which he built on the summit of Whitehill, Caterham, devoting himself to literary and scientific pursuits. He died of heart disease on 25 Oct. 1891, leaving a considerable legacy for the purpose of founding engineering scholarships and encouraging native students at the university of Calcutta. Like his father, Sibley was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
A brother, Septimus Sibley (1831–1893), physician, was for many years resident surgeon of Middlesex College Hospital, and was the first general practitioner elected to the council of the Royal College of Surgeons. Hee published ‘A History and Description of the Cholera Epidemic in London in 1854,’ besides papers in ‘Medico-Chirurgical Transactions’ (British Medical Journal, 25 Mar. 1893).
[Proc. Instit. Civil Engineers, 1891–2, pt. ii.; Times, 28 Oct. 1891.]
SIBLY, EBENEZER (d. 1800), astrologer, was the son of a mechanic and brother of Manoah Sibly [q. v.] He early devoted himself to medicine and more especially to astrology. He studied surgery in London, and on 20 April 1792 graduated M.D. from King's College, Aberdeen. In 1790 he was residing in Ipswich, and distinguished himself at the general election by his exertions on behalf of Sir John Hadley D'Oyly, the whig member. Sibly died in London about the beginning of 1800.
He was the author of: 1. ‘Uranoscopia, or the Pure Language of the Stars,’ London, 8vo. 2. ‘A New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology,’ London, 1787, 4to; 12th ed. 1817. This work contains a collection of nativities with short memoirs of, among others, several of his predecessors in the science of astrology. 3. ‘Key to Physic and the Occult Science of Astrology,’ London, 4to. n. d. 4. ‘The Medical Mirror, or a Treatise on the Impregnation of the Human Female,’ London, 1796, 8vo. He also edited Culpepper's ‘English Physician and Complete Herbal,’ London, 1805, 4to. A manuscript of his, in the possession of Mr. Fraser Rae, contains the horoscopes of Pitt, Fox, and Sheridan (Athenæum, 4 July 1896).
[Lowndes's Bibliographer's Manual, ed. Bohn; King's College Officers and Graduates, ed. Anderson, p. 138; Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 19166 f. 396.]
SIBLY, MANOAH (1757–1840), Swedenborgian, brother of Ebenezer Sibly [q. v.], was born at Bristol on 20 Aug. 1757. At a very early age he showed exceptional ability and power of application. On the death of his mother, when he was eleven, his father took him from school, and he thenceforth pursued his studies unaided. Before he was twenty he was able to teach Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Syriac, as well as shorthand, and published ‘A Critical Essay’ on the Hebrew text of Jer. xxxiii. 16. On 7 May 1780 he married an orphan named Sarah, two years older than himself, and opened a bookshop. The business was chiefly managed by his wife, while Sibly himself set up a school, studied books on alchemy and astronomy, and for a time was employed as a shorthand reporter in the law courts. In 1787 he embraced the tenets of the Swedenborgians, and soon became known among them as a preacher. He accepted the charge of a congregation in 1790, and, after several migrations, a permanent place of worship was built for him in Friars Street, near Ludgate Hill, in 1803. In 1797 he obtained a situation in the Bank of England, which gave him increased leisure for his ministerial duties. In 1815 he became principal of the chancery office at the Bank, and remained in that position until within a few months of his death. He died on 16 Dec. 1840, and was buried in Bunhill Fields. By his wife Sarah, who died in 1829, he had eleven children, but only two daughters survived him.
Sibly, who had a large share in preparing the liturgy of the New church, was the author of: 1. ‘Twelve Sermons,’ London, 1796, 8vo. 2. ‘Hymns and Spiritual Songs,’ 1802, 12mo. 3. ‘A Defence of the New Church,’ London, 1815, 12mo. 3. ‘A Supplement to Placidus de Titis,’ London, 1790, 4to. He translated: 1. Placidus de Titis's ‘Astronomy and Elementary Philosophy,’ 1789, 8vo. 2. Placidus de Titis's ‘Collection of Thirty Remarkable Nativities,’ 1789, 8vo. He also revised Whalley's translation of Ptolemy's ‘Quadripartitus,’ London, 1786, 4to.
[Intellectual Repository and New Jerusalem Magazine, 1841, pp. 40, 140, 238; Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. vii. 260; Biogr. Dict. of Living Authors, 1816, p. 316.]
SIBORNE or SIBORN, WILLIAM (1797–1849), historian of the Waterloo campaign, was the son of Captain Benjamin Siborn of the 9th or Norfolk regiment of foot, who was wounded at the battle of Nivelle in the Peninsular war, and died while serving with his regiment at St. Vincent in the West Indies on 14 July 1819. William Siborne was born on 15 Oct. 1797, was partly educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and received a commission as ensign in the 9th foot on 9 Sept.
