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Goodwin Sands

(Encyclopedia)Goodwin Sands, stretch of shoals and sandbars, c.10 mi (20 km) long, lying off the east coast of Kent, SE England. It forms a breakwater E of The Downs, a roadstead. Shipwrecks were formerly frequent ...

Flaxman, John

(Encyclopedia)Flaxman, John, 1755–1826, English sculptor and draftsman. At 20 he went to work for Josiah Wedgwood, designing the cameolike decorations for Wedgwood's pottery. Later, in Rome, he devoted himself to...

Abercromby, James

(Encyclopedia)Abercromby, James, 1706–81, British general in the French and Indian Wars, b. Scotland. He arrived in America in 1756 and in 1758 replaced the earl of Loudoun as supreme British commander. After fai...

Dudley, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Dudley, Thomas, 1576–1653, colonial governor of Massachusetts, b. England. As a young man he served as a clerk and later as steward to the earl of Lincoln. In 1630 he emigrated to America as deputy ...

Churchyard, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Churchyard, Thomas, 1520?–1604, English author. In his youth he was page to Henry Howard, earl of Surrey. He spent most of his life as a professional soldier, serving in Scotland, Flanders, and Fran...

Sheriffmuir

(Encyclopedia)Sheriffmuir shĕrˈĭfmyo͝orˌ [key], battlefield in Stirling, central Scotland, near Dunblane. It was the scene, Nov. 13, 1715, of an indecisive battle between the Jacobites under John Erskine, 6th ...

Ware, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Ware, Isaac, d. 1766, English architect of the Georgian period. After travels in Italy he was employed in 1729 as clerk of the works at Windsor Castle. For Philip, earl of Chesterfield, he built (1749...

Olaf II

(Encyclopedia)Olaf II (Saint Olaf), c.995–1030, king of Norway (1015–28). He is also called Olaf the Stout or Olaf the Fat. He spent part of his early life in England and helped Æthelred fight the Danes. He wa...

Owen Glendower

(Encyclopedia)Owen Glendower glĕnˈdouˌər, glĕndouˈər [key], Welsh Owain Glyndwr, 1359?–1416?, Welsh national leader. A scion of the princes of Powys, he was also claimant through his mother to the lands of...

Mortimer, Roger de, 1st earl of March

(Encyclopedia)Mortimer, Roger de, 1st earl of March, 1287?–1330, English nobleman. He inherited (c.1304) the vast estates and the title of his father, Edmund, 7th baron of Wigmore. Appointed lieutenant of Ireland...