Blount, Charles Brooke (1563–1606), 8th Baron Mountjoy and earl of Devonshire , soldier and administrator, was second son of James Blount (1532/3–1581), 6th Baron Mountjoy, of Canford near Poole, Dorset, and his wife Catherine (née Lee/Leigh; d. 1576) of St Oswald's, Yorkshire.…
Hawkins, Richard
Brase, Wilhelm Fritz
Brase, Wilhelm Fritz (1875–1940), musician, was born 4 May 1875 at Egestorf, near Hanover, Germany. He graduated at the Leipzig conservatoire and the Berlin academy of music, was the youngest person to become ‘royal musical director’ (1909), attained a leading position among the…
Bric, John
Bric, John (1793–1826), lawyer and repealer, was born 21 June 1793, third son of Lawrence Bric of Tralee, Co. Kerry (the name Ó Bric/Ó Bruic is long established in Munster) and his wife Mary Breen. He was admitted to the King's Inns, Dublin (1816), and the Middle Temple, London (…
Brouncker, Sir Henry
Brouncker, Sir Henry (c.1550–1607), soldier and administrator, was second son of Henry Brouncker of Melksham and Erlestoke, Wiltshire, and his second wife Ursula (née Yate) of Lyford, Berkshire. Educated at the Middle Temple (1566), he held three parliamentary seats in…
Browne, George Baxter
Browne, George Baxter (1787–1879), soldier and police officer, was born 19 December 1787, second son among three sons and two daughters of George Browne, merchant at Liverpool, and Felicity Browne (née Wagner) of North Hall, near Wigan, Lancashire, daughter of the Austrian and…
Browne, John
Browne, John (d. 1589), mapmaker, sheriff, and (in his words) ‘the first Englishman that in the memory of man settled himself to dwell in the county of Mayo’, was probably of the Anglo-Norman Brownes of Kilpatrick, Co. Westmeath. In August 1583, as servant to Sir Christopher Hatton…
Browne, Sir Dominick
Browne, Sir Dominick (c.1585?–c.1656), merchant and landowner, was eldest among three sons of Geoffrey Browne (d. 1608), alderman of Galway. The generally accepted view that his mother was Mary, daughter and heir of Edmund Prendergast of Castle Macgarrett, Co. Mayo…
Bryskett, Lodowick
Bryskett, Lodowick (1546?–1612?), writer and official, was born possibly in Hackney, Middlesex, third son of Antonio Bruschetto of Genoa (a London merchant since the 1520s) and his wife Elizabeth, also Italian. Educated at Tonbridge and Trinity College, Cambridge, he entered the…
Burgoyne, Sir John Fox
Burgoyne, Sir John Fox (1782–1871), engineer and administrator, was born 24 July 1782, eldest of the four illegitimate children of Lt-gen. ‘Gentleman’ John Burgoyne and Susan Caulfield, singer. Educated at Eton and Woolwich military academy, he joined the Royal Engineers at 16; saw…
Burke, Ulick
Burke, Ulick (c.1670–1691), viscount of Galway , Jacobite soldier, was fourth son of William Burke, 7th earl of Clanricarde (and first son by William's second wife Helen, daughter of the 1st earl of Clancarty (qv)). On 2…
Burkhead, Henry
Burkhead, Henry (fl. 1645), possibly a merchant of Bristol, wrote the drama ‘A tragedy of Cola's furie, or Lirenda's miserie’ (the first Irish play to condemn English conduct), printed 1646 in Kilkenny, headquarters of the catholic confederacy. Dedicated to…
Burton, Benjamin
Burton, Benjamin (a.1665–1728), banker and politician, was third son of Samuel Burton of Buncraggy, Co. Clare, and Margery Burton (née Harris). He was attainted by the Jacobites in 1689, was appointed sheriff of Dublin 19 October 1694, and in 1700 founded ‘Burton's bank’ in…
Cadogan, William
Cadogan, William (1601–61), soldier and MP, was born 5 February 1601 at Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales, eldest son of Henry Cadogan of Trostry Fach, Monmouthshire, and Catherine Cadogan (née Stradling). As a captain of horse, he became private secretary to…
Cadogan, William
Cadogan, William (1672–1726), 1st Baron and Earl Cadogan , soldier, was born at Liscartan, Co. Meath, eldest son of Henry Cadogan (1642–1714), barrister, of Liscartan and Dublin, and Bridget Cadogan, daughter of Sir Hardress Waller…
Cairns, Hugh McCalmont
Cairns, Hugh McCalmont (1819–85), 1st Earl Cairns , lawyer and politician, was born 27 December 1819 in Belfast, second son of William Cairns, captain of the 47th Foot, of Cultra, Co. Down, and his first wife Rosanna (née Johnston) of Belfast. The family name, originating in…
Cane, (Lucy) Mary
Cane, (Lucy) Mary (c.1866–1926), public servant, was born probably at Cahirmoyle, Co. Limerick, third child of Edward William O'Brien of Cahirmoyle and Mary Spring O'Brien, sister of the 2nd Baron Monteagle. William Smith O'…
Carew, Sir Peter
Carew, Sir Peter (1514–75), adventurer, was born at Mohun's Ottery, Devonshire, second son of Sir William Carew; his mother was a Courteney. George Carew (qv), later earl of Totnes, was a first cousin. After a fragmented education he…
Cavendish, Sir Henry
Cavendish, Sir Henry (1707–76), financial administrator, was born 13 April 1707, eldest son of William Cavendish of Doveridge Hall, Derbyshire, England, and Mary Cavendish (née Tyrrell), granddaughter of James Ussher (qv), archbishop of…
Challoner (Chaloner, Challyner), John
Challoner (Chaloner, Challyner), John (c.1515–81), merchant and administrator, was second son of Roger Challoner (d. 1521), London alderman, and Margaret Challoner (née Middleton), both of Welsh ancestry. John, sometime auditor in English-occupied Calais, settled in…
Chamberlain, Sir Neville Francis Fitzgerald
Chamberlain, Sir Neville Francis Fitzgerald (1856–1944), soldier, inspector general of the RIC, and originator of snooker, was born 13 January 1856 at Upton Park, Upton, Buckinghamshire, England, only son of Lt-col. Charles Francis Falcon Chamberlain of the Indian army and Marion Ormsby…
Chartres, John Smith
Chartres, John Smith (1862–1927), lawyer, civil servant, and diplomat, was born 5 October 1862 in Birkenhead, Wirrall, England, son of John Smith Chartres, staff surgeon in the British army, and formerly of 30 Great Charles St., Dublin, and Margaret Chartres (née Henry) of Clones,…
Chichester, Arthur
Chichester, Arthur (1606–75), 1st earl of Donegall , soldier, and administrator, was born 16 June 1606, eldest son of Edward Chichester (brother of Arthur Chichester (qv) (1563–1625)) and his wife Anne (née Coplestone) of Devon. He…
Chrysted (Crystède, Christede, Christead, Chrystead, Castide, C(h)ristall, Chrystal, Cristelle), Henry
Chrysted (Crystède, Christede, Christead, Chrystead, Castide, C(h)ristall, Chrystal, Cristelle), Henry (fl. c.1340–1395), English squire or knight. According to the chronicler Jean Froissart, he was a young man serving the Butlers of Ormond when he was captured by the…
Clery, Sir (Cornelius) Francis
Clery, Sir (Cornelius) Francis (1838–1926), soldier, was born 13 February 1838 at 2 Sidney Place, Cork, fourth son of James Clery, wine merchant of Cork, and Catherine Clery (née Walsh). Educated at Clongowes and Sandhurst, he became an infantry officer (1858), and after two years…
Clifford, Sir Conyers
Clifford, Sir Conyers (d. 1599), soldier and administrator, was the eldest son of George Clifford and Ursula Clifford (née Finch) of Bobbing Court, Kent. He distinguished himself under the command of the earl of Essex (qv) in the…