LATROBE

latrobe, charles joseph (1801-1875), australian governor, was born in london on the 20th of march 1801. the latrobes were of huguenot extraction, and belonged to the moravian community, of which the father and grandfather of c. j. latrobe were ministers. his father, christian ignatius latrobe (1758-1836), a musician of some note, did good service in the direction of popularizing classical music in england by his _selection of sacred music from the works of the most eminent composers of germany and italy_ (6 vols., 1806-1825). c. j. latrobe was an excellent mountaineer, and made some important ascents in switzerland in 1824-1826. in 1832 he went to america with count albert pourtales, and in 1834 crossed the prairies from new orleans to mexico with washington irving. in 1837 he was invested with a government commission in the west indies, and two years later was made superintendent of the port philip district of new south wales. when port philip was erected into a separate colony as victoria in 1851, latrobe became lieutenant-governor. the discovery of gold in that year attracted enormous numbers of immigrants annually. latrobe discharged the difficult duties of government at this critical period with tact and success. he retired in 1854, became c.b. in 1858 and died in london on the 2nd of december 1875. beside some volumes of travel he published a volume of poems, _the solace of song_ (1837). see _brief notices of the latrobe family_ (1864), a privately printed translation of an article revised by members of the family in the moravian _bruderbote_ (november 1864). latten (from o. fr. _laton_, mod. fr. _laiton_, possibly connected with span. _lata_, ital. _latta_, a lath), a mixed metal like brass, composed of copper and zinc, generally made in thin sheets, and used especially for monumental brasses and effigies. a fine example is in the screen of henry vii.'s tomb in westminster abbey. there are three forms of latten, "black latten," unpolished and rolled, "shaven latten," of extreme thinness, and "roll latten," of the thickness either of black or shaven latten, but with both sides polished.