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Drake, Sir Francis

(Encyclopedia)Drake, Sir Francis, 1540?–1596, English navigator and admiral, first Englishman to circumnavigate the world (1577–80). In 1585, Drake commanded a fleet that sacked Vigo in Spain and burned São ...

Allan, Sir Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Allan, Sir Hugh, 1810–82, Canadian financier and shipowner, b. Scotland. He emigrated to Canada in 1826, was employed by a large shipbuilding company in Montreal, and later founded the Allan Line of...

Douglas, Sir Howard

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Sir Howard, 1776–1861, British general and colonial administrator. He was a distinguished teacher of military strategy and an important authority on military and naval engineering. After a ...

Douglas, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Sir James, 1803–77, Canadian fur trader and colonial governor, b. British Guiana (now Guyana). As a young man, he went to Canada in the service of the North West Company; soon after its mer...

Compton, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Compton, Sir John (John George Melvin Compton), 1925–2007, St. Lucian political leader, b. Canouan, Windward Islands (now in St. Vincent and the Grenadines). Compton attended high school in St. Luci...

Coningham, Sir Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Coningham, Sir Arthur kŭnˈĭng-əm [key], 1895–1948, British air marshal, b. Australia. During World War I, he served first in the New Zealand army and then joined (1916) the Royal Flying Corps, a...

Darwin, Sir Francis

(Encyclopedia)Darwin, Sir Francis, 1848–1925, English botanist, assistant to his father, Charles Robert Darwin. He lectured in botany at Cambridge and was foreign secretary of the Royal Society and president of t...

Cripps, Sir Stafford

(Encyclopedia)Cripps, Sir Stafford, 1889–1952, British statesman. A brilliant and successful patent and corporation lawyer, he joined the Labour party in 1929 and became solicitor general in 1930, being knighted ...

Cunningham, Sir Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Cunningham, Sir Alexander, 1814–93, English archaeologist and army engineer; son of Allan Cunningham. He retired (1861) as a major general after 30 years of service with the Bengal engineers and the...

Davies, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Davies, Sir John dāˈvĭs [key], 1569–1626, English poet. A successful lawyer, he served as solicitor general and attorney general in Ireland from 1603 to 1619. His works include Nosce Teipsum (159...