802 



SPENCER STOTHARD. 



1791. He was appointed, on the 20th of Decem- 

 ber in the same year, to succeed lord Chatham in 

 the high and important office of first lord of the 

 admiralty, and immediately directed the whole 

 energies'of his mind to carry on with vigour the 

 naval operations of the country. The brilliant 

 victories which followed afford the best evidence 

 of the great ability and distinguished success with 

 which he presided at the admiralty. It was in the 

 selection of men for command that lord Spencer 

 exhibited his discrimination and judgment; he 

 called into action the talents of Jervis, Duncan, 

 Nelson, Hood, and Hallo well ; and the victories of 

 St Vincent, Carnperdown, and the Nile, adorn the 

 naval annals of that eventful period. He was also 

 an enlightened and liberal patron of those ingeni- 

 ous men whose suggestions and inventions have 

 contributed to improve the construction and equip 

 nient of ships. Among these we need only men- 

 tion Brunei, at that time little known, and whose 

 genius he was among the first to perceive in the 

 invention of that beautiful and most effective piece 

 of mechanism the " block machinery." His lord- 

 ship has all the credit of its erection at Ports 

 mouth : although he left office too soon to see it 

 carried into execution, he introduced Brunei to his 

 successor, lord St Vincent, to whom he so strongly 

 recommended the project, that it was executed in 

 1802. 



In 1801 a change of ministry took place. Lord 

 Spencer retired with his immediate friends, and the 

 Addington administration came into office. He 

 renewed his political connection with lord Grey 

 and Mr Fox, and from that time till the day of his 

 death he continued cordially to support the mea- 

 sures of the whig party. When Mr Fox was called 

 to assume the government in 1806, lord Spencer 

 accepted the office of secretary for the home de- 

 partment. Upon the death of Mr Fox, the admin- 

 istration being dissolved, his lordship's official life 

 terminated. He continued, however, to attend in 

 his place in the House of Lords, took part occa- 

 sionally in the debates, and when lord Grey came 

 into office at the close of 1830, he gave that noble 

 lord's government his full and entire support. In 

 oibliographical knowledge lord Spencer was justly 

 considered equal to any man of his time ; and the 

 noble library which he collected at Althorp and of 

 which Dr Dibdin published a splendidly illustrated 

 catalogue, ranks among the most perfect and valu- 

 able of its kind in Europe. He was a fellow of 

 the royal society, and was among the number who 

 established the royal institution, of which he was 

 chosen the first president, and continued so for 

 many years. He was connected with many other 

 societies ; and wherever his patronage could be of 

 use in promoting and extending literary or scien- 

 tific knowledge, it was liberally and munificently 

 given. The Earl married, in 1781, the honourable 

 Lavinia Bingham, eldest daughter of Charles, first 

 lord Lucan, and by her had issue John Charles, 

 lord Viscount Althorp (now Earl Spencer); Lady 

 Sarah, married to lord Lyttleton ; the honourable 

 Sir 11. Cavendish Spencer of the royal navy, and 

 K.C.H., who died in 1830 ; Lady Georgiana Char- 

 lotte, married to lord George Quin ; the honour- 

 able Frederick Spencer, M. P., and captain in the 

 royal navy ; and the honourable George Spencer, 

 in holy orders in the church of Rome. Surrounded 

 by a fajnily affectionately devoted to him, this ven- 

 erable nobleman, after a short but severe illness, 

 expired at Althorp, on Monday, the 10th of No- 



vember, 1834. Though he took a decided line in 

 politics, differed from many of his friends, and ac- 

 cepted office with his former opponents, yet such 

 were his high character and stainless honour that 

 the probity of his motives was never questioned by 

 those who condemned his decision. In person lord 

 Spencer was tall ; in his deportment eminently 

 courteous, affable, and kind. His countenance was 

 thoughtful, and could be severe; but in the circle 

 of his family and friends it was lighted up with a 

 benignity of expression which truly bespoke the 

 benevolence of his heart. His habitual temper 

 was in the highest degree cheerful, enjoying every 

 thing eager in all its pursuits, and delighted with 

 witnessing the happiness of others. 



STOCKTON-UPON-TEES; a town in the 

 county of Durham, situated near the confluence of 

 the Tees with the German ocean, 242 miles from 

 London, and 36 S.S.E. from Newcastle. It is a 

 place of considerable antiquity, though its early 

 history is obscure. It consists of one principal 

 street half a mile long, and several smaller branch 

 streets. It is well paved and lighted with gas. 

 The town-hall, in the centre of High street, is a 

 handsome and commodious building. The com- 

 merce of Stockton extends to Holland and the 

 ports of the Baltic, and coastwise to London, Hull, 

 Leith, Sunderland, Shields, &c. The first shipping 

 company established in the port of Stockton took the 

 name of the " Union Shipping Company" it was 

 formed in 1822; the second, called the "Commer- 

 cial Shipping Company " the third, the " General 

 Shipping Company" and the fourth, the " North 

 York and South Durham Shipping Company" 

 were formed in 1834. These companies have all 

 been prosperous. The manufactures of Stockton 

 and the contiguous district comprehend sail-cloths, 

 cordage, damask, diapers and towelling; there are 

 ship and boat building yards, spinning and corn 

 mills, iron and brass foundries, and several brew- 

 eries. A railway from Darlington to Stockton was 

 completed so early as 1825, and is of vast advan- 

 tage to the town; but the Tees has been and is 

 the main source of its progressive prosperity, 

 abounding with excellent fish, such as flounders, 

 eels, smelts, &c. ; the principal fishery, however, is 

 that of salmon. The port is a member of that of 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and it was made a bonding 

 port for certain goods in 1815. About three miles 

 from the town are excellent quarries of blue stone, 

 used for repairing roads; and coal mines are at the 

 head of the railway. By the municipal reform act 

 passed in 1835, the government of Stockton was 

 vested in a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen 

 councillors. Population in 1841, 31,339. 



STOTHARD, THOMAS a distinguished painter 

 and designer in the higher walks of the art, was 

 the son of a vintner in Long Acre, London, where 

 he was born on the 17th August, 1755. When he 

 was of a proper age, he was bound apprentice to a 

 pattern drawer for brocaded silks ; but that fashion 

 so completely declined that, his master having died, 

 the widow gave up to him the last year of his ap- 

 prenticeship. In this art, however, he had min- 

 ntely studied nature, in the drawing of flowers and 

 other ornaments ; and took every opportunity of 

 improving that knowledge by little trips into the 

 country by both land and water. During his ap- 

 prenticeship, being a favourite with his mistress, 

 he used to employ his spare hours in making draw- 

 ings for her ; some of which were arranged along 

 the chimney-piece of her parlour. It chanced that 



