Henry Flood was an Irish statesman and orator. He was born in 1732 near Dublin and died in 1791. He was a friend of Grattan, whom afterwards he opposed, and entered the Irish Parliament as MP for Kilkenny in 1759, a seat he exchanged for Callan in the following year. He was privy-councillor for Great Britain as well as for Ireland in 1775, vice-treasurer for Ireland from 1775 to 1781. In 1783 he had a personal dispute in the house with Grattan, when a remarkable display of the power of invective was made on both sides. He afterwards became a member of the British parliament. His speeches and some poetical pieces have been published. Research Henry Flood
James Stephens was an Irish patriot. He was born in 1825 at Kilkenny and died in 1901. He was involved in the disturbances of 1848 opposing English occupation of Ireland and took refuge in Paris. In 1853 with John O'Mahoney he founded the Irish Republican Brotherhood, also known as the Fenian Society. In 1865 he was instrumental in organising the failed uprising in Ireland and was imprisoned in Dublincastle from which he escaped and fled to America, later retiring to France before returning to Ireland. Research James Stephens
Jonathan Swift was an Irish writer. He was born in 1667 in Dublin and died in 1745. The son of a clergyman, he was educated at KilkennyGrammar School and Dublin University. Secretary to Sir William Temple from 1689 until 1692 he went on to Oxford in 1692 and took his MA degree. In 1695 he was ordained as a priest and worked for a while at Kilroot, Belfast before returning to Moor Park. He wrote a number of biting satires, including his most famous work Gulliver's Travels which was an attack on the English society of the time. Research Jonathan Swift
Joseph Hume was a Scottish politician and economist. He was born in 1777 at Montrose and died in 1855. After studying medicine at Edinburgh he was appointed marine assistant-surgeon in the service of the East India Company. Having qualified himself by a diligent study of the native languages he obtained several lucrative posts connected with the commissariat and the pay-office, and in 1808, when only 31 years old, he was able to return to Europe with a considerable fortune.
After making a tour in Southern Europe and Egypt in 1812 he became Tory member of Parliament for the 'rotten borough' of Weymouth; but losing his seat in 1813 began to take an active part in regard to Lancasterian schools, savings'-banks, and other measures of social reform. In 1818 he was again returned to parliament as member for the Aberdeen district of burghs. It was now that he began his career as an active advocate of reforms, such as the emancipation of the Catholics, the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, economy in public expenditure, etc.
He had no power as an orator, his strength lying in his handling of figures and the tenacity and energy with which he carried on his crusade against corruption. After representing Middlesex and Kilkenny county he was returned by the Montrose burghs in 1842, which he continued to represent until his death in 1855. Research Joseph Hume
Lady Eleanor Butler was an Irish recluse and lesbian. She was born in 1738 and died in 1821. In 1777 she met Sarah Ponsby in Kilkenny, fell in love and the two moved to Plas Newydd in Wales where they lived together in a farmhouse, never sleeping apart or out of it until their deaths fifty years later. Research Lady Eleanor Butler
Oliver Goldsmith was an Anglo-Irish journalist, essayist, novelist, dramatist and poet. He was born in 1728 at Pallas, county LongfordIreland and died in 1774. Among his more famous works are 'The Vicar of Wakefield' and ' The Deserted Village'. His father, a clergyman of the Established Church, held the living of Kilkenny West. In 1745 he was entered as a sizar at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1749, shortly after his father's death, he left Dublin with the degree of Bachelor, and was advised by an uncle, who had already borne a large part of the expenses of his education, to prepare for holy orders. Rejected for holy orders he became tutor in a family, but soon lost his situation on account of a dispute with the master of the house over a game at cards.
The same uncle who had given him assistance before now gave him 50 pounds to go to Dublin to study law, but he had scarcely arrived at the city when he lost the whole sum in gambling. In spite of his repeated imprudences he was once more succoured by his uncle, who supplied him with means to go to Edinburgh to study medicine. Here he remained eighteen months, during which he acquired some slight knowledge of chemistry and natural history. At the end of this period he removed to Leyden, again at the expense of his uncle; and afterwards wandered over a large part of France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. It was probably at Padua that he took a medical degree, as he remained there six months; but his uncle dying while he was in Italy he wag obliged to travel on foot to England, and reached London in 1756 with a few pence in his pocket. After some years of hard experience as a chemist's assistant, medical practitioner, proof-reader, and school usher, he drifted into literature. He conducted a department in the Monthly Review, wrote essays in the Public Ledger (afterwards published under the title of the Citizen of the World), and a weekly pamphlet, entitled the Bee. In 1761 he was introduced to Dr. Johnson.
In 1764 he appeared as a poet by the publication of his Traveller. In 1766 appeared his Vicar of Wakefield, which at once secured merited applause. In 1768 his comedy of the Good-natured Man was acted at Covent-Gardenwith but indifferent success. His poetical fame was greatly enhanced by the publication of his The Deserted Village in 1770. In 1773 he produced his comedy of She Stoops to Conquer, which was completely successful. He also compiled histories of England, Greece, and Rome; and a History of the Earth and Animated Nature, a pleasing work, but one of no scientific value. His last days were embittered by the pressure of debt, incurred partly by his improvidence and partly by his generosity. The manners of Oliver Goldsmith were eccentric, even to absurdity. Research Oliver Goldsmith
William Congreve was an English playwright. He was born in 1670 at Leeds and died in 1729. He was educated at Kilkenny, and at Trinity College, Dublin, from which he entered the Middle Temple, London. A novel entitled the Incognita, under the pseudonym of Cleophil, was followed, at the age of twenty-one, by his comedy of the Old Bachelor, the success of which procured for him the patronage of LordHalifax, who made him a commissioner for licensing hackney-coaches; soon after gave him a place in the pipe office; and finally conferred on him a very lucrative place in the customs. He afterwards received an additional sinecure in the appointment of secretary to the island of Jamaica.
His next play, The Double Dealer, was less successful; his third comedy, Love for Love, and his tragedy, The Mourning Bride (1697), were both popular; but after the cold reception of his Way of the World, in 1700, he ceased altogether to write for the stage. He, however, continued to write occasional verses on public subjects; and in 1710 published a collection of his plays and poems, which he dedicated to his early patron, LordHalifax, to whose person and party he remained attached in all fortunes.
His plays belong to the artificial school of comedy, which aimed rather at the production of a sustained flow of wit than at the precise delineation of character.
Sir William Congreve was an English soldier and inventor. He was born in 1772 and died in 1828. He entered the army, from which he retired in 1816 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel of artillery and entered the House of Commons. He invented the Congreve rocket about 1804. It was first used in active service in the attack on Boulogne, 1806, and on Copenhagen, 1807. He took out patents also for the manufacture of gunpowder and of banknote paper, and wrote treatises on the mounting of naval ordnance and on the hydropneumatic lock. Research William Congreve
Aldsworth (formerly known as Ealdeswyrthe during the early 11th century and recorded in the Domesday Book as Aldeswrde) is a vilage in Gloucestershire, England. Aldsworth is famous for its church's Norman carvings and for Kilkenny Farm, where Robert Garne ensured the survival of the famous Cotswoldsheep.
Aldsworth is a village in West Sussex, England. Research Aldsworth
Abbreviations
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