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Archiver > STEER > 2005-09 > 1127642645


From: "Jack Steer" <>
Subject: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 11:04:05 +0100


The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is available at the price of £7500 or on line subscription of £195 (+VAT) per annum



But today you can get free access as it is celebrating its first birthday with three days' free online access from 23 to 25 September 2005 (UK time) - I've only just been told about this.



To take advantage of the free access period visit http://www.oxforddnb.com



There aren't many STEER entries, but it is well worth a visit



Two intriguing entries that caught my eye are

STEER, Bartholomew (bap. 1568, d. 1597?), carpenter and rebel, was baptised on 25 July 1568 at Hampton Poyle, Oxfordshire, the son of John STEER (d. 1616) and his wife, Mary (d. 1579). Little is known of STEER's life before his plotting as ringleader of the abortive Oxfordshire rising of 1596 brought him to the attention of the authorities. At the time of his arrest in 1596 STEER described himself as 'a single man . [who] stood in no neede' (PRO, SP 12/262/4). But his family background hints at the relative poverty that helps to explain the anger that led to his involvement in the rising. His father was a smallholder at Hampton Poyle and his brother John a weaver in the troubled Witney cloth industry. STEER himself had served as a carpenter in 1596 to Henry, Lord Norris, at Rycote in Oxfordshire.



And a Rotherhithe STEER

STEERS, Thomas (c.1672-1750), civil engineer and merchant, possibly a native of Rotherhithe, Kent, was of unknown parentage. He was commissioned in the 4th regiment of foot and fought at the battle of the Boyne in 1690. He then served in the Netherlands, where he may have gained experience of hydraulic engineering. Following the peace of Ryswick in 1697, STEERS returned to England and shortly after, in 1698 or 1699, he married Henrietta Maria (d. 1717), daughter of Abraham Barber, property owner of Rotherhithe, where STEERS was then living. Of their five sons, two died in infancy and one of their two daughters died in childhood.



Regards,
Jack Steer
Banbury

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