Elam (Dacre Fox), Norah
Elam (Dacre Fox), Norah (1878–1961), suffragist and fascist, was born Norah Doherty in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, on 5 May 1878, third of nine children (three daughters and six sons) of John Doherty, businessman, and his wife Charlotte Isabel (née Clarke). The family moved in 1888 to London…...
Ervine, David (Walter)
Ervine, David (Walter) (1954–2007), loyalist paramilitary and politician, was born in Chamberlain St., east Belfast, on 21 July 1954, youngest of five children (two girls and three boys) of Walter Ervine, iron turner and shipyard worker, and his wife Elizabeth ('Dolly'). Walter Ervine…...
Faulkner, (Arthur) Brian Deane
Faulkner, (Arthur) Brian Deane (1921–77), Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick , prime minister of Northern Ireland, was born 18 February 1921 at Helen's Bay, Co. Down, elder son of a self-made businessman of Belfast, James Alexander Faulkner, and his wife, Nora Lillian Deane. Family…...
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…...
Firth, Virginia Arabella ('Gay')
Firth, Virginia Arabella ('Gay') (1937–2005), author, journalist and political campaigner, was born in Belfast on 9 January 1937, the eldest of three daughters of Lancelot Turtle, a Belfast businessman and stockbroker, and Helen Ramsey Turtle (1911–46), born in Denver, Colorado,…...
Forbes, Sir Arthur
Forbes, Sir Arthur (1623–c.1696), 1st earl of Granard , soldier and politician, was born in Longford, son of Sir Arthur Forbes, 1st Baron Granard, of Castle Forbes, Co. Longford (originally from Aberdeenshire, Scotland), and his wife Lady Jane Lauder (née Hamilton) of the Isle…...
Forster, William Edward
Forster, William Edward (1818–86), MP and chief secretary for Ireland, was born 11 July 1818 at Bradpole, near Bridport, Dorset, England, the only child of William Forster (1784–1854), a Society of Friends minister, originally from Tottenham, Middlesex, and his wife Anna (1784–1855),…...
Foster, Alexander Roulston ('Alec')
Foster, Alexander Roulston ('Alec') (1890–1972), rugby international, schoolmaster and political activist, was born on 22 June 1890 in Derry city, the younger son among two sons and four daughters of John Foster and his wife Christina ('Chrissie') (née Roulston(e)). John Foster was…...
Fox, Richard Michael ('R. M. ')
Fox, Richard Michael ('R. M. ') (1891–1969), writer and trade unionist, was born on 13 November 1891 in Leeds, Yorkshire, the second of four sons of Richard Fox and his wife Elizabeth (née Rathmell). Richard senior worked as a gymnasium instructor in Leeds, and later as a skilled…...
Gamble, David
This is a co-subject for the entry on Gamble, Josias (or Josiah) Christopher. View the original entry....
Glendy, John
Glendy, John (1755–1832), United Irishman and chaplain to the US congress, was born 24 June 1755 at Maghera, Co. Londonderry, son of Samuel Glendy; his mother's name is unknown. Educated at the University of Glasgow, he was licensed to preach (1777) and was ordained presbyterian…...
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 …...
Gordon, John Campbell
Gordon, John Campbell (1847–1934), 7th earl of Aberdeen and 1st marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, lord lieutenant of Ireland, was born 3 August 1847 in Edinburgh, third son and fourth of six children of George John Hamilton-Gordon (1816–64), 5th earl of Aberdeen in the peerage of…...
Gowan, Thomas
Gowan, Thomas (1631–83), presbyterian minister and philosophy teacher, was born in Caldermuir, Scotland, an undeveloped region on the western border of Edinburghshire. His parentage is not known. He studied at the College of Edinburgh, where he graduated…...
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,…...
Haliday, Alexander Henry
Haliday, Alexander Henry (1727?–1802), physician and public figure in Belfast, was one of several sons of Samuel Haliday (qv), a presbyterian minister at Belfast. Intent on a career as a physician, Alexander Haliday…...
Harshaw, James
Harshaw, James (1797–1867), farmer, diarist, and presbyterian nationalist, was born in the townland of Ringbane, Donaghmore parish, Co. Down, last child of James Harshaw and Mary Harshaw (née Bradford). The senior James was one of the major landholders in the eastern part of the…...
Hartley, Travers
Hartley, Travers (1723–96), merchant and MP, was born in Dublin, eldest son of James Hartley (a younger scion of the family of Hartley of Beech Park, Clonsilla, Co. Dublin) and his wife Alice, daughter of the Rev. Elias Travers. Prospering in city business from the 1750s, and…...
Haslam, Anna Maria
Haslam, Anna Maria (1829–1922), campaigner for women's rights, was born Anna Fisher at Youghal, Co. Cork, in April 1829, the sixteenth of seventeen children (there were, besides her, eight boys and eight girls) of Abraham Fisher (1783–1871), miller, philanthropist, and insurance…...
Haslam, Thomas Joseph
This is a co-subject for the entry on Haslam, Anna Maria. View the original entry....
Haslett (Hazlett), Alexander
Haslett (Hazlett), Alexander (1883–1951), Orange leader and politician, was born 24 July 1883 in Derryvane, Glaslough, Co. Monaghan, youngest son among four sons and one daughter of James Haslett, farmer, and Mary Haslett (née Watt). Educated at Glaslough national school, while…...
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…...
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…...
Hobson, (John) Bulmer
Hobson, (John) Bulmer (1883–1969), nationalist, was born 14 January 1883 at 5 Magdala Street, Belfast, the son of Benjamin Hobson, a grocer who was from a quaker family established in Ireland since the time of Cromwell, and his wife, Mary Ann Bulmer, a Yorkshire radical. Family…...