WOUVERMANS, PHILIP, Dutch painter, born at Haarlem, where he lived and died; painted small landscapes, hunting pieces, and battle pieces, from which the picture-dealers profited, while he lived and died poor; had two brothers, whose pictures are, though inferior, often mistaken for his (1619-1668).

WRANGEL, FREDERICK, Prussian field-marshal, born at Stettin; served with distinction in various campaigns, and commanded in the Danish War of 1864, and was present in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, though without command; was known as Papa Wrangel among the Berliners, who loved him for his disregard of grammar (1784-1877).

WRANGLER, name given in Cambridge University to those who have attained the first rank in mathematics, pure and applied, the one who heads the list being known as the Senior Wrangler.

WREDE, PHILIP, field-marshal and prince, born in Heidelberg; served as a Bavarian general against Austria as the ally of Napoleon at Wagram, and also in the expedition against Russia in 1812, on which occasion he covered the retreat of the French army to the loss of nearly all the cavalry; fought against the French at Hanau; was defeated, but was afterwards successful on French soil, and eventually became commander-in-chief of the Bavarian army (1767-1838).

WREN, SIR CHRISTOPHER, architect, born at East Knoyle, in Wiltshire; educated at Westminster School and Wadham College, Oxford, and became Fellow of All Souls; was early distinguished in mathematics and for mechanical ingenuity, and soon became notable for his skill in architecture, and received a commission to restore St. Paul’s, London, but on its destruction in 1666 he was appointed to design and erect an entirely new structure; for this he had prepared himself by study abroad, and he proceeded to construct a new St. Paul’s after the model of St. Peter’s at Rome, a work which, as it occupied him from 1675 to 1710, took him 35 years to finish; he died at the age of 90, sitting in his chair after dinner, and was buried in the cathedral which he had erected, with this inscription, “Si monumentum requiris, circumspice” (If you inquire after his monument, look around); Wren was a man of science as well as an artist; he was at one time Savilian professor of Astronomy at Oxford, and one of the founders of the Royal Society (1631-1723).

WREN, MATTHEW, bishop of Ely; was one of the judges of the Star Chamber; assisted in preparing the liturgy for Scotland, which, when read in St. Giles’, Edinburgh, roused the ire of JENNY GEDDES (q. v.); was impeached, and confined in the Tower for 18 years, and released at the Restoration (1585-1667).

WREXHAM (12), an important town in Denbighshire, North Wales, 12 m.  SW. from Chester, in the centre of a mining district, and famed for its breweries.

WRIGHT, JOSEPH, painter, usually called “Wright of Derby,” from his birthplace and place of residence nearly all his life; he excelled in portraits, and in the representation of the effects especially of firelight (1734-1797).