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…...
Delmonte, (Simeon) Koert
Delmonte, (Simeon) Koert (1913–82), portrait and landscape painter, was born 15 April 1913 in van Mierlestraat, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, eldest of three children of Solomon Delmonte, banker, and his wife Nanetha, daughter of Simon Speyer, diamond merchant. His younger brother…...
Frankau, Julia (‘Frank Danby’)
Frankau, Julia (‘Frank Danby’) (1859–1916), art historian and novelist, was born 30 July 1859 in Dublin, into an English Jewish family, seventh among nine children of Hyman Davis (d. 1871), dentist and later artist/photographer, and his wife Isabella. Her parents arrived in Dublin in…...
Fraser (Frazer), John
Fraser (Frazer), John (1803/4–1852), poet and cabinet-maker, was born in Birr, King's Co. (Offaly), into a presbyterian family, originally bearing the name de Jean (possibly of huguenot extraction). There are conflicting accounts of his date of birth. It is asserted in one…...
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…...
Herbison, David
Herbison, David (1800–80), linen weaver and poet, was born 14 October 1800 in Mill St., Ballymena, Co. Antrim, third son of William Herbison, innkeeper, and his wife Elizabeth (née Wilson). They probably had at least one more child, a daughter. David suffered from smallpox when he…...
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…...
Hunter, Mercy
Hunter, Mercy (1910–89), artist, was born 22 January 1910 in Belfast and christened Martha Saie Kathleen, one of the youngest of four daughters of the Rev. William Hunter, presbyterian minister; there was also at least one son. His wife was a Russian woman, Alice Beyer; on the day…...
Johnson, Nevill
Johnson, Nevill (1911–99), artist, was born on 23 July 1911 in the family home at Buxton, Derbyshire, England, the youngest of two sons of Arthur Ernest Johnson, a wealthy cotton merchant, and his wife Florence Isobel (née Townsend). His parents' marriage ended (c.1930) over…...
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…...
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).…...
Orr, James
Orr, James (1770–1816), weaver, radical, and poet, was son of James Orr, who farmed a few acres and was a linen weaver. His mother's name is unknown. They lived in the small village of Ballycarry, in the parish of Broadisland, Co. Antrim. James was an only child, born when his…...
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…...
Pearse, James
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…...
Solomons, Estella Frances
Solomons, Estella Frances (1882–1968), artist, was born 2 April 1882 at 32 Waterloo Road, Dublin, second among four children of Maurice E. Solomons, optician to the royal family and maker of optical instruments, and Rosa Jane Solomons (née Jacobs) of Hull; the other children were Edwin…...
Tabary, James
Tabary, James (fl. 1650–87), sculptor, was born in France of huguenot origins. He is almost certainly the ‘Jacques Tabouré’ who was admitted to the academy of St Luke, Paris, in August 1655. His two brothers, Louis and John, were also carvers. Sculptors with the surname…...
Waddington, Leslie
Waddington, Leslie (1934–2015), art dealer, was born in Upper Mount Street, Dublin, on 9 February 1934, the middle of three sons of…...
Waddington, Victor
Waddington, Victor (1907–81), art dealer and gallery owner, was born on 9 January 1907 in Stepney, London, the second son of five sons and two daughters of William George Waddington, a schoolteacher and convert to Judaism, originally from a presbyterian family in rural Aberdeenshire,…...
Wright, William (‘Billy’)
Wright, William (‘Billy’) (1960–97), loyalist paramilitary, was born in July 1960 in Wolverhampton in the west midlands of England, son of David Wright and his wife, both originally from Portadown, Co. Armagh. The Wrights had moved to England because of harassment after David…...