BESSONET, James. Called to Irish bar 1807; K.C. 13 July 1830; chairman of sessions for county Waterford. d. 21 Lower Leeson st. Dublin 3 Oct. 1859 aged 76.
BEST, Samuel. Second lieut. Madras Engineers 16 Dec. 1825; captain 9 May 1842 to death; planned fortifications of Singapore; superintendent of roads in Madras, Presidency 1845 to death; his principal works are the Southern Trunk road and the Goolcheroo pass; contributed many papers to Madras Literary transactions and Madras Engineering papers. d. of jungle fever at Chittoor 5 Oct. 1851.
BEST, Rev. Samuel (3 son of 1 Baron Wynford 1767–1845). b. 2 Dec. 1802; ed. at King’s college Cam., fellow, B.A. 1826, M.A. 1830; R. of Abbots-Anne, Andover 1831 to death; rural dean of Andover; author of Parochial sermons 1836; Manual of parochial institutions 1849; Catechism on collects 1850; Discourses on collects, epistles and gospels 1853. d. The rectory, Abbots-Anne 20 Jany. 1873.
BEST, Thomas (brother of the preceding). b. 12 Aug. 1799; entered navy 3 Nov. 1812; captain 22 July 1830; V.A. on h.p. 10 Nov. 1862. d. 19 Hyde park sq. London 4 Sep. 1864.
BEST, William Mawdesley (eld. son of Thomas Best, captain 26 Foot who d. 8 Oct. 1813). b. 24 Dec. 1809; ed. at Trin. coll. Dub., B.A. 1831, LL.B. 1832, M.A. 1834; barrister G.I. 11 June 1834, bencher 16 Jany. 1867; author of Right to begin and right to reply in law courts 1837; Treatise on circumstantial proof in criminal cases 1844; Principles of the law of evidence 1849, 7 ed. 1883. d. 17 Nov. 1869.
BESTOW, William (son of Wm. Bestow of 124 Wood st. Cheapside, London, web manufacturer). b. 14 Feb. 1789; partly founded several papers; founded Theatrical Journal, a weekly record of the English drama 1840, edited it to Nov. 1872, 33 vols., it ceased 16 April 1873; wrote several political pamphlets. d. 20 Frederick st. King’s Cross, London 30 April 1873.
BETHAM, Mary Matilda (eld. dau. of Rev. Wm. Betham 1749–1839, master of endowed school at Stonham Aspal, Suffolk 1784–1833). b. 1776 or 1777; gave Shakespearian readings in London about 1803; author of Elegies 1797; Biographical dictionary of celebrated women 1804; Poems 1808; The lay of Marie, a poem 1816. d. 36 Burton st. Burton crescent, London 30 Sep. 1852 aged 76. Six life studies of famous women by M. Betham-Edwards (1880) 231–303, portrait; Fraser’s Mag. July 1878, 73–84.
BETHAM, Sir William (brother of the preceding). b. Stradbroke, Suffolk 22 May 1779; clerk to Sir Chichester Fortescue, Ulster king of arms 1805; genealogist attendant on order of St. Patrick 15 July 1812; knighted by Lord lieutenant of Ireland 15 July 1812; Ulster king of arms 1820; keeper of parliamentary records of Ireland 1830; F.S.A. 6 May 1824; M.R.I.A. 22 Jany. 1827, foreign sec. to March 1840; author of Irish antiquarian researches 1827; Dignities feudal and parliamentary 1830, reissued as The origin and history of the constitution of England 1834; Etruria Celtica 2 vols. 1832; The Gael and Cimbri 1834; made an index of 40 folio volumes to the names of all persons mentioned in the wills at the Prerogative office in Dublin; his manuscripts were sold at Sotheby’s in London 1860. d. Rochford house, Blackrock near Dublin 26 Oct. 1853. G.M. xl, 632–35 (1853), xlii, 145 (1854).
BETHELL, Right Rev. Christopher (2 son of Rev. Richard Bethell, R of St. Peter’s, Wallingford who d. 12 Jany. 1806). b. Isleworth, Surrey 21 April 1773; ed. at Eton and King’s coll. Cam., B.A. 1796, M.A. 1799, D.D. 1817, fellow of his college; R. of Kirby Wiske, Yorkshire 1808–30; dean of Chichester 5 April 1814 to March 1824; bishop of Gloucester 24 March 1824, consecrated 11 April 1824; bishop of Exeter 8 April 1830; preb. of Exeter 22 June 1830; bishop of Bangor 28 Oct. 1830 to death; author of A general view of the doctrine of regeneration in baptism 1821, 4 ed. 1845. d. The palace, Bangor 19 April 1859. bur. Llandegai church yard 27 April.
BETHELL, Rev. George. Educ. at Eton; assistant at Eton 1802; fellow of Eton 21 Sep. 1818 to death; R. of Worplesdon, Surrey 1833 to death. d. Eton college 16 March 1857 aged 78.
BETHELL, John (son of Richard Bethell M.D. of Bristol). b. 1804; solicitor in London 1825–54; patented a complete system of diving apparatus 1835; patented a process for preserving timber from decay by impregnating it with creosote oil 11 July 1838, this invention has been adopted on a large scale, in marine works it is almost indispensable, the idea was taken from the embalming of mummies; patented many other inventions; carried on a distillery of beetroot spirit in Berkshire; A.I.C.E. 20 March 1838. d. Cleveland sq. Hyde Park London 22 Feb. 1867. Minutes of proc. of Instit. of C.E. xxvii, 597–99 (1868).
BETHELL, Richard. b. 10 May 1772; ed. at King’s coll. Cam., B.A. 1795, fellow of his college; owner of large estates in Yorkshire 1799; M.P. for Yorkshire 5 Aug. 1830 to 23 April 1831, and for the East Riding 18 Dec. 1832 to 23 June 1841; chairman of East Riding quarter sessions many years; author of 2 Latin poems in second series of Musæ Etonenses 2 vols. 1797. d. Rise near Hull 25 Dec. 1864.
BETHUNE, Charles Ramsay Drinkwater (2 son of John Drinkwater of Thorncroft, Surrey, C.B., F.S.A. 1762–1844). b. 27 Dec. 1802; entered navy 2 Aug. 1815; captain 22 July 1830; served in Chinese war 1840–41; V.A. 10 Nov. 1862, admiral 2 April 1866; retired 1 April 1870; assumed additional name of Bethune 1837; C.B. 29 June 1841, F.R.G.S. 1842. d. 4, Queensbury place South Kensington 21 Feb. 1884. M. F. Conolly’s Biog. dict. of eminent men of Fife (1866) 56.
BETHUNE, Sir Henry Lindesay (eld. child of Martin Eccles Lindesay Bethune, commissary general in Scotland who d. 1813). b. Hilton near Perth 12 April 1787; lieut. Madras Horse artillery 18 July 1804; captain 3 Sep. 1813 to 1 Sep. 1822 when he retired; drilled and disciplined the Persian army 1811–21, his lofty stature, 6 feet 7 inches, and great personal strength gained for him in Persia the epithet of “Rustum” the Hercules of ancient Persian story; knighted at St. James’s Palace 20 July 1832; sent to Persia as British agent 1834; commanded advanced guard of the Shah’s army 1834–35; returned home Sep. 1835; created baronet 7 March 1836. d. Tabreez, Persia 19 Feb. 1851. M. F. Conolly’s Biog. dict. of eminent men of Fife (1866) 57.
BETHUNE, John Elliot Drinkwater (brother of C. R. D. Bethune). Ed. at Trin. coll. Cam., B.A. 1823; barrister M.T. 4 May 1827; one of municipal corporation comrs.; counsel to the Home Office 1833–47; drew the Municipal reform, Tithe commutation and County courts bills; legislative member of Supreme council of India 11 April 1848 to death; pres. of council of education at Calcutta 1848; established a school for native females of the higher classes at Calcutta which he endowed by his will with property in Calcutta. d. Calcutta 12 Aug. 1851 aged 50. G.M. xxxvii, 94–96, 434 (1852).
BETTINGTON, Claude (2 son of Albemarle Bettington of Halsey house, Cheltenham). Commanded Bettington’s Horse in Zulu war 1879–80; C.M.G. 30 Oct. 1880. d. Elmina, Gold Coast 29 Dec. 1880.
BETTRIDGE, Rev. William Craddock. b. 30 Aug. 1791; ensign 81 Foot 7 April 1813; lieutenant 31 Aug. 1815 to 25 Feb. 1816 when placed on h.p.; town major of Brussels 1815; entered Univ. of Jena Saxony 1818; walked from Jena to Naples; entered Neapolitan army 1822; aide-de-camp to Sir Richard Church 1822; accorded by Government a continuance for life of his half pay by a special mandamus; studied at St. John’s coll. Cam., B.D. 1837; ordained deacon 1824; C. of Elvington near York 1824; C. of Ecclesfield 1828; Inc. of St. Paul’s, Southampton 1828–34; R. of Woodstock, Ontario, Upper Canada 1834 to death; obtained a grant of 400 acres of land for each of the 57 rectories of Upper Canada; canon of Huron; declined bishopric of Huron 1857; author of A brief history of the church in Upper Canada 1838. d. Woodstock 21 Nov. 1879.
BETTS, Edward Ladd (eld. son of Wm. Betts of Sandown, Kent). b. Buckland near Dover 5 June 1815; constructed Midland railway from Rugby to Leicester and many other lines; partner with Sir S. M. Peto; constructed the line from Balaclava to English camp before Sebastopol; constructed with Brassey the grand trunk railway of Canada including Victoria tubular bridge, and with Crampton the London, Chatham and Dover railway; chairman of Eastern counties railway co. 1851 and 1852; sheriff of Kent 1858; contested Maidstone