Sir John Richardson

Sir John Richardson, a Scottish naturalist, born in Dumfries, Nov. 5, 1787, died near Gras-mere, June 5, 1865. He entered the navy in 1801 as an assistant surgeon, and subsequently became acting surgeon in the Hercules, 74. In 1819-'22 and 1825-'7 he accompanied Sir John Franklin in his arctic expeditions as surgeon and naturalist, and in the second with one detachment of the party explored the coast E. of the Mackenzie to the mouth of the Coppermine river. In 1848 he commanded one of the three expeditions which went out in search of Sir John Franklin, and returned in November, 1849. In 1855 he retired from the naval service. His most important work is the Fauna Boreali-Americana (4 vols. 4to, London, 1829-'37), in which he was assisted by Swainson and Kirby. He also published " The Arctic Searching Expedition, a Journal of a Boat Voyage through Rupert's Land and the Arctic Sea," etc. (2 vols. 8vo, 1851), and "The Polar Regions" (8vo, Edinburgh, 1861).

Sir John Suckling

Sir John Suckling, an English poet, born at Whitton, Middlesex, in 1609, died in Paris probably in 1042. He was educated at Cambridge, inherited an immense fortune from his father, comptroller of the royal household, and in 1631-2 served as a volunteer under Gus-tavus Adolphus. He was afterward a member of the court of Charles I., and in 1639 he equipped a body of 100 horse for the royal service, but was disgraced by pusillanimous conduct in an encounter with the Scots near Dunse. In 1640 he was elected to the long parliament; but having joined in a plot to rescue Strafford from the tower, he was compelled to take refuge in France. His literary remains include four plays, a number of short poems, chiefly amatory, and a treatise on " Religion by Reason." His works were published by Tonson in 1709, and in 1836 appeared "Selections from his Works," with a memoir by the Rev. Alfred Suckling. A new edition of his "Poems, Plays, and Remains " was published in London in 1874.

Sir John Watson Gordon

Sir John Watson Gordon, a Scottish painter, born in Edinburgh about 1790, died in 1864. He received his professional education in Edinburgh, and devoted himself exclusively to portrait painting. Among his portraits are those of Scott, Do Quincey, and Wilson. In 1850 he became president of the royal Scottish academy, and was made painter limner to the queen; and in 1851, having been knighted, he was made a member of the London academy.

Sir John William Kaye

Sir John William Kaye, an English author, born in 1814. After serving for some time as lieutenant in the army in India, he returned to England in 1845, and devoted himself to literature. In 1856 he entered the home civil service of the East India company, and upon the transfer to the crown of the government of India, he was made secretary to the political and secret department of the India office. He was knighted in 1871. He has written "History of the War in Afghanistan " (4 vols., 1851-'3; new ed., 1874); "History of the Administration of the East India Company" (1853); "Life and Correspondence of Lord Metcalfe " (1854); "Life and Correspondence of Sir John Malcolm" (1856); "Christianity in India" (1859); " History of the Sepoy War " (2 vols., 1866-71); and " Essays of an Optimist" (1870).