Rocque, John (Jean)
Rocque, John (Jean) (c.1704–1762), cartographer, surveyor, and landscape designer, was born in France into a huguenot family of four children. After spending some time in Geneva, Rocque arrived in England (c.1709). His earliest published works, consisting mainly…...
Ryan, Luke
Ryan, Luke (1750–89), privateer and smuggler, was born on 14 February 1750 in Rush, Co. Dublin, the son of Michael Ryan, a farmer of Kenure, near Rush, and his wife Mary (née Taylor). As a child he attended the country school at Hackettstown, near Skerries, Co. Dublin. In 1762 he…...
Saul, Jonathan Patrick (‘Paddy’)
Saul, Jonathan Patrick (‘Paddy’) (1894–1968), sailor and pioneer aviator, was born into a Church of Ireland family in Skerries, Co. Dublin, son of a Dublin contractor, Thomas Saul, and his wife Catherine; he had at least three sisters and three brothers. Educated at St Patrick's…...
Seward, William Wenman
Seward, William Wenman (d. 1805), attorney and writer, may have been born in Dublin. Little is known of his family or early life. In May 1776 he was admitted as an exchequer attorney at King's Inns, Dublin, and from c.1782 he lived at Prussia St., conducting his legal…...
Sherrard, Thomas
Sherrard, Thomas (c.1750–1837), surveyor and planner, was born to parents whose names are not known, but he was related to a William and David Sherrard, merchants in Dublin, and possibly to Sherrards in Drogheda, Co. Louth. The family name is commoner in the north of…...
Skeffington, Clotworthy
Skeffington, Clotworthy (1743–1805), 2nd earl of Massereene, eccentric, was born 28 January 1743, eldest son of Clotworthy Skeffington, 1st earl of Massereene (c.1713–1757) and his second wife, Anne (c.1715–1805), daughter of Henry Eyre of Row Tor, Derbyshire. At 14 he…...
Smith, Charles
Smith, Charles (1715?–1762), apothecary, topographer, and writer, was born in Co. Waterford. Details of his life remain obscure, but he was educated in medicine and worked as an apothecary in Lismore (1739–44) and Dungarvan, Co. Waterford (1744–60). He is remembered as a pioneer of…...
Smith, John Shaw
Smith, John Shaw (1811–73), pioneer photographer, was born 18 October 1811 in Co. Cork, fifth of eight sons of John Smith and Mary Richardson, who had an estate of several hundred acres at Clonmult, Co. Cork. In 1839 John Shaw Smith married his cousin, Mary Louisa Richardson. They…...
Somerville, Henry Boyle Townshend
Somerville, Henry Boyle Townshend (1863–1936), naval officer, hydrographer, and author, was born 7 September 1863 on his family's historic estate at Drishane, Castletownshend, near Castle Haven, Co. Cork, third son of Lt.-col. Thomas Henry Somerville (later high sheriff of Cork) and his…...
Southern, Rowland
Southern, Rowland (1882–1935), marine zoologist, was born 9 May 1882 in Lancashire. He trained in chemistry at the Ramsay Laboratory, Bolton, and in 1902 obtained a position in the laboratory of the Dublin city analyst, Sir …...
Speed, John
Speed, John (1552–1629), historian and cartographer, was born in 1552 in Farndon, Cheshire. His father was also called John and was a member of the Merchant Taylors’ Company; his mother was Elizabeth Cheynye. He was brought up in his father's trade and in 1580 was himself admitted…...
Spratt, James
Spratt, James (1771–1853), seaman and inventor, was born 3 May 1771 at Harold's Cross, Dublin, son of James Spratt of Ballybeg, Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. His family was descended from the Rev. Devereux Spratt (d. 1688) of Mitchelstown. He initially served in the merchant navy, and…...
Stafford, James Joseph snr
Stafford, James Joseph snr (1860–1947), merchant and ship owner, was born in Wexford town, eldest son among two sons and four daughters of Patrick Stafford of Wexford, merchant, and Elizabeth Stafford (née Cullenmore) of Yoletown, Co. Wexford. He was educated (1867–78) at the…...
Stephens, William Lawson (‘Billie’)
Stephens, William Lawson (‘Billie’) (1911–97), naval officer, was born 9 August 1911 in Belfast, son of Edward Rowley Stephens, shipping agent and timber merchant, of Kinnegar, Holywood, and Lilian Stephens (née Dash). Educated locally, he later attended Shrewsbury School before…...
Stoker, Henry Hugh (or Hew) Gordon Dacre (‘Harry’)
Stoker, Henry Hugh (or Hew) Gordon Dacre (‘Harry’) (1885–1966), naval officer and actor, was born 2 February 1885 in York St., Dublin, second son of William Stoker, surgeon and FRCSI, and Jeannie Stoker (née…...
Stokes, Gabriel
Stokes, Gabriel (1682–1768?), surveyor and mathematical-instrument maker, was baptised 23 April 1682 at St Nicholas Within, Dublin, son of John Stokes, tailor, of Back Lane, Dublin; nothing is known of his mother. Attending the Blue Coat (King's Hospital) School, he began his…...
Stotherd, Richard Hugh
Stotherd, Richard Hugh (1828–95), army officer and surveyor, was born 25 November 1828 at Augher Castle, Co. Tyrone, son of Lieut. (later Gen.) Richard John Stotherd (1796–1879) and his first wife, Elizabeth Sydney (d. 1853), daughter of Hugh Boyle of…...
Taylor, Alexander
Taylor, Alexander (1746–1828), military engineer, surveyor, and cartographer, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland; his father may have been William Taylor, a surveyor at Fort George, near Inverness. Having first worked as a land surveyor in Scotland, Alexander joined the army in 1777 and…...
Tenison, Edward King
Tenison, Edward King (1805–78), pioneer photographer, landed gentleman, and MP, was born 21 January 1805, second son of Col. Thomas Tenison of Castle Tenison (later Kilronan Castle), Co. Roscommon, MP for Boyle 1792, and Lady Frances Anne King, daughter of Edward, 1st earl of…...
Tighe, William
Tighe, William (1766–1816), politician, topographer, and landowner, was born 5 May 1766, the eldest son of William Tighe (1738–82), landowner of Rossanagh, Co. Wicklow, and MP for Athboy, Co. Meath (1761–76), and his wife, Sarah (née Fownes) of Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny. William…...
Tuckey, James Hingston
Tuckey, James Hingston (1771–1816), naval officer and explorer, was born at Greenhill, near Mallow, Co. Cork, son of the Reverend Thomas Tuckey (1708–72), rector of Litter and Marshallstown, and his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the Reverend James Hingston, prebendary of…...
Tyrrell, John (‘Jack’)
Tyrrell, John (‘Jack’) (1905–88), naval architect, was born 16 June 1905 in Arklow, Co. Wicklow, son of Michael Tyrrell (qv), shipbuilder, and Mary Tyrrell (neé Abraham). Since at latest the 1770s, generations of Tyrrells had owned,…...
Tyrrell, Michael
Tyrrell, Michael (1869–1948), shipbuilder, was born 6 January 1869 at Arklow, Co. Wicklow, son of John Tyrrell, shipbuilder and founder (1864) of John Tyrrell & Sons Ltd, and Dorah Tyrrell (neé Murray). Since at least the 1770s the Tyrrell family had designed, built, owned, or…...
Vereker, Charles
Vereker, Charles (1768–1842), 2nd Viscount Gort , naval and militia officer, and MP, was the second son of Thomas Vereker of Roxborough, Limerick, and his wife Juliana, sister of John Prendergast Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort. His Vereker ancestry was Flemish but the family was long…...
Wafer, Lionel
Wafer, Lionel (d. 1705), surgeon, buccaneer, topographer, and ethnographer, was probably born in Ireland or to an Irish catholic family abroad. In A new voyage & description of the isthmus of America (1699), the work on which his reputation rests, he states: in my…...