The Life of Samuel Johnson - James Boswell [757]
Fenton, Elijah (1683–173 o), poet; edited and contributed to The Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany Poems (1709); author of Poems on Several Occasions (1717) and a tragedy, Marianne (1723); helped Pope with edition of Shakespeare; translated Books I, IV, XIX and XX for Pope’s Odyssey; praised by S.J.: 434 n. a
Ferguson, Dr Adam (1723–1816), professor of moral philosophy at Edinburgh; philosopher and historian; author of An Essay on the History of Civil Society (1767) and the History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic (1783); one of the leading figures in the Scottish Enlightenment: 310
Fergusson, James (1735–1820), of Pitfour, Advocate andMP: 638
Fergusson, Sir Adam, of Kilkerran (1733–1813): 350
Fermor, Mrs (fl. 1775): 471
Fielding, Henry (1707– 54), author and magistrate; as playwright, noted for ‘irregular’ modes of farce, satire and ballad opera; contributed to oppositional journal The Champion; dramatic career ended by the 1737 Licensing Act; earned fame through Shamela (1741), a parody of the Richardsonian epistolary novel; made own mark with Joseph Andrews (1742) and his masterpiece, Tom Jones (1749); high steward of the New Forest (1746-8); publicist for the Pelham ministry; chairman of the sessions (1749); enjoyed the patronage of the Duke of Bedford; formed the ‘Bow Street Runners’, the first modern Metropolitan Police: 97 n. b, 288, 352, 353, 541, 640, 755, 906, 1000 n. c
Fielding, Sir John (d. 1780), magistrate; half-brother to Henry; opened the Universal Register Office with Henry and others (1750); Justice of the Peace for Westminster (1751) then Middlesex (1754); governor of the Magdalen Hospital; life governor of the Female Orphans Asylum: 224
Filby, William, Goldsmith’s tailor: 304
Firebrace, Lady (d. 1782): 79 and n. a
Fitzherbert, Alleyne, Baron St Helens (1753–1839), diplomatist; both parents good friends of S.J.; minister resident in Brussels (1777–83); minister-plenipotentiary to negotiate peace agreement at the end of the American War of Independence (1782); diplomat at the court of Catherine the Great at St Petersburg (1783-7); chief secretary for Ireland (1787-9); ambassador to The Hague (1789–90); negotiator in Madrid (1790–94); ambassador to St Petersburg (1801 –3); lord of the bedchamber (1803–20, 1820–30): 49, 603, 653, 731
Fitzherbert, Mrs (d. 1753): 780
Fitzherbert, William (i7i2-72), MP: 194, 780
Fitzroy, Lord Charles (d. 1739): 514
Flatman, Thomas (1637–88), poet and painter of miniatures: 534
Fleetwood, Charles (d. 1747/8), theatre manager; purchased John Highmore’s share of the Drury Lane Theatre patent (1734); refereed boxing matches at Tottenham Court (1739); brought Garrick to Drury Lane on £500 per annum; sold patent to Richard Green and Morton Amber (1744) after a series of confrontations with minor acting troupes; reputation for improvidence: 66
Fleming, Sir Michaelle (1748–1806), MP: 243 n. a
Flexman, Dr Roger (1708–95), Presbyterian minister and indexer; minister of the congregation at Jamaica Row, Rotherhithe, London (1747); Friday lecturer at Little St Helen’s, Bishopsgate (1754); made DD by Marischal College, Aberdeen (1770); sometime poet; renowned for remarkable memory and accuracy; compiler of a general index to the journals of the House of Commons (1776–80, appointed 1770): 943
Flint, Bet, prostitute: 820
Flood, Henry (1732–91), politician; idealized Pitt the elder; sworn of the Irish Privy Council (1775); vice-treasurer of Ireland (1775–81); from 1781 onwards, an independent radical; committed patriot and reformer; subject to vicious attempted political assassination by Grattan (1783); MP for Winchester (1783); adept political propagandist; talented orator and superb debater; sometime poet: 173 n. a, 333, 1002, 1002 n. b, 1003
Floyd, or Flloyd, Thomas (fl. 1760–62), miscellaneous author: 240
Fontenelle, Bernard le Bovier de (1657–1757), French poet and man of letters: 11, 86, 657
Foote, Samuel (1720–77), actor and playwright; early acting career in London