Anderson, John
Anderson, John (1815–1905), woollen merchant, geologist, bibliographer, and local politician, was born 8 July 1815 near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry. After moving to Belfast he entered (1840) the woollen business in Donegall St. founded by James Young in 1795. Anderson's eminence…...
Clotworthy, Upton
This is a co-subject for the entry on Upton, Arthur. View the original entry....
Cole, Sir William
Cole, Sir William (1571?–1653), English soldier and planter, was the only son of Emmanuel Cole, third son of Thomas Cole of London, and appears to have been raised in Devonshire. He may have studied at Cambridge, graduating BA and…...
Craig, James Humbert
Craig, James Humbert (1877–1944), landscape painter, was born 12 July 1877 at 16 Brougham St., Belfast, second of five children and the only son of Alexander Craig, wholesale merchant, and his wife Marie Metezzen, a Swiss national, who had married in Belfast in 1874. Soon after…...
Cromwell, Henry
Cromwell, Henry (1628–74), soldier and administrator, was born 20 January 1628 at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England, fourth son of Oliver Cromwell (qv) and Elizabeth Cromwell (née Bourchier). He fought only in the closing stages of…...
Fleetwood, Charles
Fleetwood, Charles (d. 1692), soldier and lord deputy of Ireland, was third son of Sir Miles Fleetwood of Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, England, and his wife Anne, daughter of Nicholas Luke of Woodend, Bedfordshire. After being admitted to Gray's Inn (30 November 1638), he became a…...
Forbes, Sir Arthur
Forbes, Sir Arthur (1623–c.1696), 1st earl of Granard , soldier and politician, was born in Longford, son of Sir Arthur Forbes, 1st Baron Granard, of Castle Forbes, Co. Longford (originally from Aberdeenshire, Scotland), and his wife Lady Jane Lauder (née Hamilton) of the Isle…...
Gailey, Robert Alan
Gailey, Robert Alan (1935–2013), folklife scholar and museum director, was born on 4 October 1935 in Galway. Known by his middle name, Alan was the second child of Andrew J. Gailey (d. 1963), a presbyterian minister in Galway, and Mary Gailey (née Porter). He had two sisters. From…...
Gulston ('Scott'), Peter Craig
Gulston ('Scott'), Peter Craig (1931–2013), thief, variously described as the 'king of the cat burglars' and 'the human fly', was born on 18 February 1931 in Belfast, the younger of two children, to Frederick Arnott Gulston, chief commercial traveller for White, Tompkins and Courage…...
Haddick, Victor Anderson
Haddick, Victor Anderson (1887–1950), soldier, traveller, writer, and film maker and promoter, was born 14 June 1887 at Crinkill (Crinkle), Parsonstown (Birr), King's Co. (Offaly), the eldest son of Richard J. Haddick, a soldier, and his wife Jane Anne (née Anderson). He was educated…...
Henderson, Oscar
This is a co-subject for the entry on Henderson, James. View the original entry....
Hone, Nathaniel
Hone, Nathaniel (1718–84), portrait painter, was born 24 April 1718, third among five sons of Nathaniel Hone, merchant of Wood Quay, Dublin, and Rebeckah Hone (née Brindley). The Hone family was presbyterian and their ancestors, some of whom were Dutch goldsmiths, had emigrated…...
Ingoldsby, Sir Henry
Ingoldsby, Sir Henry (1622–1701), soldier and officeholder, was the son of Sir Richard Ingoldsby, landowner, and Elizabeth Ingoldsby (née Cromwell) of Lethenborough, Buckinghamshire, England. He may have attended the Thame grammar school in Buckinghamshire (like his brother Richard…...
Ireton, Henry
Ireton, Henry (1611–51), soldier and lord deputy of Ireland, was the eldest son in the resolutely puritan gentry family of German and Jane Ireton of Attenborough, near Nottingham. Baptised on 3 November 1611, he was educated at Trinity College, Oxford, graduating in 1629, and…...
La Touche, David Digues I
La Touche, David Digues I (1671–1745), soldier and businessman, was born 15 November 1671, fourth son among six sons and three daughters of Denis Digues, seigneur de la Touche et de la Motte, nobleman, and his second wife Madeleine Digues (née Deplanche) of Château de la Touche,…...
MacArthur, Sir William Porter
MacArthur, Sir William Porter (1884–1964), army medical officer, Irish-language scholar, and historian, was born 11 March 1884 at Belmont, east Belfast, Co. Down, the only son of John Porter MacArthur (d. 1930), tea merchant, and his wife Margaret Rainey (d. 1936), daughter of William…...
McGrath, William
McGrath, William (1916–91), loyalist and paedophile, was born 11 December 1916 in Belfast, son of Abraham McGrath and Jane McGrath (née Warrington). McGrath came from a methodist background; in later years he worked with presbyterian and Free Presbyterian churches while operating as a…...
McMahon (McMechan), Arthur
McMahon (McMechan), Arthur (1755?–1816?), presbyterian minister, United Irishman, and officer in the French army, was born, probably in 1755, at Donanelly in the parish of Inch, Co. Down; he was the younger son of Alexander McMechan (d. c.1793), a prosperous farmer there…...
Monro (Munro), Robert
Monro (Munro), Robert (d. c.1680), army officer, was the son of George Monro of Obsdale, Ross-shire, northern Scotland, and his wife Catherine (née Monro). After some time at the University of St Andrews, he began his military career in French service and in 1626 was…...
Monro (Munro), Sir George
Monro (Munro), Sir George (d. 1694), army officer, was third son of Col. John Monro of Obsdale, Ross-shire, northern Scotland, and his wife Catherine (née Gordon). He entered Swedish military service in 1637, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel, but in 1640 joined other…...
Morrow, Henry Cooke (‘Harry’)
Morrow, Henry Cooke (‘Harry’) (‘MacNamara, Gerald’) (1865–1938), playwright, writer and artist, was born in Co. Down on 27 August 1865, the second eldest of eight sons of George Morrow, a painter, decorator and founder of Morrow & Sons Ltd, and his wife Catherine (née MacNamara).…...
O'Connally, Owen, (O'Connolly, Connolly)
O'Connally, Owen, (O'Connolly, Connolly) (d. 1649), plot discloser and parliamentarian army officer, was born into a Gaelic Irish family, probably in Co. Monaghan. He converted to protestantism in the household of the English planter Sir Hugh Clotworthy (d. 1630), and served both…...
Payne, Davy (Hugh David)
Payne, Davy (Hugh David) (1948?–2003), loyalist paramilitary, was born in Belfast, where he was brought up in the Woodvale area of the Shankill Road. He was involved in loyalist activism from his teens (although he later falsely claimed to have been radicalised by IRA bombings in the…...
Sinton, John Alexander
Sinton, John Alexander (1884–1956), Indian Army medical officer and VC, was born 2 December 1884 in British Columbia, Canada, son of Walker Sinton of Lisburn, Co. Antrim, and his wife Isabella, daughter of Allan Pringle of Derrymore House, Newry, Co. Down. In 1890 the family…...
Skeffington, Clotworthy
This is a co-subject for the entry on Skeffington, John. View the original entry....