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Cobbett, William

(Encyclopedia)Cobbett, William kŏbˈĭt [key], 1763?–1835, British journalist and reformer. The son of a farm laborer, he ran away from home at 14 and later joined the British army. He resigned in order to expos...

Coddington, William

(Encyclopedia)Coddington, William, 1601–78, one of the founders of Rhode Island, probably b. Boston, England. He came to America in 1630 as an officer of the Massachusetts Bay Company and was its treasurer from 1...

Etty, William

(Encyclopedia)Etty, William, 1787–1849, English painter. He studied with Sir Thomas Lawrence and later in Italy, where Venetian painting made a lasting impression on him. Etty is best known for his spirited figur...

Eustis, William

(Encyclopedia)Eustis, William yo͞oˈstĭs [key], 1753–1825, U.S. government official, b. Cambridge, Mass. A surgeon in the patriot forces during the American Revolution, he later served (1801–5) in Congress as...

Empson, William

(Encyclopedia)Empson, William, 1906–84, English critic and poet. His Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930), a study of the meanings of poetry, is a classic of modern literary criticism. It was followed by Some Versions...

Few, William

(Encyclopedia)Few, William, 1748–1828, political leader in the American Revolution, b. near Baltimore. He was raised in North Carolina and was involved in the Regulator movement there. He later moved to Georgia. ...

Falconer, William

(Encyclopedia)Falconer, William fôkˈnər [key], 1732–69, Scottish poet. The victim of a shipwreck off Greece, he described his ordeal in a long, didactic poem, The Shipwreck (1762). He also wrote (1769) a sourc...

Falkner, William

(Encyclopedia)Falkner, William: see Faulkner, William. ...

Faulkner, William

(Encyclopedia)Faulkner, William, 1897–1962, American novelist, b. New Albany, Miss., one of the great American writers of the 20th cent. Born into an old Southern family named Falkner, he changed the spelling of ...

Aberhart, William

(Encyclopedia)Aberhart, William āˈbərhärt [key], 1878–1943, premier of Alberta, Canada, b. Ontario. He was a schoolteacher and a founder and dean of the Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute (opened 1927). About ...