Daniel Augustus Beaufort

Daniel Augustus Beaufort
Born	1739
Died	1821
Nationality	British

Daniel Augustus Beaufort LL.D. (1739–1821), was an English Anglican priest and geographer, born on 1 October 1739 at East Barnet, as the son of Daniel Cornelis de Beaufort and Esther Gougeon, French Huguenot refugees. He was rector of Navan, County Meath, Ireland, from 1765 to 1818.

Parentage and family

The father (1700–1788) was a French Protestant refugee, who became pastor of the Huguenot church in Spitalfields, London in 1728, and of that in Parliament Street, Bishopsgate, in 1729. He entered the Church of England in 1731. He married Esther Gougeon in London, 11 June 1738, and was rector of East Barnet from 1739 to 1743.

Taking his family with him to accompany Lord Harrington to Ireland, the father became rector of Navan in 1747. He was provost and archdeacon of Tuam from 1753 to 1758. He was rector of Clonenagh from 1758 until his death thirty years later. In 1788, he published in English, A Short Account of the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome, divested of all Controversy. His brother, Louis de Beaufort, published (in 1738) a work on the uncertainty of Roman history, supposed to have given some suggestions to Niebuhr.

Education and calling

Daniel Augustus was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, of which he was elected a scholar in 1757. He became B.A. in 1759, M.A. in 1764, and LL.D. (honoris causa) in 1789. He was ordained by the Bishop of Salisbury, and, in succession to his father, was rector of Navan, co. Meath, from 1765 to 1818.

In 1790 he was presented by the Right Hon. John Foster to the vicarage of Collon, co. Louth. He afterwards built the church at Collon, where he remained until his death in 1821. He was successively collated to the prebendal stalls of Kilconnell, in the diocese of Clonfert, (3 October 1818), and of Mayne, in the diocese of Ossory (20 April 1820).

Life

Beaufort took a prominent part in the foundation of Sunday schools, and in the preparation of elementary educational works. He helped found the Royal Irish Academy. His most important work was his map of Ireland, published in 1792. He accompanied it by a memoir of the civil and ecclesiastical state of the country. All the places marked on the map are systematically indexed in the memoir and assigned to their respective parishes, baronies, etc. In the preface, the author stated his map was prepared from original observations to remedy the defects of existing maps of Ireland. Competent authorities pronounced it and the memoir to be valuable contributions to geography. The publication of this work was encouraged by the Marquis of Buckingham, lord-lieutenant of Ireland.

Family

Beaufort married Mary, daughter and co-heiress of William Waller, of Allenstown, County Meath. Their elder son, William Louis Beaufort (1771–1849), was rector of Glanmire, and prebendary of Rathcooney, Cork, from 1814 until his death in 1849. They had daughters Frances and Harriet. Their younger son was Francis Beaufort, who joined the Royal Navy and became Hydrographer; he received the Order of the Bath.^{[DNB 1][DNB 2][DNB 3][DNB 4][DNB 5][DNB 6][1]} Daughter Frances Ann Beaufort was the fourth wife of Richard Lovell Edgeworth. Her step-daughter Honora married Frances' brother Sir Francis Beaufort.

References

1.  Alfred Goodwin (Signing as A. G-n. in the DNB) (1885). "Beaufort, Daniel Augustus (DNB00)". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography. 04. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 38.

DNB references

These references are found in the DNB article referred to above.

1. Information from W. M. Beaufort, Esquire
2. Times, 18 June 1821
3. Gentlemen's Magazine vol ix.
4. Cotton's Fasti Hibernici
5. Monthly Review,' xiii. 173
6. Webb's Compendium of Irish Biography.

External links