Simms, Mercy Felicia (1915–98), social crusader, was born 3 March 1915 in a nursing home at 89 Lower Baggot St., Dublin, only child of Brian James Gwynn (1883–1972) of 48 Hollybrook Road, Clontarf, civil servant employed as assistant secretary in the labour exchange, and his wife…
Philanthropy and Community Work
Smith, Erasmus
Smith, Erasmus (1611–91), merchant and educational philanthropist, was baptised 8 April 1611 at Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire, England, son of Roger Smith and his wife Anna (née Goodman), of Husbands Bosworth. He was apprenticed to a London Turkey merchant, John Saunders, at the…
Smyly, Ellen
Smyly, Ellen (1814–1901), philanthropist, was born 14 November 1814, third daughter among seven children of Mathew Franks (1768–1853) of Jerpoint, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, and 28 Merrion Square, Dublin, and Mary Franks (née Fergusson; d. 1856). Ellen began her charity work in…
Solomons, Michael Joseph Maurice
Solomons, Michael Joseph Maurice (1919–2007), physician and family planning advocate, was born 3 May 1919 in Dublin, the second child among two sons and one daughter of Bethel Solomons (qv), a prominent obstetrician and…
Spence, Gusty (Augustus Andrew)
Spence, Gusty (Augustus Andrew) (1933–2011), loyalist paramilitary and community activist, was born on 28 June 1933 at Joseph Street in the Hammer area of the Shankill Road, west Belfast, sixth of seven children (five boys and two girls) of William Edward ('Ned') Spence, labourer and…
Spratt, John Francis
Spratt, John Francis (1796–1871), Carmelite priest, philanthropist, and temperance reformer, was born January 1796 in Cork St., Dublin, son of James Spratt and Elizabeth Spratt (née Bollard), and was baptised (5 January) in St Catherine's church, Meath St. His brother James later…
Steele, Joshua
Steele, Joshua (c. 1700–1796), writer on prosody and reformer, was born in Ireland but there are no details about his early life; indeed the first record of his existence is from 17 October 1750, when he married Sally (or Sarah) Hopkins Osborn, a wealthy heiress with vast…
Steevens, Grizel
This is a co-subject for the entry on Steevens, Richard. View the original entry.
Steevens, Richard
Steevens, Richard (c.1654–1710), MD and benefactor, and Grizel (Grizell, Grissell) Steevens (c.1654–1747), heiress, were the twin children of John Steevens (d. 1682), a clergyman from the benefice of Cherill in Calne, Wiltshire, England, and Constance Steevens (…
Stewart, Alexander Turney
Stewart, Alexander Turney (1803–76), merchant entrepreneur and community planner in America, was born 12 October 1803 in Lisburn, Co. Antrim, son of Alexander Stewart and Margaret Stewart (née Turney). Born into a family with Scottish and Huguenot ancestry, Stewart’s father died shortly…
Stewart, Henry Hutchinson
Stewart, Henry Hutchinson (1798–1879), doctor, hospital governor, and philanthropist, was born 23 June 1798 in Co. Wicklow, second son among six sons and three daughters of the Rev. Abraham Augustus Stewart (d. 1812), rector of Donabate, Co. Dublin, and chaplain to the lord lieutenant,…
Stokes, Barbara Maive
Stokes, Barbara Maive (1922–2009), paediatrician and disability campaigner, was born 20 December 1922 in London to Brigadier William Noel Stokes (d. 1969) and his wife Pauline Mary (née Reynolds). As a child she often spent summers in Ireland, and in her teens played in the Irish junior…
Strzelecki, Sir Paul Edmund de
Strzelecki, Sir Paul Edmund de (1797–1873), explorer and humanitarian, was born 20 July 1797 into the Polish aristocracy in Prussian-occupied Poland, the son of Francis Strzelecki and his wife Anna (née Raczynski). The family went into exile in the UK in the early 1800s. Strzelecki was…
Sullivan, Lucinda
Sullivan, Lucinda (1831–1881), philanthropist, writer and promoter of children's welfare, was born in 1831, probably in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, to Captain William Edward Brady , formerly a lieutenant in the 2nd West India Regiment, and subsequently chief constable of police in…
Talbot, Rose Maud
Talbot, Rose Maud (1915–2009), chatelaine, farmer and philanthropist, was born 14 September 1915 at Hartham Park, Wiltshire, England, the younger of two children of Milo George Talbot (1854–1931), a soldier, and his wife Eva (née Joicey) (d. 1951), a native of Northumberland. Her…
Templeton, John
Templeton, John (1766–1825), naturalist and philanthropist, was born at Bridge St., Belfast, son of James Templeton, a prosperous wholesale merchant, and his wife Mary Eleanor, daughter of Benjamin Legg of Belfast and Malone. Background and education The…
Tennent, Robert
Tennent, Robert (1765–1837), medical doctor, merchant, and philanthropist, was born 9 August 1765, fourth child and second son (of five) of the Rev. John Tennent and Anne Tennent (née Patton). One brother died young in the West Indies in 1794. After completing his medical studies…
Thomson, Samuel Smith
Thomson, Samuel Smith (1778?–1849), doctor and philanthropist, was one of at least four children of James Thomson, surgeon in Coleraine, and his wife Ellen, youngest daughter of Samuel Smith (1691–1760), who was prominent in Belfast, was related to many of Belfast's well known linen and…
Trench, Chalmers Edward FitzJohn ('Terry')
Trench, Chalmers Edward FitzJohn ('Terry') (1909–2005), founder of An Óige, author and businessman, was born in Ardmore, Taylor's Hill, Galway city, on 27 November 1909, the youngest of four children of Wilbraham FitzJohn Trench…
Tuke, James Hack
Tuke, James Hack (1819–96), philanthropist, was born 13 September 1819 in York, son of Samuel Tuke (1784–1857) and his wife Priscilla (1784–1828), daughter of James Hack. Tuke was educated at the Friends’ school in York, before entering the family tea and coffee business in 1835.…
Turnly, Francis
Turnly, Francis (1765/6–1845), landlord and philanthropist, was born probably in Newtownards, Co. Down, second son and fourth child among three sons and four daughters of Francis Turnly (d. 1801), a merchant and property owner in Newtownards and Belfast, who was connected with several…
Vane, Sir Francis Patrick Fletcher
Vane, Sir Francis Patrick Fletcher (1861–1934), soldier, radical, author and scout leader, was born 16 October 1861 at 10 North Great George's Street, Dublin, the only son of Frederick Henry Fletcher Vane (1807–94), a former army officer, and his wife Rosa Linda (née Moore; d. 1895), an…
Verschoyle, Barbara
Verschoyle, Barbara (1750/53–1837), land agent and philanthropist, was born in Dublin, the sixth of eight daughters of Bryan Fagan (d. 1761), land agent for the Fitzwilliam estate in Dublin and brewer, and Elizabeth Fagan (d. 1788), both of Dublin. Bryan Fagan's brewery was on…
Walsh, Sr Patricia
Walsh, Sr Patricia (1942–2015), missionary nurse, was born Anna Maria Catherine Walsh on 23 September 1942 in Portlick, Glasson, Co. Westmeath, the eldest of three girls and a boy, to Michael Walsh, a fisherman, and his wife Bridget (née Nolan). Having attended Glasson primary school (…
Webb, Alfred John
Webb, Alfred John (1834–1908), radical reformer and nationalist, was born 10 June 1834 at 160 Great Brunswick St. (later Pearse St.), Dublin, eldest son of quaker parents, Richard Davis Webb, printer, and Hannah Webb (née Waring). His parents were deeply involved in campaigns for…