Biggar, Joseph Gillis
Biggar, Joseph Gillis (1828–90), politician, was born 10 August 1828 in Belfast, eldest son of Joseph Biggar, prosperous merchant and subsequently chairman of the Ulster Bank, and his wife Isabella, daughter of William Houston of Ballyearl, Co. Antrim. After schooling at the…...
Birch, Thomas Ledlie
Birch, Thomas Ledlie (1754–1828), radical and presbyterian minister, was born at Birch Grove, Gilford, Co. Down, youngest among nine children of John Birch, a large farmer and officer in the Down militia, and his wife Jane, daughter of John Ledlie of Arboe, Co. Tyrone, a prosperous…...
Black, Robert
Black, Robert (1752–1817), presbyterian minister, was eldest son of Valentine Black, farmer, of Mullabrack, Co. Armagh. Educated at Glasgow University, he graduated MA in 1772. He was licensed by the presbytery of Armagh in 1776 and ordained in…...
Blair, Robert
Blair, Robert (1593–1666), presbyterian minister and a founding father of Irish presbyterianism, was born in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, fourth son of John Blair of Windyedge, merchant adventurer, and Beatrix Blair (née Muir). He graduated MA…...
Blakely, Fletcher
Blakely, Fletcher (1783–1862), presbyterian minister, was born 13 May 1783 at Ballyroney, Co. Down, youngest son of Joseph Bleakly, farmer, and was named after the Rev. William Fletcher, the presbyterian minister at Ballyroney. Both his parents died when he was very young; nothing…...
Blease, William John ('Billy')
Blease, William John ('Billy') (1914–2008), Baron Blease of Cromac, trade unionist and politician, was born 28 May 1914 in Gosford Street, off the Ormeau Road, Belfast, eldest of three sons and one daughter of William John Blease (1886–1954), restaurant chef and trade-union activist,…...
Blond, Marcus Joseph
Blond, Marcus Joseph (c.1865–1905), president of the Limerick Jewish community, was a native of Wexna, Lithuania. Ordained a rabbi in his teens, he settled (1880s) in Limerick city, where he established a grocery business. He appears in the 1901 census as ‘Marcus Jacob Blonde’…...
Bond, Oliver Cromwell
Bond, Oliver Cromwell (c.1761–1798), United Irish leader, was born in Co. Donegal, son of a presbyterian minister, and was apprenticed as a youth to a Derry haberdasher. Moving to Dublin in the early 1780s to trade in woollen goods at 54 Pill Lane, he took up residence (1786)…...
Bowman, Alexander
Bowman, Alexander (1855–1924), trade unionist, was born 16 March 1855 at Dromara, Co. Down, eldest child among three sons and two daughters of William McKeown, farmer and weaver, and his wife Elizabeth (née Rodgers). McKeown was a catholic; Rodgers, a presbyterian, had been previously…...
Boyd, Robert
Boyd, Robert (1880–1957), presbyterian minister, was born 10 September 1880 in Tullyvallen, near Newtownhamilton, Co. Armagh, but was brought up by his uncle in Drumgaw, Co. Armagh; his father George Boyd was a farmer and his mother was Annie Boyd (née Gray). He attended school in…...
Boyd, Thomas William (‘Tom’)
Boyd, Thomas William (‘Tom’) (1903–91), socialist and trade unionist, was born 13 April 1903 in Woodstock Road, east Belfast, one of nine children of James Boyd, shipyard clerk, and Mary Boyd (née McCully), both originally from Co. Down. He left Ravenscroft national school,…...
Boyd, William
Boyd, William (1685–1772), presbyterian minister, was born in 1685; it is possible but not certain that his father was the Rev. Thomas Boyd (d. c.1699), minister (1660–99) of Aghadowey, Co. Londonderry, who was one of the ministers ejected for non-conformity in 1661 and…...
Boyse, Joseph
Boyse, Joseph (1660–1728), presbyterian minister, theologian, and controversialist, was born 14 January 1660 in Leeds, Yorkshire, one of the younger among sixteen children of Matthew Boyse and his wife, Elizabeth (née Jackson). Matthew, a puritan, had lived with his family in…...
Boyse, Samuel
Boyse, Samuel (1708–49), poet, translator, and hack writer, was born in Dublin in 1708, son of the Rev. Joseph Boyse (qv), the English-born presbyterian theologian, pamphleteer, and minister to the Wood St. church, Dublin. Educated…...
Bradlaw, Robert
Bradlaw, Robert (c.1839–1904), Jewish community leader, was born in Kovno, Russia. By profession an oculist, he lived in England before settling in Dublin, where he became a leading lay representative of the Jewish immigrants. Responsive to their particular needs, he…...
Brice (Bryce), Edward
Brice (Bryce), Edward (1569–1636), generally regarded as the first presbyterian minister in Ireland, is said to have been born at Airth, Stirlingshire, Scotland, possibly of the Bruce family, lairds of Airth. He entered Edinburgh University (1589), graduated…...
Briscoe, Robert Emmet
Briscoe, Robert Emmet (1894–1969), republican, Zionist, and businessman, was born 25 September 1894 at Lower Beechwood Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin, third child and second son among four sons and three daughters of Abraham William Briscoe, merchant, native of Zagar, Kovno, Lithuania, and…...
Brown, John
Brown, John (1788–1873), presbyterian minister, was sixth son of Samuel Brown, a farmer near Garvagh, Co. Londonderry. Graduating from Glasgow University (MA 1811), he was ordained (December 1813) in Aghadowey, and remained there till retirement…...
Brown, John Alexander
This is a co-subject for the entry on Brown, Alexander. View the original entry....
Brown, Nathaniel McAuley
Brown, Nathaniel McAuley (1820–1910), presbyterian minister and tenant-right campaigner, was born 10 August 1820, probably son of a farmer at the Burren, near Ballynahinch, Co. Down, and was brought up as a Seceder. His mother's name was possibly McAuley. While he was a student,…...
Bruce, James
Bruce, James (1660/61–1730), presbyterian minister, was the eldest son of Michael Bruce (qv), presbyterian minister of Killinchy, Co. Down, and Jean Bruce (née Bruce) of Kinnaird. His parents were grand-nephew and granddaughter of Rev.…...
Bruce, Michael
Bruce, Michael (1634/5–1693), presbyterian minister, was born probably in Newtown, Stirlingshire, son of Patrick Bruce and Janet Bruce (née Jackson); he was related to many noble families of Scotland. He graduated from Edinburgh University (MA…...
Bruce, Michael
Bruce, Michael (1686–1735), presbyterian minister, was born 27 July 1686, eldest son among ten children of James Bruce (qv), minister of Killyleagh, Co. Down, and Margaret Bruce (née Traill). His brother was William Bruce (d. 1755);…...
Bruce, William
Bruce, William (1702–55), publisher and writer, was born in Killyleagh, Co. Down, the youngest of the three sons of the Rev. James Bruce (qv) (1660?–1730), and his wife, Margaret (née Trail), of Tullychin (d. 1706). He was educated at the…...
Bruce, William
Bruce, William (1757–1841), presbyterian minister and schoolmaster, was born in Dublin on 30 July 1757. He was the second son, in the family of seven, of Samuel Bruce (1722–67), presbyterian minister at Wood Street, Dublin, and his wife, Rose (1728–1806), daughter of Robert Rainey…...