Ritchie, William
Ritchie, William (1756–1834), shipbuilder, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, and had a shipbuilding practice at Saltcoats. In March 1791 he visited Belfast and, seeing the potential of the port, returned on 3 July 1791, with ten men, apparatus, materials, and his younger brother…...
Robb, John Hanna
Robb, John Hanna (1873–1956), politician and barrister, was born 4 November 1873 in Clogher, Co. Tyrone, second son among ten children of the Rev. James Gardner Robb (d. 1891), presbyterian minister, and Martha Robb (née Hanna). As a child he spent five years in Toronto, Canada,…...
Robinson, Samuel
Robinson, Samuel (1865–1958), businessman and philanthropist, was born 9 June 1865 in Culcrum, near Cloughmills, Co. Antrim, eldest son among three sons and two daughters of Samuel Robinson, farmer, and Margaret Robinson (née Megaw). His mother's family, the Megaws, produced…...
Rogers, John
Rogers, John (1740–1814), presbyterian minister and Volunteer, was youngest son of James Rogers, elder of Newbliss congregation, Co. Monaghan. He was said to be a descendant of the Rev. John Rogers, the first protestant martyr to be burned at the stake during the reign of Queen…...
Ross, Sir John
Ross, Sir John (1853–1935), judge, politician, and last lord chancellor of Ireland, was born 11 December 1853 in Derry, eldest son among eight children of the Rev. Robert Ross (d. 1894), presbyterian minister and moderator (1886–7) of the general assembly of the Presbyterian…...
Rowan, Archibald Hamilton
Rowan, Archibald Hamilton (1751–1834), property owner, Volunteer, and United Irishman, was born 12 May 1751 in Rathbone Place, London, only son of Gawen Hamilton (1729–1805) of Killyleagh, Co. Down, and his wife, Jane (d. 1793), only child of a barrister, William Rowan (1693?–1767), a…...
Russell, Sir Thomas Wallace
Russell, Sir Thomas Wallace (1841–1920), radical Ulster politician, was born 28 February 1841 in Cupar, Fife, Scotland, son of David Russell, stonemason, and Isabella Russell (née Wallace). Educated at the Madras Academy, Cupar, Russell settled in Ulster in 1860, aged 19, and was…...
Shanks, James
Shanks, James (1854–1912), farmer, agrarian activist, and self-taught naturalist and historian, was born 4 November 1854 on Ballyfounder farm, two miles south of Portaferry on the Ards peninsula, Co. Down. A presbyterian, after attending Portaferry no. 2 national school until age…...
Simms, John Morrow
Simms, John Morrow (1854–1934), presbyterian minister, army chaplain, and politician, was born 23 November 1854 at Newtownards, Co. Down, second son of John Simms of Holywood, Co. Down, and Elizabeth Simms (née Alexander) of Newtownards. He was educated at the Old Academy, Belfast…...
Simms, Robert
Simms, Robert (1761–1843), United Irishman and businessman, was born probably in Belfast in March 1761 (he was baptised there on 20 March), the fifth child in the family of five sons and two daughters of Robert Simms, merchant and tanner, and his wife, Elizabeth Stevenson of…...
Simms, William
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Sinclair, John
This is a co-subject for the entry on Sinclair (Sinclaire), William. View the original entry....
Sinclair (Sinclaire), William
Sinclair (Sinclaire), William (1760–1807), linen manufacturer and radical, was second among four sons of Thomas Sinclair (1719–98), merchant, and his wife Hester Eccles Pottinger, whom he married in 1749. Thomas came to Belfast from Newtownards and served his apprenticeship with…...
Sinclair, Thomas
Sinclair, Thomas (1838–1914), merchant and politician, was born 23 September 1838 in Belfast, son of Thomas Sinclair (1811–67), merchant and shipowner, and his wife Sarah (1800–49), daughter of William Archer of Hillsborough, Co. Down. Thomas Sinclair the elder was born and…...
Sinclair, Thomas
This is a co-subject for the entry on Sinclair (Sinclaire), William. View the original entry....
Skeffington, Clotworthy
This is a co-subject for the entry on Skeffington, John. View the original entry....
Skeffington, Francis Sheehy-
Skeffington, Francis Sheehy- (1878–1916), radical, was born Francis Skeffington on 23 December 1878, in Bailieborough, Co. Cavan, only child of Joseph Bartholomew Skeffington, inspector of schools, and his wife Rose Magorian. He was brought up in Downpatrick, Co. Down. Educated…...
Skeffington, (Johanna) Hanna Sheehy-
Skeffington, (Johanna) Hanna Sheehy- (1877–1946), political activist, was born 24 May 1877 in Kanturk, Co. Cork, eldest among two sons and four daughters of David Sheehy (qv), millowner and later nationalist MP, and Elizabeth (‘Bessie’) Sheehy…...
Skeffington, John
Skeffington, John (1632–95), 2nd Viscount Massereene , soldier and politician, was baptised 27 December 1632 at Lichfield in Staffordshire, the son of Sir Richard Skeffington, knight, of Fisherwick near Lichfield, and his wife, Anne Skeffington (née Newdigate). His father (who was…...
Smith, Col. James
Smith, Col. James (c.1713–1806), lawyer, soldier in America, and signatory of the American declaration of independence, was born in the north of Ireland, second son of John Smith, a farmer with a large family. There are few details extant about his background or date of…...
Smyth, Richard
Smyth, Richard (1826–78), presbyterian minister and MP, was born 4 October 1826 in Carncullagh, near Dervock, Co. Antrim, second son of Hugh Smyth, an elder in Carncullagh, and Mary Ann Smyth (née Wray); three of his brothers also became presbyterian ministers. The effects of a…...
Stewart, Robert
Stewart, Robert (1739–1821), 1st marquess of Londonderry , politician, was born 27 September 1739 in Dublin, eldest son of Alexander Stewart (1697–1781), landowner in Co. Down and briefly MP for Derry city (1760), and his wife Mary Stewart (née Cowan), his cousin and an heiress…...
Stewart, Robert
Stewart, Robert (1769–1822), Viscount Castlereagh and 2nd marquess of Londonderry , chief secretary for Ireland, politician, was born 18 June 1769 at 28 Henry Street, Dublin, the second, but only surviving, child of Robert Stewart (…...
Swift, (Laurence) John
Swift, (Laurence) John (1896–1990), trade unionist and labour historian, was born 26 August 1896 in Dundalk, Co. Louth, the eldest of two sons and two daughters of Patrick Swift, a master baker, and his wife Alice (née Deane), daughter of a Dundalk businessman. Known generally as…...
Taggart, Thomas
Taggart, Thomas (1856–1929), politician, was born 17 November 1856 in Emyvale, Co. Monaghan, sixth child and younger son among two sons and five daughters of Thomas Taggart, of Emyvale, and Martha Taggart (née Kingsbury), native of Scotland. The family emigrated to the United…...