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

George Benn (1801 - 1882):
Historian


George Benn was born in Tandragee, County Armagh. During his time as a pupil at Belfast Royal Academy and Royal Belfast Academical Institution he wrote a History of Belfast, published in 1823. This topic continued to preoccupy him, and in 1877 and 1880 he published two volumes of a new edition, which utilised William Pinkerton's research. He contributed articles to several journals. For a time he was a distiller in Downpatrick, County Down, and later a farmer and distiller on the family estate at Glenravel, Ballymena. He moved to Liverpool, but when iron ore was dicovered on the Glenravel estate, he returned home. He and his brother Edward were responsible for the establishment of three hospitals in Belfast: the Samaritan Hospital, the Hospital for Diseases of the Skin and the Benn Ulster Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. His collection of antiquities was presented to the Ulster Museum.


Born: 1 January 1801
Died: 8 January 1882
Kate Newmann