HERIOT. 



517 



have been made from the produce of a single acre 

 of orchard ground. The particular era when the 

 plantations of Herefordshire acquired the peculiar 

 eminence which they yet retain, was during the 

 reign of Charles I., when, by the spirited exertions 

 of lord Scudamore, and other gentlemen of the 

 county, it became, in a manner, one entire or- 

 chard. The principal markets for the fruit liquors 

 of this shire are London and Bristol, from which 

 ports great quantities are sent to other markets in 

 bottle. The county is not distinguished for manu- 

 factures, but at Ledbury and some other places, 

 woollen cloth is made. 



The population of Herefordshire, according to 

 census of 1841, was as follows: 



Of which there were 

 City of Hereford, 

 Broxash Hundred, 

 Gray Tree Hundred, 

 Uadloxv Hundred, 

 \\ olpliy Hundred, 

 Wormslovr Hundred, 



Kales. 

 56,978 



5,209 



5,886 

 6.411 

 7,245 



6,488 

 5,566 



Females. 

 56,900 



6,155 

 5,712 

 6,387 

 7,022 

 6,598 

 5,324 



Total. 

 113,878 



11,367 

 11,598 

 12,798 

 14,207 

 13,086 

 10,890 



Representation of Herefordshire: 



For (he County (no division) 

 Hereford (City) 

 Leominstgr (Borough) 



By the Reform Bill, Weobley (40 voters) was 

 disfranchised. 



HERIOT, JOHN, comptroller of Chelsea hospi- 

 tal, was born at Haddington, on the 22d of April, 

 1760, his father being the sheriff clerk of the 

 county of East Lothian. After having passed 

 through the country schools of Dunse and Cold- 

 stream, he was, in the year 1772, put to the high 

 school of Edinburgh, in which he acquitted him- 

 self with great credit, and was then sent to the 

 college. Various misfortunes, however, led to the 

 breaking up of his father's little establishment in 

 Edinburgh, and the family became dispersed. In 

 1778, he proceeded to London, and having entered 

 the marine service, he embarked in the Vengeance, 

 of seventy-four guns, commanded by the hon. 

 captain Maitland. In this ship he proceeded, first 

 to the coast of Africa, and afterwards to the West 

 Indies. Captain Maitland here took the command 

 of the Elizabeth, of seventy-four guns, and the 

 Vengeance was assigned to commodore Hotham. 

 This, of course, occasioned a total change of offi- 

 cers, and Mr Heriot was ordered on board the 

 Preston, an old 50-gun ship. Not much liking 

 her, he effected an exchange into the Elizabeth. 

 In that vessel, which formed one of the fleet under 

 the command of Sir Hyde Parker, he saw a little 

 service ; the Elizabeth being prominently engaged 

 in an attack upon a French convoy, supported by 

 the batteries of port Royal, and four sail of the 

 line, on the 19th of December, 1779; and, in the 

 battle of the 16th of April, 1780, between the 

 British fleet, under Sir George B. Rodney, and the 

 French fleet, under admiral Guicher, the Elizabeth 

 maintained for a considerable time an unequal com- 

 bat with two line-of-battle ships, and had nine 

 killed, and sixteen wounded ; among the latter of 

 whom was Mr Heriot. He was also in the battle, 

 or rather skirmish, of the 19th of May, in the same 

 year. In July, 1780, he exchanged into the Brune 

 frigate of thirty-two guns, commanded by captain 

 (afterwards Sir Francis) Hartwell ; and in that 

 vessel encountered the dreadful hurricane which 

 produced such devastation in the island of Barba- 



does, on the 10th of October, 1780. So provi- 

 dential did Mr Heriot consider his escape on that 

 occasion, that he kept the anniversary of the hur- 

 ricane as a solemn festival for the remainder of 

 ais life. In November, 1780, the Brune was sent 

 with despatches to England, and was afterwards 

 employed to convoy a fleet of merchantmen to 

 Quebec. On her return she was paid off. Hav- 

 ing been promoted to a first lieutenantcy of the 

 Plymouth division, Mr Heriot repaired to Ply- 

 mouth, where he passed the whole summer of 

 1782 : towards the end of that year, he was em- 

 barked on board the Salisbury, of fifty guns, and 

 subsequently on board the Alexander, of seventy- 

 four guns ; but at the general reduction consequent 

 upon the peace in 1783, he was placed on the half- 

 pay list. His first act was to mortgage his half- 

 pay, that he might assist his parents ; a measure 

 productive to him of much embarrassment and dis- 

 tress, but which he at the time gloried in ; nor did 

 any after occurrence lead to a diminution of th^ 

 feeling which it then inspired. The next few 

 years of his life were unmarked by any event that 

 had not on it the impress of calamity. They were 

 passed under very distressing circumstances, in a 

 mere struggle for existence. During that period 

 of sorrow and suffering, he wrote two novels: the 

 composition of these relieved his mind from pain- 

 ful thought ; and in one of them, " The Half-pay 

 Officer," were detailed some adventures in which 

 he had been personally engaged. They also pro- 

 duced a small fund, on which he lived for nearly 

 two years. 



Mr Heriot's pursuits now became wholly lite- 

 rary. He was employed in " The Oracle" at the 

 same time that Sir James Mackintosh was retained 

 by the proprietor of that paper to translate the 

 French journals. Having a difference with the 

 proprietor, he left " The Oracle," and joined 

 " The World," of which he became the sole and 

 responsible editor ; but, in a short time, tired ot 

 the drudgery of endeavouring to redeem a falling 

 journal, he quitted it. 



Mr Heriot at length by his writings so recom- 

 mended himself to one of the secretaries of the 

 treasury, that he became his personal friend. That 

 gentleman proposed his undertaking the establish- 

 ment of a daily paper. Funds were supplied to 

 him by two individuals connected with the govern- 

 ment, but wholly out of their own pockets. Mr 

 Heriot set briskly to work ; a prospectus was is- 

 sued in a few days, and on the 1st of October, 

 1792, "The Sun" appeared, and soon obtained an 

 extensive, and, at that time, unparalleled circulation. 

 "The Sun" was no sooner established, than Mr 

 Heriot formed the plan of a daily morning paper, 

 making the former a pedestal for the latter ; and 

 on the 1st of January, 1793, appeared " The True 

 Briton." The two papers went on together; and 

 though the labour of editing two a day was no 

 doubt very fatiguing, yet, with the assistance ot 

 able coadjutors, Mr Heriot acquitted himself of 

 his arduous task with great credit, until the year 

 1806, when he retired from its fatigues, and was 

 appointed a commissioner of the lottery. In the 

 year 1809, he was appointed deputy paymaster to 

 the forces in the Windward and Leeward islands. 

 He discharged the duties of this important post in a 

 manner which obtained for him the high approba- 

 tion of H.R.H. the duke of York; 'and -on his re- 

 turn to England, in the year 1816, he was ap- 

 pointed comptroller of Chelsea hospital. In the 



