Beau Nash in 1761 he was appointed master of the ceremonies at Bath, which place he kept, along with a like position at Tunbridge Wells, until his death on 28 March 1769. A compilation entitled ‘Derrick's Jests, or the Wit's Chronicle,’ was published soon after his death.
[Chalmers's Dictionary (from Isaac Reed's manuscript anecdotes in possession of the editor); Boswell's Johnson, ed. Napier, i. 89, 314, 372–4, iv. 215; Derrick's Letters, i. 87; Watt's Bibl. Brit.; Gent. Mag. 1769, p. 215; The New Bath Guide, 1798, p. 66; Monthly Review, vols. vi. ix. xii. xi. xii. xxviii. xxxvi.]
DERRICKE, JOHN (fl. 1578), author of the ‘Image of Ireland,’ was the follower of Sir Henry Sidney, and the friend of his son, Sir Philip. He may have been the Mr. Derricke who, in 1557, was employed to make the great seal for Ireland by direction of Mr. Secretary Sir John Bourne. His work is divided into two parts, the first giving a sort of allegorical description of Ireland, after a somewhat confused manner, the women being represented as seductive nymphs, and the men as a kind of sylvan deities; and the second, which is alone of any value, giving a description of the wood kerne, or native Irish, in the time of Elizabeth, illustrated by curious woodcuts of the wood kerne in the costumes of the period, ecclesiastical, civil, and military. The work appears to have been written in 1578, and was first published in 1581. In 1809 it was reprinted with notes by Sir Walter Scott in ‘Somers Tracts,’ and an impression of 286 copies, on thick paper, edited by John Small, was published at Edinburgh in 1883.
[Small's edition of the Image of Ireland.]
DERWENTWATER, Earl of. [See Radclyffe.]
DE RYCK, WILLIAM (1635–1697), history painter, was born at Antwerp in 1635, and bred as a goldsmith, but took to painting when in England in the reign of William III. He died in London in 1697, but according to Nagler two years later. John Smith engraved in mezzotint his ‘Tarquin and Lucretia.’
[Redgrave's Dict. of English Artists.]
DESAGULIERS, JOHN THEOPHILUS (1683–1744), natural philosopher, son of Jean Desaguliers, pastor of a protestant congregation at Aitré, was born on 13 March 1683 at La Rochelle. On the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685 his father fled to England, bringing with him John Theophilus. The latter, it has been said, was concealed in a barrel, and thus carried on board the Refugee vessel. As a boy he read classics with his father, who, after a brief residence in Guernsey, became minister of the French chapel in Swallow Street, London, and kept a school at Islington, with his son as assistant. After his father's death Desaguliers matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford. Here he took the degree of B.A., and entered into deacon's orders in 1710, in which year he was also appointed successor to Dr. Keil as lecturer on experimental philosophy in Hart Hall. He followed the method adopted by his predecessor, and lectured on hydrostatics, optics, and mechanics. On 3 May 1712 he proceeded M.A., and in the following year took up his residence in Channel Row, Westminster, and there continued his lectures. In July 1714 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and invited to become their demonstrator and curator. He was held in great esteem by Sir Isaac Newton, then president of the society, and became chaplain in the same year (1714) to the Duke of Chandos, who presented him with the living of Stanmore Parva, or Whitchurch, Middlesex. In 1717 he lectured before George I, who rewarded him with a benefice in Norfolk, worth 70l. a year, which was afterwards exchanged for a living in Essex on the presentation of George II. About this time he was appointed chaplain to Frederick, prince of Wales. On 16 March 1718 he completed his degrees at Oxford as bachelor and doctor of laws. In February 1741–2 he received the Copley gold medal from the Royal Society in acknowledgment of his successful experiments. When old Westminster Bridge was built (1738–9) his opinion on the structure was often sought, but his house with Channel Row had to be pulled down. Desaguliers removed to a lodging in Bedford Coffee-house, over the great piazza in Covent Garden, where he continued his lectures with great success until his death on 29 Feb. 1744. He was buried in the Savoy on 6 March following. In personal appearance he was unattractive, short and thickset, of irregular features, and extremely near-sighted. He was a member of the Gentlemen's Society at Spalding (Nichols, Lit. Anecdotes, vi. 81). He is said to have been the first to deliver learned lectures to the general public. His lectures were attended by the most learned men of the day, and were made interesting by skilful experiments. In a journey through Holland his lectures likewise attracted the attention of men like
