Sam Hanna Bell Samuel Beckett John Hewitt Bernard (Barney) Hughes James Joseph Magennis VC Frances Elizabeth Clarke Stewart Parker William Carleton Rosamond Praegar

Sir David Harrel (1841 - 1939):
Police Commissioner; Resident Magistrate


The Risght Honourable Sir David Harrel was born at Mountpleasant, County Down. He originally intended to join the Royal Navy as a midshipman and sat the entrance exam but was over age; he then entered the Merchant Navy. From 1859 he served in the Royal Irish Constabulary, in 1879 was appointed a Resident Magistrate in County Mayo. In 1883 he was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. He was Under-Secretary for Ireland from 1893 to 1902. He received a number of honours including Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) 1895; Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO), 1900, and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE). He was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland, entitling him to the style "The Right Honourable". In the 1920 New Year Honours, he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB), having served as chairman of the Interim Court of Arbitration on industrial questions from 1918 to 1919. His son William Vesey served as Assistant Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police from 1902 to 1914.


Born: 1841
Died: 1939
Kate Newmann
Acknowledgements:

Additional research Richard Froggatt 08/2015