Aston, William George
Aston, William George (1841–1911), Japanese scholar and diplomat, was born 9 April 1841, near Derry, the son of George Robert Aston, a Unitarian minister. In the early 1850s the family moved to Saintfield, Co. Down, where his father established a school in which Aston himself taught…...
Beshoff, Ivan
Beshoff, Ivan (1882?–1987), Russian immigrant and purveyor of fish and chips, was said in obituaries in the Irish Times and elsewhere to have been born in 1882 (or perhaps 1884) at Dacha Rurey, near Odessa in Ukraine, son of a magistrate, and, after briefly studying chemistry,…...
Blachford, Theodosia
Blachford, Theodosia (1744–1817?), philanthropist and leading methodist, was born at her father's residence in Rosanna, Co. Wicklow, only daughter of William Tighe (qv), landowner and MP, and Lady Mary Tighe of Rathmore, Co. Meath,…...
Blomfield, Sara Louisa
Blomfield, Sara Louisa , Lady (1859–1939), Bahá'í pioneer and humanitarian, was born in Knockanevin, Borrisoleigh, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the daughter of Matthew (Matthias) John Ryan and his wife Emily (née Crowe). Religious tension between her catholic father and anglo-…...
Butt, Mahmood (‘Mike’)
Butt, Mahmood (‘Mike’) (1927–88), restaurateur, was born 7 May 1927 in Nairobi, Kenya, into an Islamic Indian family of one daughter and five sons of Ahmed Butt, railway engineer, and Zakia Butt. He was educated at a catholic school in Nairobi. After running a fleet of hire cars…...
Carmichael, Richard
Carmichael, Richard (1779–1849), surgeon, medical reformer, and benefactor, was born 6 February 1779 in Dublin, fourth son of Hugh Carmichael, solicitor, and Sarah Carmichael (née Rogers), and was educated privately by the Rev. John Fea. Apprenticed to Robert Moore Peile (1763?–…...
Clarke, Adam
Clarke, Adam (1760/62–1832), methodist minister and scholar, was born at Moybeg, near Maghera, Co. Londonderry, son of John Clarke (fl. 1762), schoolmaster, whose early marriage to a Miss McLean prevented him from completing a degree in…...
Cleaver, John
This is a co-subject for the entry on Cleaver, Sir (James) Frederick. View the original entry....
Cleaver, Sir (James) Frederick
Cleaver, Sir (James) Frederick (1875–1936), businessman, was born 8 June 1875 in Belfast, third son of John Cleaver and Mary Anne Cleaver (née Spence). John Cleaver (1842–1926) was born in England, possibly in Sussex. He came to Belfast as a young man, and worked in a draper's shop…...
Duffin, Adam
Duffin, Adam (1841–1924), stockbroker and public figure, was born 6 December 1841, second son of Charles Duffin of Belfast, a linen manufacturer, and linen and flaxseed merchant, and his wife Theodosia (née Grimshaw), granddaughter of …...
Dunlop, Daniel Nicol
Dunlop, Daniel Nicol (1868–1935), businessman and esotericist, was born 28 December 1868 in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, only child of Alexander Dunlop, described variously as an architect or builder, and Catherine Dunlop (née Nicol) (1847–73). His father, a stern authoritarian, was…...
Eaton, Timothy
Eaton, Timothy (1834–1907), merchant in Canada, was born in March 1834 in the townland of Clougher, near Ballymena, Co. Antrim, fourth son among nine children of John Eaton and Margaret Eaton (née Craig). His father died two months before Timothy was born, and Margaret Eaton…...
Gamble, James
Gamble, James (1803–91), soap manufacturer in the USA, was born 3 April 1803 in the Graan, near Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, eldest among four sons and two daughters of George Gamble and his wife Mary Norris. They were related to prosperous farmers, merchants, and linen bleachers…...
Jordan, Jeremiah
Jordan, Jeremiah (1829–1911), businessman, land campaigner and MP, was born in the townland of Tattinbar, parish of Aghavea, Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, the eldest son of Samuel Jordan, tenant farmer, and his wife Elizabeth (née Warrell). He was 'a Wesleyan methodist of the third…...
Keohler (Keller), Thomas Goodwin
Keohler (Keller), Thomas Goodwin (1873–1942), writer, company secretary and long-time friend of James Joyce (qv), was born in Belfast on 19 June 1873 to Joshua William Keohler, a methodist who was in the flour business, and…...
Laffan, William Mackay
Laffan, William Mackay (1848–1909), journalist, newspaper owner, and art connoisseur, was born 24 January 1848 at 41 Philipsburgh Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin, eldest of six children of Michael Laffan, clerk in the Custom House, and Ellen Sarah Laffan (née Fitzgibbon). William's…...
Luke, John
Luke, John (1906–75), painter, was born 16 January 1906 at 4 Lavis St., Belfast, fourth child among seven sons and one daughter of James Luke (1874–1937), boilerman, originally from Ahoghill, Co. Antrim, and Sarah Luke (1877–1953), daughter of a weaver from near Ballymena, Co.…...
McArthur, Sir William
McArthur, Sir William (1809–87), politician, was born on 6 July 1809 in Malin, Co. Donegal, the fifth child of the five sons and two daughters of John McArthur, Wesleyan minister, and his wife, Sarah (née Finlay), of Malin. He was educated at private schools in Stranorlar, Co.…...
Nesbitt, William
Nesbitt, William (1824–81), professor of Latin and of Greek, was born in January 1824 in Co. Armagh, son of John Nesbitt (d. 1858), methodist minister (whose family moved with him to various congregations), and his wife, who may have been Jane Douglass. Nesbitt was educated mostly…...
Patterson, Sarah (‘Saidie’)
Patterson, Sarah (‘Saidie’) (1904–85), trade unionist and peace activist, was born 25 November 1904 at 32 Woodvale St., Shankill Road, Belfast, eldest of three children of William Patterson (d. 1912), shipyard blacksmith, and Sarah Patterson (née Moore), both of whom were devout…...
Robertson, Olivia Melian
Robertson, Olivia Melian (1917–2013), writer, artist and co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis, was born on 13 April 1917 at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, to Manning Durdin Robertson (qv), urban planner and architect, and…...
Wilson, (William) Gordon
Wilson, (William) Gordon (1927–95), peace campaigner, was born 25 September 1927 at Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim, the eldest of four children of George Edward Wilson, draper, of Manorhamilton, and his wife Etta (Henrietta, née Conn), a nurse, of Ballykelly, Co. Londonderry. The family…...