The Life of Samuel Johnson - James Boswell [733]
Arran, Charles Butler, Earl of (d. 1758), chancellor of Oxford University: 152–3
Ascham, Roger (1515–68), author and royal tutor; author of Toxophilus (1545), an educational manual that became an important model of English vernacular prose writing; tutored Princess, later Queen, Elizabeth (1548–50); Latin Secretary to Edward VI and Mary I; fame rests on The Scholemaster (published 1570), a work popularizing the educational views of Renaissance Englishmen: 15, 245
Ash, Dr John (1723–98), physician; substantial subscriber to the Birmingham General Hospital (founded 1779); patients included the antiquary William Hutton and the poet William Shenstone; fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (1787); painted by Reynolds (1788); founder of the Eumelian Club: 985 n. a
Ashburton, Lord, see Dunning, John
Ashmole, Elias (1617–92), astrologer and antiquary; compiled Theatrum chemi-cum Britannicum (1652); specialist in the Order of the Garter; catalogued the Bodleian Library’s collection of Roman coins; author of The Institution, Laws and Ceremonies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (i6jz); bequeathed his collection of curiosities to Oxford University on the proviso of its erection of the Ashmolean Museum (1683), the first public museum in modern Europe: 616
Astle, Revd Daniel (c. 1743–1826): 936
Astle, Thomas (1735–1803), archivist and collector of books and manuscripts; engaged by the British Museum to compile an index to the catalogue of the Harley manuscripts; took over from Philip Morant in the printing of the ancient rolls of Parliament (1770); author of The Origin and Progress of Writing (1784); collected over 250 manuscripts: 89, 838 and n. a
Astley, Philip (1742–1814), equestrian performer and circus proprietor; set up ‘riding school’ on Lambeth Marsh and ‘Astley’s Amphitheatre’ at the south-east foot of Westminster Bridge (1769); opened the Amphitheatre Astley in Paris (1783); established the Equestrian Theatre Royal in Dublin; served as horse-master, reporter and celebrity morale-booster in Flanders; epitomized advance of artisan classes into the market: 744
Aston, Catherine (c.1705-c.1780): 49
Aston, Elizabeth,‘Mrs Aston’ (1708–85): 513, 515, 516, 593–94, 637, 746, 747
Aston, Hon. and Revd Henry Hervey, see Hervey, Hon. and Revd Henry
Aston, Jane, see Gastrell, Mrs
Aston, Magdalen, see Walmsley, Mrs Magdalen
Aston, Mary (‘Molly’) (Mrs Brodie) (1706-c.1765): 49 and n. b, 514, 707, 708 and n. a, 795
Aston, the Misses: 49 and n. b
Aston, Sir Thomas, 3rd Baronet (1666–1725): 49–50 and 49 n. b
Aston, Sir Thomas, 4th Baronet (d. 1744): 49 n. b, 50, 62 n. a
Atholl, Walter Stewart, Earl of (d. 1437), magnate; executed after a failed coup d’etat: 264
Atterbury, Francis (1662–1732), bishop of Rochester (1713), politician and Jacobite conspirator; champion of the High Church cause; Tory; Harley’s chief ally in the clergy; dean of Carlisle (1704); forced into exile when his Jacobite actions came to light; acted as the Secretary of State for the Old Pretender; a genuinely devout writer, if not a great scholar; style admired by S.J.: 91, 308, 647, 657
Auchinleck, Alexander Boswell, Lord (1707–82), judge; father of J.B.; staunch Whig; strict Presbyterian; widely respected, upright, learned; reputation for being stern but impartial; spoke broad Scots from the bench; described by son as being ‘perhaps too anxiously devoted to utility’: 263, 300, 310, 370, 417, 418, 483–4, 574, 591, 621, 626, 640, 654, 725, 747, 851, 895, 906
Augustine, St (354–430), bishop of Hippo; one of the great fathers of the early Church, and probably the most significant Christian thinker afterStPaul; author of theConfessionsand The City of God: 476, 925
Augustus, Gaius Octavius (63 bc–ad 14), emperor of Rome and adopted son of Julius Caesar: 384, 516
Ausonius, Decimus Magnus (ad 310–c.395), poet and rhetorician; author of Mosella, a topographical poem on the Moselle: 105, 665
Bacon, Francis (1561–1626), Baron Verulam, Viscount of St Albans; Lord Chancellor (1618); politician