Abrahamson, Leonard
Abrahamson, Leonard (1896–1961), doctor, was born 29 April 1896 into a Jewish family in Semiatich, latterly in Belarus, second of four children of David and Frances Abrahamson. To escape pogroms his family emigrated to Newry, Co. Down, when he was 3 years old. He was educated at the…...
Boyce, James
Boyce, James (1909–66), actor and broadcaster, was born on 17 March 1909 in Belfast, the oldest of three sons of Hugh Boyce, a coachbuilder, and his wife Ellen (née Hayes), a dressmaker before marriage. The family, who were Christian Brethren in religion, lived in Rosebury Road, Ormeau…...
Boyd, John
Boyd, John (1912–2002), radio producer and playwright, was born 19 July 1912 at 9 Baskin Street, in a working-class area of east Belfast, the first of three children (two boys and a girl) of Robert Boyd, a fireman on steam engines and later an engine driver, and Jane Boyd (née Leeman).…...
Bryson, Samuel Maziere
Bryson, Samuel Maziere (1776–1853), apothecary and Celticist, was born 9 March 1776, probably at Holywood, Co. Down, youngest of 21 sons of James Bryson (qv) (1730?–1796), presbyterian minister. After studying medicine at Edinburgh, he…...
Byers, Sir John William
Byers, Sir John William (1852/3–1920), obstetrician and folklore scholar, was the only child of the Rev. John Byers and Margaret Byers (qv) (née Morrow), presbyterian missionaries to China, and was born in Shanghai. His father was…...
Cameron, Charles
Cameron, Charles (1841–1924), politician, newspaper proprietor and medical doctor, was born in Dublin on 18 December 1841, the son of John Cameron, newspaper proprietor, and his wife Ellen (née Galloway). John Cameron founded the Glasgow North British Daily Mail – subsequently…...
Cowan, Adrian William David
Cowan, Adrian William David (1919–96), dentist, was born 26 August 1919 in Dublin, eldest among four sons and two daughters of Alfred Cowan (fl.1890s–1960s), dentist, and ‘Lib’ (Elizabeth?) Cowan (née Nurock). He was educated in Dublin at St Andrew’s College (1928–34),…...
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…...
Crawford, Adair
Crawford, Adair (1748–96), doctor and chemist, was born in Ballytromery, near Crumlin, Co. Antrim, third son among four sons and two daughters of Thomas Crawford, presbyterian minister in Crumlin 1724–82, and Anne Crawford (née Mackay). His brothers were Thomas Crawford,…...
Crawford, John
Crawford, John (1746–1813), doctor, medical publisher and public benefactor, was born 3 May 1746 at Ballytromery near Crumlin, Co. Antrim, second son among six children of Thomas Crawford (d. 1782), presbyterian minister and farmer, and Anne Crawford (née Mackay). His elder brother was…...
Cunningham, Daniel John
Cunningham, Daniel John (1850–1909), anatomist, was born 15 April 1850 in the manse of Crieff, Perthshire, the youngest of three sons of John Cunningham and Susan, née Porteous; there were also four daughters. John Cunningham was a minister of the Church of Scotland, and later…...
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…...
Denny, Sir Edward
Denny, Sir Edward (1796–1889), MP and hymn-writer, was born 2 October 1796 in Dublin, eldest son of Sir Edward Denny, 3rd baronet, of Tralee Castle, Co. Kerry, and Elizabeth Denny, daughter and heir of Robert Day, MP. Educated at Eton, and later Exeter College, Oxford, he…...
Dickson, Charles
Dickson, Charles (1886–1978), physician and historian, was born at Dromore, Co. Down, on 20 January 1886, son of John Mitchel Dickson, a linen merchant whose mother, Matilda (d. 1897), was a sister of John Mitchel (qv). Later the family, who…...
Drennan, Thomas
This is a co-subject for the entry on Drennan, William. View the original entry....
Drennan, William
Drennan, William (1754–1820), physician, patriot, and minor poet, was born 23 May 1754 at his father's manse in Rosemary St., Belfast, third surviving child and only son of the Rev. Thomas Drennan and his wife Anne (née Lennox). Thomas Drennan (1696–1768) was born 25 December…...
Duffin, Emma Sylvia
Duffin, Emma Sylvia (1883–1979), nurse, diarist and welfare worker, was born 8 November 1883 in Belfast, fourth daughter in a family of seven daughters and two sons of Adam Duffin (qv) and Maria Duffin (née Drennan). The family was well-to-do…...
Dundee, John Wharry
Dundee, John Wharry (1921–91), anaesthetist, was born 8 November 1921 at Ballynure, Larne, Co. Antrim, the son of William Wharry Dundee, farmer, and Tillie Dundee (née McRoberts). Educated locally at Ballyclare High School, he later entered Queen's University, Belfast (1939),…...
Dunlop, (John) Boyd
Dunlop, (John) Boyd (1913–2005), orthopaedic surgeon, was born in Dublin on 31 July 1913, only son of John (Johnny) Boyd Dunlop and his wife Constance Mary (née Moore), who also had a daughter. Both families were presbyterian. His father was a director of a drapery company, Todd Burns,…...
Elliman, Louis
This is a co-subject for the entry on Elliman, Maurice (Moshe, Moses). View the original entry....
Elliman, Maurice (Moshe, Moses)
Elliman, Maurice (Moshe, Moses) (1872–1952), businessman, cinema and theatre impresario, was born 9 March 1872 into a Jewish family in Kovno, Lithuania, then part of the Russian empire. His father, Moshe Hellman, died before his second son was born and named after him. His mother…...
Ellis, James (‘Jimmy’)
Ellis, James (‘Jimmy’) (1931–2014), actor and theatre director, was born on 15 March 1931 in his aunt’s house at 13 Gawn Street, Belfast, the younger of two children and only son of James Ellis senior, a sheet-metal worker at Harland & Wolff shipyard, and his mother Matilda (‘Tilly…...
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…...
Gamble, John
Gamble, John (1770?–1831), physician, traveller, and writer, was born at Strabane, Co. Tyrone, into a local presbyterian family and reared by an uncle (perhaps John Sproull of Strabane), an apothecary. It is likely that he came under the influence of…...
Goldblatt, Harold
Goldblatt, Harold (1901–82), theatre producer and actor, was born in Belfast. Little is known of his early life before he came to prominence in the 1920s with the Jewish Institute Dramatic Society. He was its founder, producer, and main actor; his first success was to win the…...