CUMING, Richard. b. London 20 March 1777; one of first members of Aurelian Soc. 1801 afterwards known as Entomological Soc. of London; member of Lambeth Chemical Soc. established 1801; invented the Phantasmagoria 1801 which was shown by Philipstal at Lyceum theatre 1802; made purchases from all celebrated collections of curiosities and natural history which were sold 1806–70; Assoc. British Archæol. Soc. 1858; translated greater part of Cuvier’s Règne Animal to which Edward Pidgeon’s name is attached. d. 63 Kennington park road, London 15 Feb. 1870. bur. Norwood cemetery 22 Feb. Journal of British Archæol. Assoc. xxvii, 542–4 (1871).
CUMMING, Sir Henry John. b. 1772; cornet 11 light dragoons 12 May 1790, lieut.-col. 17 Feb. 1803 to 20 Jany. 1837; present at every engagement in the Peninsula except siege of Badajoz; col. 12 lancers 20 Jany. 1837 to death; general 9 Nov. 1846; K.C.H. 13 March 1833. d. 15 Upper Grosvenor st. London 28 Nov. 1856.
CUMMING, Rev. James. b. St. James’s, Westminster 23 Oct. 1777; ed. at Trin. coll. Cam., 10 wrangler 1801, B.A. 1801, M.A. 1804, fellow of his college 1803–15; professor of chemistry in Univ. of Cam. 1815 to death; made important modifications and simplifications of electric methods; pres. of Cambridge Philosophical Soc.; F.R.S. 4 Jany. 1816, F.G.S. 1816; R. of North Runcton, Norfolk 1819 to death; author of A manual of Electro-Dynamics 1827. d. North Runcton 10 Nov. 1861.
CUMMING, Rev. John. b. parish of Fintray, Aberdeenshire 10 Nov. 1807; ed. at Aberdeen gr. sch. and univ.; M.A. 1827; licensed to preach by Aberdeen presbytery 3 May 1832; minister of National Scottish church, Crown court, Covent Garden, London 18 Aug. 1832 to 21 July 1879, church was rebuilt at cost of £5000, 1847–8; a prominent controversialist; opposed the Free church of Scotland in many pamphlets and lectures; took part in the Maynooth controversy 1845; became widely known by his writings on the interpretations of prophecy; lectured against Bishop Colenso 1863; his letters to the Times signed a ‘Beemaster’ attracted much notice and were the basis of a work called Beekeeping 1864; his admirers raised a sum of £3000 for him 1879 which bought an annuity of £300; author of Lectures for the times, or an exposition of Tridentine and Tractarian Popery 1844; Is Christianity from God? a manual of Christian evidence 1847, 11 ed. 1871; Apocalyptic Sketches 3 series 1848–50; Prophetic studies, or lectures on the book of Daniel 1850; Signs of the times, or present, past and future 1854; The great tribulation, or things coming on the earth 1859; Popular lectures on the Essays and Reviews 1861; The Millenial rest, or the world as it will be 1862; Moses right and Bishop Colenso wrong 1863; Driftwood, seawood and fallen leaves 2 vols. 1863, and more than 90 other books. d. Chiswick 5 July 1881. In memoriam Rev. John Cumming, D.D, printed for private distribution n.d.; Rev. C. M. Davies’s Unorthodox London (1873) 201–17; Westminster Review n.s. viii, 436–62 (1855); Essays by George Eliot (1884) 145–99; Illust. news of the world iii (1859), portrait; Graphic xxiv, 149 (1881), portrait.
CUMMING, Rev. Joseph George (2 son of Joseph Notsall Cumming of Mattock). b. Matlock 15 Feb. 1812; ed. at Oakham gr. sch. and Em. coll. Cam., B.A. 1834, M.A. 1837; C. of North Runcton, Norfolk 1835–38; vice principal of King William’s college, Isle of Man 1841–55; master of Lichfield gr. sch. 1855–58; warden and professor of classical literature and geology in Queen’s college, Birmingham 1858–62; R. of Mellis, Suffolk 1862–67; V. of St. John’s, Bethnal Green, London 1867 to death; F.G.S. 1846; author of The Isle of Man, its history, physical, ecclesiastical, civil and legendary 1848; A chronology of ancient, sacred and profane history 1853; The great Stanley, or James VIIth Earl of Derby 1867. d. St. John’s vicarage, Bethnal Green 21 Sep. 1868. Reg. and mag. of biog. i, 219–20 (1869).
CUMMING, William. b. about 1822; M.R.C.S. 1844, L.S.A. 1847; a surgeon in London; the pioneer of modern ophthalmology; the first to demonstrate that rays of light falling on the human retina might be reflected back to the eye of an observer, this important fact was communicated by him to the Medico-Chirurgical Soc. of London, June 1846 in a paper On a luminous appearance of the human eye. d. 15 Warkworth terrace, Commercial road, London 5 June 1855 aged 33.
CUMMING-BRUCE, Charles Lennox (2 son of Sir Alexander Penrose Cumming-Gordon 1 baronet, who d. 10 Feb. 1806). b. 20 Feb. 1790; ed. at Winchester and C.C. coll. Ox., M.A. 1810; M.P. for Inverness district of burghs 17 May 1833 to 17 July 1837, for Elgin and Nairnshire 25 April 1840 to 11 Nov. 1868; joint sec. of board of control Feb. to Dec. 1852; assumed additional surname of Bruce on his marriage 1820. d. Broom hall near Dunfermline 1 Jany. 1875.
CUMMING-GORDON, Roualeyn George Gordon (2 son of the succeeding). b. Altyre, co. Elgin 15 March 1820; ed. at Eton; cornet Madras cavalry 1838–40; ensign royal Newfoundland companies 3 Nov. 1843; ensign Cape Mounted rifles 23 Feb. 1844 to 22 July 1845 when he sold out; hunted in interior of South Africa 1845–50; exhibited his trophies at Great Exhibition 1851; lectured in London and the provinces 1855–58; kept a museum of his trophies at Fort Augustus on the Caledonian canal 1858 to death; author of Five years of a hunter’s life in the far interior of South Africa 2 vols. 1850 which had an immense success; The lion hunter of South Africa 1856. d. Fort Augustus 24 March 1866. I.L.N. xx, 512 (1852), portrait.
CUMMING-GORDON, Sir William Gordon, 2 Baronet. b. Altyre 20 July 1787; succeeded his father 10 Feb. 1806; M.P. for Elgin district of burghs 23 May 1831 to 3 Dec. 1832. d. Altyre 23 Nov. 1854.
CUNARD, Sir Edward, 2 Baronet (son of the succeeding). b. Halifax, Nova Scotia 1 Jany. 1816; agent of Cunard line of steamers at New York 1835–65; head of firm of Cunard, Burns and Mac Iver 1865 to death. d. suddenly at New York 6 April 1869, personalty sworn under £300,000, 5 June 1869.