Arthur, William
Arthur, William (1819–1901), methodist minister and author, was born 3 February 1819, probably in Kells, Co. Antrim, son of James Arthur and Margaret Arthur (née Kennedy), and spent his childhood in Westport, Co. Mayo. Though brought up an episcopalian, he attended (1837–9)…...
Babington, Sir Anthony Brutus
Babington, Sir Anthony Brutus (1877–1972), lawyer and politician, was born 24 November 1877, eldest son of Hume Babington, architect and civil engineer, of Creevagh House, Co. Londonderry, with an estate of 1,540 acres in 1876. The family were direct descendants of…...
Barnardo, Thomas John
Barnardo, Thomas John (1845–1905), philanthropist, was born 4 July 1845 at 4 Dame Street, Dublin, the fourth son of John Michaelis Barnardo (d. 1874), a wholesale furrier, and his second wife, Abigail Matilda (née O'Brien). His father was born in Havelberg, Prussia, and settled…...
Barrett, Rosa (Mary)
Barrett, Rosa (Mary) (1854–1936) philanthropist, child-care worker, and suffragist, was born 15 January 1854 in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, daughter of the Rev. W. G. Barrett and Martha Barrett (née Fletcher). From the 1860s she was resident with her family in Dublin. Her…...
Bladen, William
Bladen, William (c.1585–1663), printer and bookseller, was born in England, son of Thomas Bladen, yeoman of Derbyshire; nothing is known of his mother. In 1602 he became an apprentice in the London Stationers’ company, being freed on 7 May 1610. Thereafter he worked in…...
Blanshard, Paul
Blanshard, Paul (1892–1980), journalist and author, was born 27 August 1892 at Fredericksburg, Ohio, USA, one of twin sons of Francis George Blanshard, a congregational clergyman, and his wife Emily (née Coulter), both of whom had been born in Canada. His maternal grandfather came…...
Carr, George Whitmore
Carr, George Whitmore (1780–1849), clergyman and temperance pioneer, was born in New Ross, Co. Wexford, eldest son of the Rev. Edward Carr, rector (1802–15) of Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny, and Sarah Carr (née Foster) of Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. Educated at the John Ivory endowed…...
Charters, John
Charters, John (1796–1874), millowner and philanthropist, was born 24 June 1796 in Gobrana, near Crumlin, Co. Antrim, son of Alexander Charters and Eleanor Charters (née Mackey). He possibly attended the Belfast Academical Institution; in 1836, with two partners, he established…...
Dowden, Richard
Dowden, Richard (1794–1861), politician, philanthropist, and naturalist, was born 12 April 1794 at Bandon, Co. Cork, second among seven children of Richard Dowden and Anne Dowden (née Keys). He originally studied medicine but was asked by the Jennings family to manage their magnesia and…...
Haughton, James
Haughton, James (1795–1873), social reformer and philanthropist, was born 5 May 1795 in Carlow town, eldest son of Samuel Pearson Haughton (1748–1828), corn merchant, and his wife Mary (née Pim) of Ruskin, Queen's Co. (Laois). Although both parents left the Society of Friends…...
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John)
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John) (1911–86), scholar and businessman, was born 3 March 1911 in Leipzig, Germany, fourth of five children of Fürchtegott Max Hennig, protestant theologian and teacher, and his wife Berta Johanna (neé Clemen) who was from a family of distinguished…...
Hinde, John Wilfrid
Hinde, John Wilfrid (1916–97), photographer and postcard manufacturer, was born 17 May 1916 in Street, Somerset, England, into a close-knit Quaker family, who later became Christian Scientist. His great-grandfather was James Clark, co-founder of the Clark's footwear company. During…...
Jacob, Rosamond
Jacob, Rosamond (1888–1960), suffragist, republican, and writer, was born 13 October 1888 in Waterford city, third child of Louis Jacob (1841–1907) and Henrietta Jacob (née Harvey; 1849–1919). Louis Jacob worked in his father-in-law's house-agent and stockbroking firm in Waterford. Both…...
Lowther, Sir Gerrard (Gerard)
Lowther, Sir Gerrard (Gerard) (1590–1660), lawyer and judge, was probably the natural son of Christopher Lowther of Penrith, Cumberland. He matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, on 7 June 1605. He entered Gray's Inn in 1608 and was called to the bar in 1614. He was in Dublin as…...
Macartney, James
Macartney, James (1770–1843), surgeon and anatomist, was born 8 March 1770 in Armagh city, youngest surviving child among four sons and two daughters of James Macartney (d. 1790), gentleman farmer, and Mary Macartney (née Maxwell). He was educated at the Endowed Classical School,…...
Malcolm, Andrew George
Malcolm, Andrew George (1818–56), physician and social reformer, was born 17 December 1818 in Newry, Co. Down, sixth child and fourth son among five sons and two daughters of the Rev. Andrew George Malcom (1782–1823), presbyterian minister, and Eleanor Malcom (née Hunter). Andrew…...
Marsh, Sir Henry
Marsh, Sir Henry (1790–1860), physician, was born in Loughrea, Co. Galway, into a distinguished clerical family, descendant of the protestant archbishop Francis Marsh (qv), and son of the Rev. Robert Marsh, rector of Killinane, Co.…...
Moody, Theodore William Dippie (‘Theo’)
Moody, Theodore William Dippie (‘Theo’) (1907–84), historian, was born 26 November 1907 in Belfast, only son (there was one older daughter) of William John Moody of Co. Londonderry, iron turner at Harland & Wolff's shipyard and trade unionist, and Ann Isabella Moody (née…...
Nicholson, Asenath
Nicholson, Asenath (1792–1855), traveller and social reformer, was born 24 February 1792, youngest child and only daughter among three children of Michael Hatch (c.1747–1830), farmer, and his wife, Martha (maiden name unknown; 1745–1837), in Chelsea, Vermont, USA. Educated at…...
Porter, Classon Emmett
Porter, Classon Emmett (1814–85), non-subscribing presbyterian minister and writer of local history and biography, particularly that of Irish presbyterianism, was born in Artikelly, near Limavady (then called Newtonlimavady), Co. Londonderry, first child of …...
Steele, William
Steele, William (1610–80), barrister, privy counsellor, and lord chancellor of Ireland, was born in Sandbach, Cheshire, England, eldest among three sons of Richard Steele of Finchley, Middlesex, and his wife Laetitia (née Shaw). Steele matriculated at Caius College, Cambridge, in…...
Stokes, Whitley
Stokes, Whitley (1763–1845), physician and polymath, was born in Waterford, son of Gabriel Stokes (1732–1806), DD, chancellor of the cathedral, and master of Waterford endowed school, an ex-fellow of TCD…...
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…...
Threlkeld, Caleb
Threlkeld, Caleb (1676–1728), doctor, minister of religion, and botanist, was born 31 May 1676 in Keybergh or Keibergh in the parish of Kirkoswald, Cumberland, England, third among three sons of Thomas Threlkeld and Bridget Threlkeld (née Brown), who both died in 1712. He also had three…...
Williams, Daniel
Williams, Daniel (1643/4–1717), nonconformist minister and benefactor, was born in or near Wrexham, Denbighshire, north Wales. His father's name is not recorded, but his mother may have been a daughter of Hugh Davies of Wrexham, and there was at least one sister who married a…...