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Lillie, Beatrice

(Encyclopedia)Lillie, Beatrice (Lady Peel), 1898–1989, British comedienne, b. Toronto, Ont. as Constance Munston. Lillie first performed in London in 1914 and in New York in 1924. She won an international reputat...

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...

Bridgwater

(Encyclopedia)Bridgwater, town, Somerset, SW England, on the Parrett River estuary. It is a port for seaborne traffic and a market town. Bridgwater is the only place ...

Stratford, estate, United States

(Encyclopedia)Stratford, home of the Lee family, overlooking the Potomac River, E Va., SE of Fredericksburg. A national shrine dedicated in 1935, the site was purchased in 1716 by Thomas Lee, who built the mansion ...

Tompion, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tompion, Thomas, 1639?–1713, English clockmaker. When the Royal Observatory at Greenwich was established in 1676, Tompion was chosen to make two clocks, to be wound only once a year, which proved to...

Plassey

(Encyclopedia)Plassey plăsˈē [key], anglicized name of Palashi, village, West Bengal state, NE India. In the battle of Plassey, Robert Clive decisively defeated (1757) the Nawab of Bengal, preparing the way for ...

Orr, Bobby

(Encyclopedia)Orr, Bobby (Robert Orr), 1948–, Canadian hockey player. He began skating at the age of 4 and was discovered by the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League at age 12. He began playing with the Br...

Edgar Atheling

(Encyclopedia)Edgar Atheling ăthˈəlĭng [key] [O.E. ætheling,=son of the king], 1060?–1125?, English prince, grandson of Edmund Ironside. After the death of King Harold at the battle of Hastings in 1066, Edga...

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward Robert, 1st earl of Lytton

(Encyclopedia)Bulwer-Lytton, Edward Robert, 1st earl of Lytton, pseud. Owen Meredith, 1831–91, English diplomat and poet; son of the novelist, Bulwer-Lytton. He was in the diplomatic service from 1850 to 1875, wh...

Salisbury, Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3d marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Salisbury, Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3d marquess of sôlzˈbərē [key], 1830–1903, British statesman. He entered Parliament in 1853 as a Conservative and devoted himself for 50 years to ...