Ussher, Percy Arland
Ussher, Percy Arland (1899–1980), essayist and translator, was born 9 September 1899 at Battersea, London, son of Beverly Ussher, inspector of schools, and Emily Ussher (née Jebb). Educated at Abbotsholme School, Derbyshire, he had radical journals posted to him from Ireland, and so…...
Vignoles, Charles Blacker
Vignoles, Charles Blacker (1793–1875), civil engineer, was born 31 May 1793 at Woodbrook near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. Descended from a notable French huguenot family, his father, Capt. Charles Henry Vignoles, married a daughter of Dr Charles Hutton,…...
Wade, George
Wade, George (1673–1748), field marshal and military road builder, was born most likely at Killavally, near Tyrellspass, Co. Westmeath, third son of Jerome Wade, farmer, and grandson of William Wade, a Cromwellian army officer. Reputedly of exceptionally large build, he joined the…...
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…...
Wagner, Heinrich Hans
Wagner, Heinrich Hans (1923–88), linguistic scholar, was born 16 January 1923 in Zurich, Switzerland, elder of two sons of Heinrich Wagner, businessman, and his wife Eliza (née Siegfried), both of Zurich. His mother, the daughter of a restaurateur, spoke German (her native tongue),…...
Walker, William
Walker, William (1871–1918), socialist and trade unionist, was born 9 January 1871 at 35 McCluny St., Belfast, son of Francis Walker, shipyard boilermaker and latterly trade-union official, and Sarah Walker (née McLaughlin). After attending St George's national school, he was…...
Waller, James Hardress de Warrenne
Waller, James Hardress de Warrenne (1884–1968), engineer and inventor, was born in Tasmania, tenth and youngest child of George Arthur Waller from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, and Sarah Waller (née Atkinson). After attending school in Hobart, he served a two-year pupilage with his brother…...
Walsh (Bhailís, Wallis, Uailis), Francis (Proinsias)
Walsh (Bhailís, Wallis, Uailis), Francis (Proinsias) (1654–1724), lexicographer and Franciscan priest, was born in the Fingal area of north Co. Dublin. Nothing is known of his family or early education. He entered the Franciscan order and was ordained (1677) in the Irish Franciscan…...
Walsh, Edward
Walsh, Edward (1805–50), translator, poet, and schoolteacher, was born in Derry city, where his father, an evicted small farmer who became a sergeant in the north Cork militia was posted during the Napolelonic period; his mother was from a more genteel background. After the battle of…...
Watson, Edward
This is a co-subject for the entry on Watson, William. View the original entry....
Watson, William
This is a co-subject for the entry on Watson, William. View the original entry....
Watson, William
Watson, William (1804–83), engineer, was born in Dublin on 23 February 1804, the only surviving son of William Watson, a bookseller who was descended from a Worcestershire family. He entered TCD on 3 July 1820, graduating…...
Wheeler, Thomas Sherlock
Wheeler, Thomas Sherlock (1899–1962), chemist, was born 10 April 1899 at 48 Clonliffe Road, Dublin, eldest son of Martin Redmond Wheeler, clerk (MA), and Bridget Wheeler (née Sherlock). He received his early education in the O'Connell Schools,…...
Wigham, John Richardson
Wigham, John Richardson (1829–1906), lighthouse engineer and businessman, was born 15 January 1829 at 5 South Gray St., Edinburgh, youngest son among four sons and three daughters of John Wigham, shawl manufacturer and quaker, and Jane Wigham (née Richardson). Their mother's death…...
Williams, Charles Wye
Williams, Charles Wye (1779–1866), shipping magnate and inventor, was born in Dublin, second of two sons of Thomas Williams (1748–1832), secretary of the Bank of Ireland, and Mary Ann Williams (née Quin or Quine), both of Dublin. Educated by private tutors, Charles later studied law…...
Wilson, Charles Henry
Wilson, Charles Henry (c.1755–1808), writer and linguist, was born in Bailieborough, Co. Cavan, son of an anglican clergyman; no other details are known of his family. He received a classical school education and attended TCD before…...
Wilson, Walter Gordon
Wilson, Walter Gordon (1874–1957), engineer and inventor of the tank, was born 21 April 1874 at his family's home, Dunardagh, Temple Road, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, fifth son of George Orr Wilson, barrister, and Annie Wilson (née Shaw). Educated as a naval cadet at…...
Winder, Frank (Francis Gerard Augustine)
Winder, Frank (Francis Gerard Augustine) (1928–2007), biochemist, naturalist and mountaineer, was born 14 April 1928 in Dublin, one of four sons of Percy Winder (d. 1950), secretary of the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society and a freeman of the city of Dublin, and his second…...
Windisch, Wilhelm Oscar Ernst
Windisch, Wilhelm Oscar Ernst (1844–1918), Sanskrit and Pali scholar and celticist, was born 4 September 1844 in Dresden, Germany, son of a teacher, was educated at the Kreuzschule in Leipzig, and went on to Leipzig University (1863), where he studied classical and comparative philology…...
Wolff, Gustav Wilhelm
Wolff, Gustav Wilhelm (1834–1913), shipbuilder, businessman, and politician, was born in Hamburg, the son of Moritz Wolff and Fanny Maria Schwabe. Gustav left home at the age of fourteen to study engineering at Liverpool College, staying with his uncle Gustav Schwabe. He was…...
Woulfe, Peter
Woulfe, Peter (1727?–1803), chemist, mineralogist, and inventor of ‘Woulfe's bottle’, was born in Co. Limerick. After being schooled in Limerick by the Rev. Robert Cashin, he went to Paris to study under Guillaume-Francois Rouelle, on the advice of…...
Wright, George Newenham
Wright, George Newenham (1794?–1877), clergyman, schoolmaster, topographical writer and biographer, was born in London probably in 1793 or 1794. He was the youngest of the four sons of Thomas Wright (qv), a surgeon of Great Ship St.,…...
Wright, James Lendrew
Wright, James Lendrew (1816–93), USA labour leader, was born 6 April 1816 to a protestant family in Co. Tyrone, of whom nothing else is known except that the family emigrated first to St John, in the British colony of New Brunswick, and thence to the US, settling in Philadelphia in…...
Wright, William
Wright, William (1918–85), professor of civil engineering, was born 3 December 1918 in Stewarton, Ayrshire (Strathclyde), Scotland, son of James Wright, presbyterian minister; his mother's name is not known. He received his early education at Inverness Royal Academy and George…...
Young, Matthew
Young, Matthew (1750–1800), clergyman, Irish scholar, and natural philosopher, was born 3 October 1750 at Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, fourth son of Owen Young, a minor landowner who impoverished his family through dissolute habits, and Olivia Maria Young (née Bell). He was educated at the…...