Gresham
Gresham names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Gresham SIR THOMAS, an English financier
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SIR THOMAS, an English financier; born in 1519; only son of Sir Richard Gresham. Apprenticed to his uncle, Sir John Gresham, a wealthy London mercer, and then sent to study at Gonville Hall, Cambridge, in 1543 he was admitted a member of the Mercers' Company, and in 1551 was employed as "king's merchant" at Antwerp. In two years he paid off a heavy loan, entirely restored the king's credit, and introduced a new system of finance. As a Protestant, he got his dismissal from Queen Mary, but on presenting a memorial of his past services, was soon reinstated. By Queen Elizabeth he was in 1559 knighted and appointed for a short time English ambassador at the court of the regent at Brussels. The troubles in the Netherlands compelled him, in 1567, to withdraw finally from Antwerp. In 1569, by his advice, the State was induced to borrow money from London merchants, instead of from other foreigners, to the great advantage of the mercantile body. Having in 1564 lost his only son, Richard, in 1566-1571 he devoted a portion of his great wealth to the erection of an Exchange in imitation of that of Antwerp, for the London merchants, who were wont to meet in the open air. Renowned for his hospitality and liberality, he frequently entertained foreign personages of distinction, and erected a magnificent mansion at Osterly Park, near Brentford, where he was visited by Queen Elizabeth. For the endowment of a college in London he directed by his will that his town mansion in Bishopsgate street should be converted into a residence and lecture rooms for seven professors, to be salaried out of the royal exchange revenues. He also provided for the erection and support of eight almshouses, and made many other chariland, Nov. 21, 1579.
Gresham WALTER QUINTON, an American jurist
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
WALTER QUINTON, an American jurist; born near Lanesville, Harrison co., Ind., March 17, 1832. He became a member of the Indiana State Legislature in 1861; served in the Civil War, rising to Brigadier-General of volunteers; at its close resumed the practice of law, and in 1869 was appointed by President Grant United States District Judge for Indiana; in 1883 was appointed Postmaster-General by President Arthur; in 1884 became Secretary of the Treasury, and later was appointed one of the judges of the United States Circuit Court. He died in Washington, D. C., May 28, 1895.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Sir Thomas Gresham's two great foundations both survive, but not in the form Collier's described in 1921. His Royal Exchange has been rebuilt twice since he raised it in 1566-71 — the original burned in the Great Fire of 1666 and its successor in 1838 — and the present building of 1844 ceased to be a trading floor and now houses luxury shops and restaurants, while Gresham College long ago left the Bishopsgate mansion and today gives its free public lectures from Barnard's Inn Hall in Holborn, streamed and archived online. Osterley Park, the "magnificent mansion" where Elizabeth visited him, was remodelled by Robert Adam in the 18th century and passed to the National Trust in 1949. The Collier's notice of Walter Q. Gresham (whose middle name is usually given as Quintin) is oddly incomplete: it lists his brief 1884 spell at the Treasury but omits the office he held when he died, Secretary of State under Cleveland from 1893, in which he opposed the annexation of Hawaii.
Written for this edition, 2026.