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Stratford-on-Avon

(Encyclopedia)Stratford-on-Avon, district (2001 pop. 111,484), Warwickshire, central England, on the Avon River. The town and former borough of Stratford-upon-Avon is the administrative seat of the district, which ...

Sackville, Thomas, 1st earl of Dorset

(Encyclopedia)Sackville, Thomas, 1st earl of Dorset, 1536–1608, English statesman and poet. A barrister of the Inner Temple, Sackville entered Parliament in 1558, gained favor with Elizabeth I, and was created Ba...

Pratt, Charles, 1st Earl Camden

(Encyclopedia)Pratt, Charles, 1st Earl Camden, 1714–94, British jurist. Appointed (1761) chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas, he earned wide popularity as a result of his ruling in Entick v. Carrington (17...

Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st earl of Beaconsfield

(Encyclopedia)Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st earl of Beaconsfield dĭzrāˈlē [key], 1804–81, British statesman and author. He is regarded as the founder of the modern Conservative party. Disraeli succeeded the earl ...

Shirley, Sir Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Shirley or Sherley, Sir Anthony, 1565–1636?, English adventurer. He fought in the Netherlands (1586) under the earl of Leicester and in France (1591) under the earl of Essex, who became his patron. ...

Harley, Robert, 1st earl of Oxford

(Encyclopedia)Harley, Robert, 1st earl of Oxford, 1661–1724, English statesman and bibliophile. His career illustrates the power of personal connections and intrigue in the politics of his day. When he entered (1...

Mansfield, William Murray, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Mansfield, William Murray, 1st earl of, 1705–93, English jurist. As solicitor general (1742–54) he prosecuted the Scottish rebel lords, Balmerino (Arthur Elphinstone), Kilmarnock, and Lovat. In 17...

Alito, Samuel Anthony, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Alito, Samuel Anthony, Jr. əlēˈtō [key], 1950–, U.S. government official and judge, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2006–), b. Trenton, N.J., grad. Pr...

Walpole, Robert, 1st earl of Orford

(Encyclopedia)Walpole, Robert, 1st earl of Orford, 1676–1745, English statesman. Walpole is usually described as the first prime minister of Great Britain, but he was not a prime minister in the modern sense. A...

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