Pratt

Pratt, Charles, 1st Earl Camden, 1714-94, British jurist. Appointed (1761) chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas, he earned wide popularity as a result of his ruling in Entick v. Carrington (1763), where he pronounced against the legality of the general warrant under which John Wilkes was prosecuted. He became lord chancellor in 1766, but his constant denunciation of the government's policy toward the American colonists and opposition to the taxes imposed on them resulted in his dismissal (1770). He served as president of the council under the marquess of Rockingham (1782-83) and under William Pitt (1784-94). In 1786 he was created Earl Camden. His lifelong fight against the existing definition of libel culminated in the passage of Fox's Libel Act of 1792 (see press, freedom of the). Camden's son, John Jeffreys Pratt, 2d Earl and 1st Marquess Camden, 1759-1840, was lord lieutenant of Ireland (1794-98). His repressive policies there were a major factor in the outbreak of the 1798 revolution. He later served as secretary of war (1804-5) and president of the council (1805-6 and 1807-12). He was created marquess in 1812.

Pratt, Daniel, 1799-1873, American industrialist, b. Temple, N.H. He moved to Georgia at the age of 20, and after he had become a partner in a cotton gin he went (1833) to Alabama, where he founded (1835) Prattville, 12 mi (17 km) NW of Montgomery. Here he built up numerous industries, promoted business, and became one of the first important industrialists of Alabama. He became interested in coal and iron industries in Birmingham. As a representative in the Alabama legislature during the Civil War, he at first opposed secession but later ardently supported the Confederacy.

Pratt, Edwin John, 1883-1964, Canadian poet, b. Newfoundland. He broke away from the old romantic tradition of Canadian poetry to write imaginative narratives of epic events. Among these are Titans (1926), The Roosevelt and the Antinoe (1930), The Titanic (1935), and Dunkirk (1941). His most ambitious work, Brébeuf and His Brethren (1940), records the heroism of martyred Jesuit missionaries.

Pratt, Matthew, 1734-1805, American portrait painter, b. Philadelphia. After he was an apprentice to his uncle, a painter in Philadelphia, he practiced portrait painting and then studied under Benjamin West in London (1764-66). His most famous paintings are The American School (Metropolitan Mus.) and portraits of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin West, and Cadwallader Colden.

Pratt, Orson, 1811-81, Mormon apostle, b. Hartford, N.Y.; brother of Parley Parker Pratt. He joined (1830) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became (1835) an apostle. An eloquent speaker, he was a successful missionary in England and elsewhere; in Utah, where he was (1847) one of the first immigrants, he was long an influential member of the assembly. Pratt also taught at the Univ. of Deseret (now the Univ. of Utah). He wrote books on mathematics as well as on the Mormon church.

Pratt, Parley Parker, 1807-57, Mormon apostle, b. Otsego co., N.Y.; brother of Orson Pratt. He joined (1830) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was made an apostle in 1835. In 1838, Pratt was imprisoned in Missouri during the persecution of the Mormons there. On the first of his missionary visits to England he founded (1840) the Millennial Star in Manchester. In Utah, where he went in 1847, he aided in framing the constitution of the state of Deseret (which later became the Utah Territory) and devised a Mormon alphabet.

Pratt, Richard Henry, 1840-1924, American soldier and educator, b. Rushford, N.Y. He served in the Union army during the Civil War and then in the Indian wars in the West, where he became interested in the cultural problems of the Native Americans. He experimented in educating Native Americans, believing that they must be taught to reject tribal culture and adapt to white society. In 1879, he founded at Carlisle, Pa., a nonreservation school for Native Americans. He retired from the U.S. army in 1903 but supervised the Carlisle Indian School, maintained by the U.S. government and housed in an army barracks, until 1904.

(born Feb. 4, 1883, Western Bay, Nfd., Can.—died April 26, 1964, Toronto, Ont.) Canadian poet. He trained for the ministry and later taught for many years at the University of Toronto. The early collection The Titans (1926) contains his widely read “The Cachalot,” an account of a whale hunt. Brébeuf and His Brethren (1940), perhaps his best work, chronicles the martyrdom of Jesuit missionaries. Later collections include Dunkirk (1941), They Are Returning (1945), Behind the Log (1947), and Towards the Last Spike (1952).

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Private institution of higher learning in Brooklyn, New York, New York, U.S. It was founded as a trade school in 1887 by the industrialist Charles Pratt (1830–91). It comprises schools of architecture, art and design (for which it is especially renowned), liberal arts and sciences, professional studies, and information and library science. It has both bachelor's and master's degree programs.

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(born Feb. 4, 1883, Western Bay, Nfd., Can.—died April 26, 1964, Toronto, Ont.) Canadian poet. He trained for the ministry and later taught for many years at the University of Toronto. The early collection The Titans (1926) contains his widely read “The Cachalot,” an account of a whale hunt. Brébeuf and His Brethren (1940), perhaps his best work, chronicles the martyrdom of Jesuit missionaries. Later collections include Dunkirk (1941), They Are Returning (1945), Behind the Log (1947), and Towards the Last Spike (1952).

Learn more about Pratt, E(dwin) J(ohn) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Pratt's Bottom is a village in the London Borough of Bromley, located at the south eastern boundary of Greater London with Kent.

It is a small village, consisting of a main road (Rushmore Hill) on which is situated a school, a village shop (the post office was closed as part of the widespread branch closures of June 2008) and the Bulls Head pub, two small churches and a few side roads. There is a village hall behind the green.

History

The name is first recorded as Spratts Bottom in 1773 and by 1791 it had changed to the present form. The meaning is likely to be valley of a family called Pratt. It formed part of the ancient, and later civil, parish of Chelsfield in Kent and was part of the Bromley Rural District from 1894. The parish was abolished in 1934 and the village became part of Orpington Urban District. In 1965 it was transferred to Greater London, to form part of the London Borough of Bromley.

A tollgate stood in the village for many years. The turnpike cottage was demolished in the 1920s but is still seen as emblematic of the village, so much so that it is the basis of the recent village sign placed on the green.

Nearest places

• Chelsfield
• Badgers Mount
• Knockholt
• Sevenoaks

References

External links

• Historical notes on the village
• Rude Britain