indomitable fortitude with which he bore the pains and necessary operations of the attempts to cure the cancer in his tongue. Scrupulously fair in word and thought, his nervous temperament made him no respecter of persons, and at times caused him to be hasty both in temper and judgment, but he was always ready to own himself mistaken, and was quick to forgive as well as to forget. On the Test and Itchen, and among the Scotch lochs and rivers, which he loved to frequent, his name will long be remembered. ‘His memory is the memory of a man who spent his life not merely in selfish amusement, but in contributing largely to the amusement of others’ (Memoir in Book of Angling). More perhaps than any other he instructed and delighted the enormous number of anglers who have sprung into existence during the last thirty years by his writings, his geniality, and his prowess as a fisherman.
Besides ‘The Diplomatic History of the Greek War’ (1878) which he wrote in early life, Francis was the author of:
- ‘Pickackifax,’ a novel in rhyme, 1854.
- ‘The Real Salt,’ a yachting story, 1854.
- ‘The Angler's Register,’ 1858, 1860, 1861, from which sprang the ‘Angler's Diary.’
- ‘Newton Dogvane,’ a novel, 3 vols., illustrated by Leech, 1859.
- ‘Fish Culture,’ 1863.
- ‘A Book on Angling,’ 1867, his best work, which has often been enlarged and reissued in subsequent years.
- ‘Sidney Bellew,’ a sporting novel, 2 vols., 1870.
- ‘Reports on Salmon Ladders,’ 1870.
- ‘By Lake and River,’ rambles in the north of England and in Scotland.
- ‘Angling’ (often reissued), 1877.
- ‘Sporting Sketches with Pen and Pencil,’ 1878 (in conjunction with Mr. A. W. Cooper).
- ‘Miscellaneous Papers from the “Field,”’ 1880.
- ‘The Practical Management of Fisheries,’ 1883.
- ‘Angling Reminiscences,’ a posthumous work, 1887, containing almost his last contributions to the ‘Field’ paper.
Besides these he wrote the articles on angling in ‘Chambers's Encyclopædia,’ and contributed a number of scattered papers to other magazines and journals.
[Fishing Gazette; Field and Academy for 1 Jan. 1887; Westwood and Satchell's Bibliotheca Piscatoria; Memoir prefixed to the sixth edition of his Book on Angling; private information.]
FRANCIS, GEORGE GRANT (1814–1882), Welsh antiquary, eldest son of John Francis of Swansea, Glamorganshire, by his wife, Mary Grant, was born in that town in January 1814, and educated at the high school there. Until within a few years of his death Francis took a very prominent part in every question affecting the interest of his native town. ‘It mattered little,’ writes one who knew him well, ‘whether the subject was one of antiquarian research, … or a question of modern improvement and progress, such as railways, docks, or tramways. Whatever his hand found to do he did it with a might which certainly deserved success, though it by no means uniformly commanded it. … As with many other men of a similar temperament, his enthusiasm ran away with him.’ His numerous schemes for local improvements were, in fact, somewhat in advance of his time, and being always financially weak, met with an imperfect appreciation. In 1835 he helped to found the Royal Institution of South Wales, and presented it with his large collections of local fossils, antiquities, coins, and seals, together with one of the best libraries of works relating to Wales extant, of which he compiled and printed a catalogue, afterwards adding a supplementary volume. He also shared in the formation of the Cambrian Archæological Association in 1846, and frequently contributed to its journal, the ‘Archæologia Cambrensis.’ To the volume for 1848 he sent for insertion the original contract of affiance between Edward of Carnarvon, prince of Wales, and Isabella, daughter of Philip the Fair, king of France, dated at Paris 20 May 1303, which he had discovered in Swansea Castle. It was printed separately the same year. He was active in restoring to public use the ancient grammar school of Bishop Gore, of which he was many years chairman and one of the trustees. His connection with it enabled him to collect materials for his book, ‘The Free Grammar School, Swansea; with brief Memoirs of its Founders and Masters, and copies of original deeds,’ 8vo, Swansea, 1849. By the town council he was entrusted with the restoration and arrangement of their neglected and scattered muniments, which task he performed so admirably as to call forth a warm eulogium from Lord Campbell in the court of queen's bench. He afterwards privately printed one hundred copies of ‘Charters granted to Swansea. … Translated, illustrated, and edited by G. G. Francis,’ Latin and English, fol., London, 1867. The preservation and restoration of Oystermouth Castle, near Swansea—one of the many ancient ruins pertaining to the house of Beaufort, lords of Gower and Kilvey—were also owing to his exertions, for which he was presented with a piece of plate. In 1851 Francis was selected to represent the Swansea district as local commissioner at the Great Exhibition. During the same year the British Association appointed him secretary
