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…...
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, (Robert) Barry
Cowan, (Robert) Barry (1948–2004), journalist and broadcaster, was born 1 February 1948 in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, one of two sons of Fred Cowan, a manager in the Ulster Transport Authority, and his wife Myrtle (née Gilliland Patterson). Barry was brought up a presbyterian. The…...
Haddick, Victor Anderson
Haddick, Victor Anderson (1887–1950), soldier, traveller, writer, and film maker and promoter, was born 14 June 1887 at Crinkill (Crinkle), Parsonstown (Birr), King's Co. (Offaly), the eldest son of Richard J. Haddick, a soldier, and his wife Jane Anne (née Anderson). He was educated…...
Hincks, Sir Francis
Hincks, Sir Francis (c.1807–85), businessman, journalist, politician, and colonial administrator, was born 14 December 1807 in Cork, the youngest of nine children of the Reverend Thomas Dix Hincks (qv), presbyterian…...
Ireland, Denis Liddell
Ireland, Denis Liddell (1894–1974), journalist, writer, and senator, was born 29 July 1894 in Belfast, son of Adam Liddell Ireland, linen manufacturer, of Lurgan, Co. Armagh, and Isabella Ireland (née McHinch). He was educated at …...
Johnston (Johnston-Liik ), Edith Mary
Johnston (Johnston-Liik ), Edith Mary (1930–2008), historian and editor, was born 11 July 1930 in Belfast, eldest of three daughters of John Worthington Johnston (1904–52), athlete, presbyterian minister and army chaplain, and his wife Mary Isobel Giraud (née McFadden); a son died at…...
Joy, Henry, jnr
Joy, Henry, jnr (1754–1835), newspaper proprietor and local politician, born 17 October 1754 at Belfast, was the eldest of the three sons of Robert Joy (qv), textile manufacturer and his wife, Grizell (née Rainey) of Magherafelt, Co.…...
Killen, James Bryce
Killen, James Bryce (1842–1916), barrister, journalist, and radical, was born 14 August 1842 in Kells, Co. Antrim, into a presbyterian family, the fourth son of Samuel Killen and his wife, Mary Jane (Mabel) Shaw. Educated at the RBAI…...
Lynn, Robert John
Lynn, Robert John (1873–1945), unionist politician and journalist, was born near Bushmills, Co. Antrim, the son of a small farmer. Following his education at a local national school and further private tuition, in 1893 he began his journalistic career, first working in Derry and…...
MacKnight (McKnight), James
MacKnight (McKnight), James (1801–76), journalist and agrarian reformer, was born 27 February 1801 near Grallagh House, Rathfriland, Co. Down, son of an Irish-speaking presbyterian smallholder; other details of his parents are unknown. As a youth he aspired to the presbyterian…...
Martin, John
Martin, John (1812–75), nationalist journalist and politician, was born 8 September 1812 at Loughorne, near Newry, Co. Down, second son of Samuel Martin (d. 1831), a presbyterian farmer and co-owner of a linen manufactory, and Jane Martin (née Harshaw; d. 1847) of Ringbane. His…...
McComb, William
McComb, William (1793–1873), journalist and poet, was born 17 August 1793 at Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, son of Thomas McComb, linen manufacturer and draper, and his wife (née Foster). The ‘pushing and ambitious’ Thomas soon afterwards moved his family and business to Derry city…...
McDougall, Margaret Moran
McDougall, Margaret Moran (1826–99), author and journalist, was born 25 December 1826, according to family records (though her obituary said 25 December 1828), probably in Co. Antrim. Her father, J. Moran (or William Henry) Dixon , tailor, died in Galgorm, Co. Antrim, when…...
Monteith, Charles Montgomery
Monteith, Charles Montgomery (1921–95), publisher, was born 9 February 1921 in Lisburn, Co. Antrim, son of James Monteith, draper, and Marian Monteith (née Montgomery). The family were devoutly presbyterian. Charles was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institute – he later…...
Pinkerton, Emily (Emilie) Cordner-
Pinkerton, Emily (Emilie) Cordner- (c.1859–1902), publisher, was born probably in Newry, Co. Down, where her parents, William Henry Cordner (d. 1890) and Matilda Cordner (née McCracken), had a jewellery and watchmaker's shop. There were also at least three sons in the family…...
Porter, James
Porter, James (1752/3–1798), presbyterian minister and satirist, was born in the townland of Tamnawood, near Ballindrait in the Laggan district of Co. Donegal. His parents, who were presbyterians, were natives of the place and had three younger sons and four daughters. The father…...
Shaw, James Johnston
Shaw, James Johnston (1845–1910), economist, barrister, and judge, was born 4 January 1845 at Kirkcubbin, Co. Down, second son of John Maxwell Shaw (d. 1852), merchant and farmer, and Anne Shaw (née Johnston). His father died when he was only seven, leaving his mother to raise a…...
Sibbett, Robert Mackie
Sibbett, Robert Mackie (1868–1941), journalist and author, was born 4 September 1868 in the townland of Killycoogan, Portglenone, Co. Antrim, the only son of James Mackie and Agnes Ann Mackie (née Sibbett; b. 1832, d. 4 November 1916), who were married on 20 November 1867. After…...
Smith, John
Smith, John (d. 1771), presbyterian bookseller, was a native of Ulster. Nothing is known of his parents, but he was probably a kinsman of William Smith (1698–1741), one of his business partners. William was a son of Samuel Smith, a Belfast merchant and an associate of…...
Smyllie, Robert
This is a co-subject for the entry on Smyllie, Robert Maire. View the original entry....
Smyllie, Robert Maire
Smyllie, Robert Maire (1893–1954), journalist and editor of the Irish Times, was born 20 March 1893 at Hill St., Shettleton, Glasgow, eldest among four sons and one daughter of Robert Smyllie (fl. 1900), a presbyterian, and Elisabeth Follis, originally from Cork…...
Stevenson, John
Stevenson, John (1850–1931), printer, inventor, antiquary, and author, was born in Rostrevor, Co. Down, in 1850, eldest among three to five sons of John Stevenson (d. 1881) and Harriet Stevenson (née Walsh; d. 1891). One brother died in childhood and one as a young man; there may…...
Strathdee, Ernest (‘Ernie’)
Strathdee, Ernest (‘Ernie’) (1921–71), rugby international and broadcaster, was born on 26 May 1921 in Belfast, the son of Ernest Strathdee and his wife Nellie (née Moore). Educated at Belfast High School and Queen's University Belfast (QUB), he was a talented scrum-half throughout the…...
Walker, Alexander Alfred
Walker, Alexander Alfred (1930–2003), film critic and cinema historian, was born 22 March 1930 in Portadown, Co. Armagh, only child of Alfred Walker, commercial traveller, and his wife Ethel Linda Harris (née Andrews). The family were presbyterian, though not especially observant…...