Anderson, Robert
This is a co-subject for the entry on Anderson, Sir Samuel Lee. View the original entry....
Barr, Andrew (Andy)
Barr, Andrew (Andy) (1913–2003), trade unionist and communist, was born 23 September 1913 at 29 Cluan Place, off Mountpottinger Road, Ballymacarrett, Belfast, second child among two sons and five daughters (two other children died in infancy) of Andrew Barr (d. 1986, aged 98), a…...
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,…...
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, 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,…...
Bryce, James
Bryce, James (1838–1922), 1st Viscount Bryce , politician, historian, jurist, and chief secretary for Ireland (1905–7), was born 10 May 1838 in a small terraced house in Arthur St., Belfast, eldest of two sons and two daughters of James Bryce…...
Burn, Thomas Henry
Burn, Thomas Henry (1875–1949), trade unionist and politician, was born in Belfast, son of Thomas Henry Burn. Little is known of his family life but he was educated at Belfast National School and subsequently trained as a lithographic printer. The Ulster Unionist Labour…...
Caldwell, Andrew
Caldwell, Andrew (1733–1808), barrister, politician, and social figure, was born on 19 December 1733, the first of three sons of Charles Caldwell (1707–76), solicitor to the commissioners of revenue and agent to Lord Bessborough, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin…...
Findlater, Sir William
Findlater, Sir William (1824–1906), solicitor and MP, was born 1 January 1824, the only son of William Findlater, of Londonderry, and his wife Sophia (née Huffington) of Fahan, Co. Donegal. His father, who had been born in Scotland, died in 1831. With his three sisters, he spent…...
Gibson, Sir Maurice
Gibson, Sir Maurice (1913–87), judge, was born 1 May 1913 in Belfast, son of William James Gibson, chemist, and his wife, Edith Mary. He was educated at the RBAI and took a first-class honours degree at…...
Gordon, John
Gordon, John (1849–1922), high court judge and politician, was born in Co. Down on 23 November 1849, eldest son of Samuel Gordon, of Shankill House, Co. Down, and his wife Arabella Barclay. A presbyterian, he was educated at the …...
Graham, Edgar Samuel David
Graham, Edgar Samuel David (1954–1983), politician, was born 24 February 1954 at Massereene Hospital, Antrim, son of David Norman Graham of Whinney Hill, Randalstown, Co. Antrim, and his wife Annie Matilda (née Graham); he had one sister. Grahams had farmed in Randalstown for centuries…...
Greer, Samuel McCurdy
Greer, Samuel McCurdy (1809–80), barrister, judge, and politician, was born 20 July 1809 in Springvale, Co. Londonderry, the eldest son of Rev. Thomas Greer, presbyterian minister of Dunboe, Co. Londonderry, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. Adam Caldwell,…...
Henderson, James
This is a co-subject for the entry on Henderson, James. View the original entry....
Heron, Archibald (‘Archie’)
Heron, Archibald (‘Archie’) (1895–1971), socialist and trade unionist, was born in Portadown, Co. Armagh, into a presbyterian family, probably one of seven children of Samuel Heron, a physician and surgeon, and his wife Bessie (née Beck). He was educated locally before moving to…...
Heron, (Mary) Dorothea
Heron, (Mary) Dorothea (1896–1960), first woman to be admitted as a solicitor in Ireland, was born on 19 August 1896 at 68 Harcourt Street, Dublin, the home and solicitor’s office of her maternal grandparents, William and Dorothea Jameson. Usually known as Dorothea or ‘Deasie’ to her…...
Johnston, William John
Johnston, William John (1868–1940), barrister and judge, was born on 18 January 1868 near Magherafelt, Co. Londonderry, the eldest son of the seven children of James Johnston, merchant, and his wife, Sarah (née Davidson), of Belfast. The family motto was semper paratus. He…...
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…...
Langford, Henry
This is a co-subject for the entry on Langford, Sir Arthur. View the original entry....
Lowry, Robert Lynd Erskine
Lowry, Robert Lynd Erskine (1919–99), Baron Lowry , lord chief justice of Northern Ireland, was born 30 January 1919, only son of William Lowry (qv), judge of the Northern Ireland high court, and his wife Catherine Hughes, daughter of…...
MacDermott, John Clarke
MacDermott, John Clarke (1896–1979), Baron MacDermott , lord chief justice of Northern Ireland, was born 12 April 1896 in Belfast, third surviving son and sixth of seven children of the Rev. John MacDermott, DD, minister of Belmont…...
McMullen, William
McMullen, William (1888–1982), trade unionist and politician, was born in Lilliput Street, Belfast, son of Joseph McMullen, shop owner, of County Monaghan; his mother was a native of County Cavan. When he was two years old, his family moved to a bigger shop on Shore Road, Belfast…...
Mellon, Thomas
Mellon, Thomas (1813–1908), judge, investor, and banker, was born 3 February 1813 at Camp Hill Cottage, Castletown, near Omagh, Co. Tyrone, eldest of two sons and three daughters of Andrew Mellon (1785–1856), farmer, and his wife Rebecca (1789–1868), daughter of Samuel Wauchob,…...
Midgley, Henry Cassidy (‘Harry’)
Midgley, Henry Cassidy (‘Harry’) (1892–1957), trade unionist and politician, was born 8 September 1892 at 59 Seaview St., Belfast, third child and eldest son among two daughters and three sons of Alexander Midgley (1860–99), shipyard labourer, originally of Lurgan, Co. Armagh,…...
Norcott, William
Norcott, William (1773?–1820), barrister, satirist, and bon vivant, was eldest son of William Norcott of Charleville, Co. Cork, and Mary Norcott (née Knight). He entered TCD in July 1790, graduating BA…...