Allan, Frederick James (‘Fred’)
Allan, Frederick James (‘Fred’) (1861–1937), Fenian, journalist and civil servant, was born 15 June 1861 in Dublin, the third son of William Gartley Allan (d. 1881?), a clerk in the accounts department of the Board of Public Works (until 1873), and his wife Ellen Batty (née Quince…...
Bradford, Robert John
Bradford, Robert John (1941–81), unionist politician and methodist minister, was born 8 June 1941 in Ballykelly, Limavady, Co. Londonderry, seventh child of his father, who sold his milk business while his mother was in hospital giving birth to Robert. Having moved to Grove St., Belfast…...
Ferguson, Richard ('Dick')
Ferguson, Richard ('Dick') (1935–2009), barrister and politician, was born in Derrygonnelly, Co. Fermanagh, on 22 August 1935, only child of Wesley Ferguson, RUC sergeant, and his wife Edith. The Fergusons, who were methodists, had farmed…...
Glass, (John) Basil Caldwell
Glass, (John) Basil Caldwell (1926–2005), politician, lawyer, and judge, was born 21 May 1926 in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim, eldest of two sons and one daughter of John Glass (1894–1956), methodist minister, and his wife Muriel Florence (née Caldwell), whose father was also a methodist…...
Gordon, John Fawcett
Gordon, John Fawcett (1878–1965), politician and public servant, was born in Belfast, son of working-class parents, William James Gordon and Margaret Gordon (née Fawcett). At an early age, due to the death of his father, he spent part of his childhood in the USA with relatives and…...
Higgins, Henry Bournes
Higgins, Henry Bournes (1851–1929), politician in Australia, was born 30 June 1851 in Newtownards, Co. Down, second of six sons in a family of nine children of John Higgins, a banker who became a methodist minister, and his wife Ann, daughter of Henry Bournes, landowner, of Crossmolina…...
Jordan, Jeremiah
Jordan, Jeremiah (1829–1911), businessman, land campaigner and MP, was born in the townland of Tattinbar, parish of Aghavea, Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, the eldest son of Samuel Jordan, tenant farmer, and his wife Elizabeth (née Warrell). He was 'a Wesleyan methodist of the third…...
Kelly, (John William) Basil
Kelly, (John William) Basil (1920–2008), barrister, politician and judge, was born 10 May 1920 in Co. Monaghan, one of two children and the only son of Thomas William Kelly and Emily Frances Kelly (née Donaldson). After the family had been burnt out of their farm they moved to Belfast,…...
Malley, James Young (‘Jim’)
Malley, James Young (‘Jim’) (1918–2000), civil servant and airman, was born 24 July 1918 near Aughnacloy, Co. Tyrone, one of four sons and one daughter of Francis William Malley, a local farmer and merchant, and his wife Ruby Elizabeth (née Young). The family was methodist. He…...
McArthur, Sir William
McArthur, Sir William (1809–87), politician, was born on 6 July 1809 in Malin, Co. Donegal, the fifth child of the five sons and two daughters of John McArthur, Wesleyan minister, and his wife, Sarah (née Finlay), of Malin. He was educated at private schools in Stranorlar, Co.…...
McCusker, (James) Harold
McCusker, (James) Harold (1940–90), politician, was born 7 February 1940 in William Street, Lurgan, Co. Armagh, son of James Harold McCusker and his wife Lily. His early life was overshadowed by his father's premature death (aged thirty-seven), which left the family in straitened…...
McIvor, (William) Basil
McIvor, (William) Basil (1928–2004), politician, barrister and judge, was born 17 June 1928 in Tullyhommon, Co. Fermanagh (the southern side of Pettigo – 'I am a British citizen with about 120 feet to spare' (McIvor, 8)), second of three sons of Frederick McIvor, methodist minister, and…...
Nixon, John William
Nixon, John William (1877–1949), policeman and politician, was born 1 June 1877 in Graddum, Co. Cavan, into a methodist family; other family details are unknown. He joined the RIC in 1899, served in Belfast, Donegal, Antrim, Mayo,…...
Shillington, David Graham
Shillington, David Graham (1872–1944), politician, was born 10 December 1872 at Tavanagh House, Portadown, Co. Armagh, son of Thomas Shillington, JP, and Mary Jane Shillington (née Graham). Educated at Rydalmount School, Colwyn Bay, he later…...
Thompson, Samuel Herbert Hall-
Thompson, Samuel Herbert Hall- (1885–1954), unionist politician, was born in Crawfordsburn, Co. Down, son of Robert Thompson, chairman of Lindsay, Thompson & Co. Ltd, flax spinners, who owned residences in both Crawfordsburn and Belfast. Robert Thompson was later to become the…...