LEATHER, JOHN WIGNALL (eld. son of George Leather, M.I.C.E.).
_b._ near Leeds 26 April 1810; entered his father’s office and
was with him engaged on the Leeds water supply works 1833–51
and on the Bradford water supply 1838–57; employed on the Fen
drainage 1845; engineer of Aire and Calder navigation; made
Hartlepool and Stockton railway 1838–41 which included the
Greatham viaduct of 92 arches; laid out Birmingham, Dudley and
Wolverhampton railway 1835; retired from business 1877; M.I.C.E.
6 March 1849; author of Report to the Leeds town council on an
effectual sewerage for Leeds 1845. _d._ De Grey lodge, Leeds
31 Jany. 1887. _Min. of proc. of Instit. of C.E. lxxxix_ 473–9
(1887).
LEATHERLAND, JOHN A. (son of a carpenter). _b._ Kettering 11
May 1812; a shoemaker, a loom weaver, a ribbon weaver 1829–37,
a velvet weaver, a maker of velvet waistcoats which he sold
throughout the county till 1850; local reporter to Northampton
Herald 1849 and other newspapers; living in High st. Kettering
in 1869; author of Psyche, a prize essay on the immateriality
of the mind and the immortality of the soul. Northampton 1853;
On courtesy. Essay xiii. in J. Cassell’s Social Science 1861;
Essays and poems, with a brief autobiographical memoir 1862,
memoir pp. 1–39. _d._ probably before 1877.
LEATHES, EDMUND JOHN, stage name of Edmund Donaldson (2 son of
John William Donaldson, D.D., Greek scholar 1811–61). _b._ Bury
St. Edmunds 23 March 1847; ed. Marlborough 1861–64 where he won
the mile race in 4 min. 38 sec.; sheep farming in New Zealand;
studied medicine in Edinb.; acted at Old Theatre royal, Dublin,
April 1869 and then in Sydney, New Zealand, Honolulu, San
Francisco, Nevada, New York and Boston; at Princess’s theatre,
London 1 March 1873 as Gratiano in Merchant of Venice; acted
James Annesley in C. Reade’s The Wandering Heir, Queen’s theatre
15 Nov. 1873; played Laertes 200 nights Lyceum 30 Oct. 1874 to
29 June 1875 and Matthew Hawker in Human Nature, Drury Lane 12
Sep. 1885; a teacher of the dramatic art and literature; wrote
The actor’s wife a novel 3 vols. 1880 and An actor abroad or
gossip from the recollections of an actor in Australia, New
Zealand, &c. 1883; produced his blank verse play For king and
country, at Gaiety 1 May 1883 and another drama The actor’s
wife. _d._ Tenterfield, Bina gardens, South Kensington, London
6 June 1891. _Illust. Sport. and Dram. News 4 May 1878 p._ 149,
_portrait_.
LE BAS, CHARLES WEBB (son of Charles Le Bas, linen draper). _b._
20 New Bond st. London 26 April 1779; ed. at Hyde abbey school
near Winchester; entered Trin. coll. Camb. 1796, scholar, Craven
scholar 1799 and member’s prizeman, fellow 1801–14; fourth
wrangler, B.A. and chancellor’s medallist 1800; barrister L.I.
1806; ordained deacon 1809; R. of St. Paul’s, Shadwell 1811;
preb. of Lincoln cath. 23 May 1812; professor of mathematics and
dean in East India college, Haileybury 1813, principal 1837 to
31 Dec. 1843; the Le Bas prize at Cambridge for the best essay
on an historical subject was founded in 1848 by his old pupils
at cost of £1920; wrote nearly 80 articles for The British
Critic 1827–38; author of Considerations on miracles 1828;
Sermons on various occasions 3 vols. 1822–34; The life of Thomas
Fanshaw Middleton, bishop of Calcutta 2 vols. 1831; Memoir of
Henry Vincent Bailey, archdeacon of Stow 1846; Life of Wicliff
1832; Life of Cranmer 1833; Life of Jewel 1835 and Life of Laud
1836, being vols. 1, 4, 5, 11 and 13 of The Theological Library
edited by H. J. Rose and W. R. Lyall. _d._ 74 Montpelier road,
Brighton 25 Jany. 1861.
LE BLANC, HENRY. _b._ 1776; ensign 71 foot 9 July 1792, major 12
June 1806; lieut.-col. 5 veteran battalion 5 Feb. 1807 to 1814
when battalion was reduced and he retired on full pay; major
of Chelsea hospital 22 Sep. 1814 to death; colonel in the army
28 Nov. 1854; served at siege of Pondicherry and capture of
Cape of Good Hope 1806; lost a leg at capture of Buenos Ayres