He was select preacher at Cambridge (1892–6 and 1900–06) and lecturer in pastoral theology at King's College, London, in 1909. He also acted as examining chaplain to the bishop of St Andrews from 1893 to 1908. Although he was a member of the English Church Union his sympathies were broad, and his conciliatory attitude during the ritualist crisis of 1898–9 exercised a moderating influence on the militant section of the high-church party. He published many sermons and devotional works.

Body died at The College, Durham, on 5 June 1911. He was survived by his wife and his three sons and four daughters, among whom was (Mary) Agnes Body (1866–1952). A memorial fund was raised after his death for the maintenance of the diocesan mission house and a home for mission workers among the Durham miners.

For more information, see http://www.oxforddnb.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/view/article/31945 .

Bogart, Mary Louise, 1935-

  • Person

Mary Louise Bogart (1935- ) and John Edward Page (1923-1989) were affiliated with the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University and jointly wrote an article on the contribution of James B. Milner in the field of community planning law.

Bolland, G. J.

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/42648718
  • Person
  • 9 June 1854 - 1922

(from Wikipedia entry)
Gerardus Johannes Petrus Josephus (Gerald) Bolland) was a Dutch auto didact, philosopher and linguist.
Born in Groningen to a working class Catholic family, Bolland later obtained a job as a teacher in Katwijk and later an English and German teacher in Batavia. He applied successfuly to a a position as professor of philsophy a the University of Leiden in 1896.
He was responsible for reviving Hegelianism in the Netherlands, writing new works, and in general encouraging a revival in philosophy in the Netherlands.

His papers are held a the DBNL Archives. See: http://www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=boll004 .

For more information, see: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Bolland .

Bonsanquet, B.

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/32067668
  • Person
  • 1848-1923

(from Wikipedia entry)

Bernard Bosanquet (/ˈboʊzənˌkɛt, -kɪt/; 14 June[1] 1848 – 8 February 1923) was an English philosopher and political theorist, and an influential figure on matters of political and social policy in late 19th and early 20th century Britain. His work influenced – but was later subject to criticism by – many thinkers, notably Bertrand Russell, John Dewey and William James. Bernard was the husband of Charity Organisation Society leader Helen Bosanquet.

For more information see Wikipedia entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Bosanquet_(philosopher) .

Boole, Mary Everest

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/11807535
  • Person
  • 1832-1916

(from Wikipedia entry)

Mary Everest Boole (1832, Wickwar, Gloucestershire – 1916) was a self-taught mathematician who is best known as an author of didactic works on mathematics, such as Philosophy and Fun of Algebra, and as the wife of fellow mathematician George Boole. Her progressive ideas on education, as expounded in The Preparation of the Child for Science, included encouraging children to explore mathematics through playful activities such as 'curve stitching'. Her life is of interest to feminists as an example of how women made careers in an academic system that did not welcome them. She was born Mary Everest in England, the daughter of Revd Thomas Roupell Everest, Rector of Wickwar, and Mary nee Ryall. Her uncle George Everest gave his name to Mount Everest. She spent the first part of her life in France where she received an education in mathematics from a private tutor. On returning to England at the age of 11 she continued to pursue her interest in mathematics through self-instruction. George Boole became her tutor in 1852 and on the death of her father in 1855 they married and moved to Cork County, Ireland. Mary greatly contributed as an editor to Boole's The Laws of Thought, a work on algebraic logic. She had five daughters by him.

She was widowed in 1864, at the age of 32, and returned to England where she was offered a post as a librarian at Queen's College, London. She also tutored privately in mathematics and developed a philosophy of teaching that involved the use of natural materials and physical activities to encourage an imaginative conception of the subject. Her interest extended beyond mathematics to Darwinian theory, philosophy and psychology and she organised discussion groups on these subjects among others.

Her five daughters made their marks in a range of fields. Alicia Boole Stott (1860–1940) became an expert in four-dimensional geometry. Ethel Lilian (1864–1960) married the Polish revolutionary Wilfrid Michael Voynich and was the author of a number of works including The Gadfly. Mary Ellen married mathematician Charles Hinton and Margaret (1858–1935) was the mother of mathematician G. I. Taylor. Lucy Everest (1862–1905) was a talented chemist and became the first woman Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry.[10]
Mary Everest Boole's husband fell ill in 1864, after he had walked two miles in the drenching rain and then lectured wearing his wet clothes. He developed a severe cold and high fever. Mary put her husband to bed and - since she believed in the principle of analogies and like cures like - thought pouring buckets of water over him might help. Tragically, this made him worse; on 8 December 1864, he died of fever-induced pleural effusion.

She died in 1916 at the age of 84.

For more information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Everest_Boole .

Boole family papers available at Bristol University. See: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/76688652-e423-4266-bdaa-91c4e66efad4 .

Booth, Charles James

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/120730771
  • Person
  • 184-03-30 - 1916-11-23

(from Wikipedia entry)

Charles James Booth (30 March 1840 – 23 November 1916) was an English philanthropist and social researcher. He is most famed for his innovative work on documenting working class life in London at the end of the 19th century, work that along with that of Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree influenced government intervention against poverty in the early 20th century and led to the founding of Old Age pensions.[1] and free school meals for the poorest children.

Booth was a cousin of the Fabian socialist and author Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield (née Potter; 1858–1943). Booth worked closely with Potter for his research on poverty.

St Paul's Cathedral is the grateful recipient of his gift of Holman Hunt's painting: The Light of The World. On 29 April 1871, Booth married Mary Macaulay, who was niece of the celebrated historian Thomas Babington Macaulay. His eldest daughter married the Hon Sir Malcolm Macnaghten, and others married into the Ritchie and Gore Browne families.

For more information, see Wikipedia entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Booth_(philanthropist) .

Booth, Mrs. A.

  • Person
  • fl. 1891

President of Liverpool Conference of Mothers.

Borden, Robert Laird, 1854-1937

  • VIAF ID: 12434114 (Personal)
  • Person
  • 1854-1937

Robert Laird Borden (1854-1937), lawyer and politician, was raised in Halifax where he became a lawyer and Conservative Party politician. He became leader of the party in 1901 and led it to victory in the national election of 1911, remaining Prime Minister until his retirement in 1920. Borden served as Prime Minister during World War I. He promoted the cause of Canadian nationhood within the British Empire.

Borrow, George

  • Person
  • 1802-1881

George Henry Borrow was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his experiences traveling around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure prominently in his work. His best known books are The Bible in Spain, the autobiographical Lavengro, and The Romany Rye, about his time with the English Romanichal (gypsies).

Bosher, J.F. (John Francis)

  • VIAF ID: 109474680 ( Personal )
  • Person
  • 1929-2020

John Francis Bosher (1929-2020), historian and educator, was born in Sidney, British Columbia. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with first class honours in 1950 and a Canadian Government Andison scholarship from the French Department. He received a teacher’s training diploma in 1951 from the provincial Education Department, but took an administrative position with the Canadian Civil Service Commission while continuing his studies in French. In 1952, he travelled to London, England, where he met Professor Alfred Cobban of University College and discussed Bosher’s interest in the French foundations of Canada. Cobbon put Bosher in contact with professors at the Sorbonne, where he wrote his MA thesis on the attitude of the Physiocrats toward Great Britain and received his degree in June 1954. He returned to London to study under Cobban’s supervision, leading to a PhD in March 1957 for the dissertation, The Single Duty Project: A Study of the Movement for a French Customs Union, which was published in 1964. He taught as an assistant lecturer at King’s College, London, from 1956 to 1959, when he joined UBC’s History Department as an assistant professor. He taught at Cornell University in from 1967 to 1969, which was followed by his appointment as a professor in York University’s Department of History where he was appointed Distinguished Research Professor in 1989. Bosher was a prolific scholar whose work included: a series of lectures on CBC Radio that dealt with the French in the Fifth Republic and the controversial remarks of French President Charles de Gaulle; French Finances 1770-1795: From Business to Bureaucracy (Cambridge, 1970); French Government and Society 1500-1850: Essays in Memory of Alfred Cobban (Athlone, 1973); The Canada Merchants, 1713 -1763 (Oxford, 1987); The French Revolution (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1989); Men and Ships in the Canada Trade, 1660-1760: A Biographical Dictionary (Canadian Parks Service, 1992); Business and Religion in the Age of New France, 1600-1760: Twenty-two Studies (Canadian Scholars’ Press, 1994); The Gaullist Attack on Canada 1967-1997 (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1998); Imperial Vancouver Island: Who was Who, 1850-1950 (Xlibris, 2010); and Vancouver Island in the Empire (Llumina Press, 2012). Bosher was invited to join the Royal Society of Canada in 1976 and he was a visiting fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford in 1991-1992.

Boucher de la Bruere, Montarville, 1867-1943

  • Person

Montarville Boucher de la Bruere (1867-1943) was a journalist, archivist and author. He succeeded his father as editor of the "Courier de Saint-Hyacinthe," (1895-1903), and also worked on "La Minerve," "La patrie," and "Le devoir." He also served as head of the Archives of Canada at Montreal, beginning in 1914.

Bouchet, Edward A. (Edward Alexander), 1852-1918

  • 14437769
  • Person
  • 15 September 1852- 28 October 1918

Edward Alexander Bouchet (September 15, 1852 – October 28, 1918) was an African American physicist and educator. In 1874, he became one of the first African Americans to graduate from Yale College,[a] and was the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from any American university, completing his dissertation in physics at Yale in 1876. On the basis of his academic record he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Boughton, Noelle

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/63778447
  • Person

Noelle Boughton is an author and freelance writer who has published articles for a variety of Canadian publications including 'The Beaver', 'Canadian Business', 'Canadian Living', 'Chatelaine', 'Maclean's', 'the United Church Observer', among other serials. She was born and raised in Manitoba and holds a BA from the University of Manitoba and a Bachelor of Journalism (Hons) from Carleton University. Boughton's book 'Margaret Laurence : a gift of grace ; a spiritual biography' was released in 2006. She is currently working on a novel (with a working title of 'Jack-in-the-Box') which was a Chapters/Robertson Davies Prize semi-finalist and a University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies/Random House of Canada Award finalist.

Boulton, Augusta

  • Person

Augusta Boulton (nee Latter) was born on Orillia, Ontario. She and married Charles Arkoll Boulton in 1874 and removed to Manitoba where he farmed. Boulton was a soldier and participated in the Riel Rebellion (1870) on the Loyalist side. He also raised a troop, known as 'Boulton's Rangers,' which participated in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 at the Battle of Frog Lake and later in the capture of Big Bear. He was appointed to the Senate in 1889.

Bouraoui, Hédi

  • 84969047
  • Person
  • 1932-

Dr. Hédi Bouraoui, C.M. (1932-) is a poet, novelist, essayist, and the acting writer-in-residence in York University's Department of French Studies. Born in Sfax, Tunisia and educated in the South-West of France, Bouraoui came to the United States in 1958 as a Fulbright Scholar, and received an MA in English and American Literature at Indiana University. Later, he would receive his PhD. in Romance Studies at Cornell University. Bouraoui's first appointment with York University was as the coordinator of French in the former Division of Literatures and Language Training, where he developed the Creaculture program. Bouraoui is an advocate for French-language literature, and is the author of more than twenty books of poetry, a dozen novels, and a number of books of literary criticism. Bouraoui's research and teaching interests include contemporary critical theory, postcolonial Francophone literatures, including North African, Caribbean, and Franco-Ontarian literature. In May of 2018, Bouraoui was recognized as a Member of the Order of Canada.

Bowditch, Henry Pickering

  • https://viaf.org/viaf/13248297
  • Person
  • 4 April 1840 - 13 March 1911

(from Wikipedia entry)

Henry Pickering Bowditch (April 4, 1840 – March 13, 1911) was an American soldier, physician, physiologist, and dean of the Harvard Medical School. Following his teacher Carl Ludwig, he promoted the training of medical practitioners in a context of physiological research. His teaching career at Harvard spanned 35 years.

Henry P. Bowditch was born to the Massachusetts Bowditch family, noted for the mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch, his grandfather, and the archaeologist Charles Pickering Bowditch, his brother. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Jonathan Ingersoll Bowditch and Lucy Orne Nichols Bowditch. In 1861, he graduated from Harvard College, and then entered Harvard’s Lawrence Scientific School. His studies there were interrupted by his service for the Union army in the United States Civil War, where he rose to the rank of major in the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry. After graduation from Harvard Medical School in 1868, he went to Paris to study with Claude Bernard. In Bernard’s lab he worked alongside Louis-Antoine Ranvier, later known for neuroanatomy, and Étienne-Jules Marey who promoted the use of photography to capture physiological dynamics. According to Walter Bradford Cannon, when in Paris, Bowditch joined with fellow Bostonians John Collins Warren, Jr., William James, and Charles Emerson for frog-hunting parties. In 1875-1876, Bowditch, William James, Charles Pickering Putnam (1844-1914), and James Jackson Putnam (1846-1918) founded the Putnam Camp at St. Huberts, Essex County, New York.

Bowditch continued his European studies in Bonn with Wilhelm Kuhne and Max Schultze. Ultimately he proceeded to Leipzig where Carl Ludwig was conducting the program that Bowditch would emulate at Harvard. Bowditch impressed Ludwig by constructing an improvement on the kymograph then in use. His studies in Leipzig brought him into contact with, among others, Ray Lankester, Angelo Mosso, Hugo Kronecker and Carl von Voit.

Bowditch was appointed assistant professor of physiology at Harvard in 1871. While still in Germany, he purchased European materials to support the investigative training program he planned. And dramatically, on 9 September 1871, just days before sailing for Boston, he married Selma Knuth of Leipzig. The Bowditch laboratory at Harvard, the first physiological laboratory in the United States, began modestly in attic rooms allotted to him. Bowditch's career at Harvard was parallel to that of William James who instituted his program of experimental psychology in 1875. Bowditch and James represented the New Education espoused by Charles William Eliot, Harvard's President. In 1876 Bowditch was promoted to full professor. In 1887 he co-founded and was the first president of the American Physiological Society. At Harvard he rose to the position of dean of the medical school, serving from 1883 to 1893. In 1903 he was honoured with the George Higginson chair. After 35 years teaching for Harvard, he retired in 1906, and died in Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts in 1913. His students included Walter Bradford Cannon, Charles Sedgwick Minot and G. Stanley Hall.

Manfred Bowditch, Henry's son, gave a personal description of the man he knew as father. Bowditch did much experimentation in a cottage at an Adirondack camp at the head of Keene Valley which bore his name. There, with a well-equipped workshop the son witnessed considerable "inventiveness and manual skill" that Henry also applied in the physiology lab.

Bowditch was granted honorary degrees from five universities: Cambridge, Edinburgh, Toronto, Pennsylvania, and Harvard.

Henry Pickering Bowditch was known for his physiological work on cardiac contraction and knee jerk. He also developed an interest in anthropometry, and showed that nutrition and environmental factors contribute to physiological development. Bowditch can be seen as a link between the milieu interieur of Claude Bernard, his teacher, and homeostasis as developed by his student Walter Cannon.

For more information, see Wikipedia entry at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Pickering_Bowditch .

Bowring, Amy

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/44234525

Bowring, Amy

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/44234525
  • Person
  • 1971-

A dance writer and historian, founder of the Society for Canadian Dance Studies, and Director of Collections and Research at Dance Collection Danse where she was mentored by Lawrence and Miriam Adams. (https://ryersonperformance.ca/about/people/amy-bowring)

Bowsfield, Hartwell, 1922-.

  • Person

Hartwell Bowsfield, archivist, professor and historian, was born on 7 July 1922 and educated at the University of Manitoba (B.A. 1948) and the University of Toronto (Ph.D. 1977). Bowsfield was the Provincial Archivist of Manitoba from 1952-1967, following which he became the first University Archivist of York University in 1970, a position he held until his retirement in 1988. In addition to his archival work, Bowsfield was a lecturer and an assistant and later an associate professor of history at York from 1970 to 1978. He also served as the first archivist of York University and lectured on archives administration at the Faculty of Library Science at the University of Toronto. Bowsfield is the author or editor of numerous publications including "The James Wickes Taylor Papers, 1859-1870" and "Louis Riel, Rebel of the Western Frontier" and has contributed articles on Western Canadian History to scholarly journals and to edited histories of Canada.

Boyle, Harry J. (Harry Joseph), 1915-2005

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/16016126
  • Person
  • 1915-2005

Harry J. Boyle, journalist, broadcaster and playwright, was born on 7 October 1915 in St. Augustine, Ontario. His education included high school in Wingham and St. Jerome's College in Kitchener, Ontario. He married Marion McCaffrey in 1937, with whom he had two children. Mr. Boyle had a long career in journalism, having contributed articles to the London Free Press and the Toronto Globe and Mail, and a weekly column for the Toronto Telegram, 1957-1968. He joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as Farm Commentator in 1942 and became Director of the National Farm Radio Forum, 1942-1946. Other radio credits include: "CBC Wednesday Night," "Assignment," and "Project" series. Mr. Boyle also served on the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) as the vice-chairman, 1968-1976, and chairman, 1976-1977. He won awards for his contribution to broadcasting, and to Canadian television and radio in particular. Besides journalism, Boyle has written a number of radio plays, a stage play, three books of essays, and several novels. He has been a faculty member at the Banff School of Fine Arts and a member of the Ontario Arts Council, 1979-1982. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1978. Harry Boyle died in Toronto on 22 January 2005.

Boys, Charles Vernon

  • https://viaf.org/viaf/18004298/
  • Person
  • 15 March 1855 - 30 March 1944

(from Wikipedia entry)

Sir Charles Vernon Boys, FRS (15 March 1855 – 30 March 1944) was a British physicist, known for his careful and innovative experimental work.

Boys was the eighth child of the Reverend Charles Boys, the Anglican vicar of Wing, Rutland. He was educated at Marlborough College and the Royal School of Mines, where he learned physics from Frederick Guthrie and taught himself higher mathematics while completing a degree in mining and metallurgy. As a student at the School of Mines he invented a mechanical device (which he called the "integraph") for plotting the integral of a function. He worked briefly in the coal industry before accepting Guthrie's offer of a position as "demonstrator."

Boys achieved recognition as a scientist for his invention of the fused quartz fibre torsion balance, which allowed him to measure extremely small forces. He made the fused quartz fibres for his instrument by attaching a quartz rod to a crossbow quarrel, heating the rod to the point of melting, and firing the crossbow. By this means he produced fibre so thin that it could not be resolved with an optical microscope. He used this invention to build a radiomicrometer capable of responding to the light of a single candle more than one mile away, and used that device for astronomical observations. In 1895 he published a measurement of the gravitational constant G that improved upon the accuracy achieved by Cavendish. Boys' method relied on the same theory as Cavendish's, but used two masses suspended at one height and two nearby masses suspended at a different height, to minimize the unwanted interaction between opposite masses.

He was a critic of the solar design of Frank Shuman, so Shuman hired him, and together they patented a "Sun-Boiler", which is similar to modern day parabolic trough solar power plants.

In 1897 Boys became a Metropolitan Gas Referee, charged with assessing a fair price for coal gas. He initially worked on the replacement of the standard candle, used to determine the quality of the gas for lighting, by the Harcourt pentane lamp. As heating grew to become the principal use of coal gas, Boys undertook fundamental work on calorimetry to measure and record the heat content of the gas, achieving a substantial increase in precision of measurement. At this time the national gas bill for the United Kingdom was fifty million pounds, so a one-percent correction to the bill represented a very significant amount of money.

Boys also worked on high-speed photography of lightning and bullets in flight, and conducted public lectures on the properties of soap films, which were gathered into the book Soap Bubbles: Their Colours and the Forces Which Mould Them, a classic of scientific popularization. The first edition of Soap Bubbles appeared in 1890 and the second in 1911; it has remained in print to this day. The book deeply impressed French writer Alfred Jarry, who in 1898 wrote the absurdist novel Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician, in which the title character, who was born at the age of 63 and sails in a sieve, is described as a friend of C.V. Boys (see also 'Pataphysics). The book was also a favourite of American poet, Elizabeth Bishop.

He married Marion Amelia Pollock in 1892. She caused a scandal by having an affair with the Cambridge mathematician Andrew Forsyth, as a result of which Forsyth was forced to resign his chair. Boys divorced Marion in 1910 and she later married Forsyth.

He died at St Mary Bourne, Andover in Hampshire on 30 March 1944.

For more information, see Wikipedia entry at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._V._Boys .

Boys, Rev. H.A.

  • Person
  • fl. 1870-1895

Rev. H. A. Boys, M.A. appears to have been a member of the clergy based in the village of Easton Mauduit Northampton in the Midlands.
Mr. Boys was English Chaplain at Patras, in Greece, from 1870 to 1875. He was also a chaplain in Algiers.
He was involved in tracking rainfall which he contributed to surveys by the British Meteorological Office, and published several articles on flooding and droughts in the area, including "The Drought of 1895" and "The November Floods, 1894" in the Journal of the Northamptonshire Natural History Society & Field Club.

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