Biographies A-Z

Pearse, James (1839–1900), sculptor, was born on 8 December 1839 at 24 Plumtree Street, Bloomsbury, London, the second of three sons of James Pearse, frame-maker, and his first wife Mary Ann (née Thompson). The family was impoverished and moved to Birmingham (c.1847), where…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Pearse (Brady), Margaret. View the original entry.

This is a co-subject for the entry on Pearse (Brady), Margaret. View the original entry.

Pearse, Patrick Henry (1879–1916), writer, educationalist, and revolutionary, was born 10 November 1879 at the family home, 27 Great Brunswick Street (latterly Pearse Street) Dublin, the elder son and second of the four children of James Pearse, stone carver and monumental sculptor,…

Pearse, William (‘Willie’) (1881–1916), revolutionary and sculptor, was born 15 November 1881 at 27 Great Brunswick St. (Pearse St.), Dublin, second son among two sons and two daughters of James Pearse, a monumental sculptor originally from London, and his second wife,…

Pearson, Charles Yelverton (1857–1947), surgeon, was born 27 August 1857 at Kilworth, Co. Cork, fourth son of Dr William W. Pearson (d. c.1893), MD, and Anne Pearson (née Smith). He was educated at the Model School and Perrott's…

Pearson, William (1882–1976), surgeon, was born 7 May 1882 in Cork, eldest child among two sons and one daughter of Charles Yelverton Pearson (qv), surgeon, and his first wife, Christiana Dorothea (née Tuckey). He was educated…

Pecherin (Petcherine), Vladimir (1807–85), Russian émigré, Redemptorist priest and orator, and first chaplain of the Mater Hospital, Dublin, was born in Dymerka, the Ukraine, on 27 June 1807, son of Sergei Panteleimonovich Pecherin, a high-ranking Russian army officer, and his…

Peck, Sir John Howard (1913–95), British diplomat, was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya (Malaysia), on 16 February 1913, only child of Howard Peck (d. 1940), civil engineer, and Dorothea Peck. The family moved back to England in 1915 and lived in Basingstoke, Hampshire, and in…

Peden, Alexander (1626–86), covenanting minister, was born at Auchencloich, Sorn, Ayrshire, Scotland. Nothing is known of his parents, but he had at least two brothers, his family was well connected, and he was educated at Glasgow University. At a meeting of the presbytery of…

Pedersen, Holger (1867–1953), Irish-language scholar and comparative linguist, was born 7 April 1867 in Gelballe, Lunderskov, Denmark, one of eleven children of Kristen Pedersen, teacher and small farmer. His father was particularly interested in mathematics and foreign languages, and…

Peel, Sir Robert (1788–1850), 2nd baronet, Irish chief secretary (1812–18), was born 5 February 1788, at Bury, Lancashire, England, eldest son of Robert Peel (1750–1830), a wealthy calico-printer, and his wife Ellen (née Yates), daughter of his business partner. In 1790 his father…

Peel , Sir Robert (1822–95), chief secretary for Ireland (1861–5), was born 4 May 1822 at London, eldest son of Sir Robert Peel (qv), prime minister, and Julia Peel (née Floyd). Educated at Harrow, he entered Christ Church, Oxford, but…

Pelagius (p. 350–p. 418), theologian and heresiarch, was born sometime after the middle of the fourth century, probably in south-western Britain. The description of his contemporary Jerome (Comm. in Hieremiam, III, Praef.) suggests that he was of the Irish…

Pelham, Henry (1749–1806), miniaturist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, son of Peter Pelham (1697–1751), mezzotint engraver, and his third wife Mary Singleton Copley. She was the widow of Richard Copley and mother of the distinguished American artist and miniaturist John…

Pelham, Sir Edmund (Edward) (d. 1606), chief baron of the Irish exchequer, was fifth son of Sir William Pelham (d. 1538) of Laughton, Sussex, England, and third son of William's second marriage, to Mary, daughter of William, 1st Baron Sandys. Admitted to Gray's Inn (1563), he was…

Pelham, Sir William (d. 1587), lord justice of Ireland, was third son of Sir William Pelham of Laughton, Sussex, England, and his second wife, Mary, daughter of William, Lord Sandys of the Vine, near Basingstoke in Hampshire. Pelham joined the army and was made a captain at the…

Pelham, Thomas (1756–1826), 2nd earl of Chichester , chief secretary for Ireland, was born 28 April 1756 at Spring Gardens, London, eldest son of Thomas Pelham, later 1st earl of Chichester, and Anne Pelham (née Frankland). Educated at Westminster, he was briefly at Clare College…

Pembrey, Herbert Heber (c.1873–1942), bookseller, was born 1872 or 1873 in Oxford, fifth child and third son of John Cripps Pembrey, professor of oriental languages at Oxford University, and Anne Coster Pembrey (née Tanner), also of Oxford. He had two older brothers, John…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Pembrey, Herbert Heber. View the original entry.

Pembridge, John (fl. 1347), Dominican friar and chronicler, was head of the Dominican order in Ireland from 1331 to 1343. He is likely to have been the compiler of the ‘Annales Hiberniae ab anno Christi 1162 usque ad annum 1370’, at least as far as 1347 (‘Hic finitur…

Pender, Margaret Teresa (1850–1920), writer, was born at Ballytweedy, Co. Antrim, the second youngest of the eight children of Daniel Doherty, a farmer, and his wife, Margaret (née White), of Ballytweedy, Killead, Co. Antrim. Her family had a distinct literary tradition (both her…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Pennefather, William. View the original entry.

Pennefather, Edward (1773–1847), barrister and judge, was born 22 October 1773 at Darling Hill, Knockevan, Co. Tipperary, second son of Major William Pennefather, MP for Cashel and formerly of the 13th Light Dragoons, and his wife Ellen, eldest daughter of the Ven. Edward Moore of…

Pennefather, John Lysaght (1800–72), general, was born in Co. Tipperary, third son of the Rev. John Pennefather, DD, treasurer (1786–9) of Cashel cathedral and rector of St John's, Newport, Co. Tipperary, and Elizabeth Pennefather (née…