General Notes

"The United Irish Rising in the Garrison at St. John's, Newfoundland, April 1800 by John FitzGerald, John Mannion, and Paul O'Neill
In Ireland in 1798 an oath-bound secret society known as the United Irishmen, a union of sworn Catholics, Protestants and Dissenters, came out in open rebellion against British rule. Among the leaders were Theobald Wolfe Tone, and Lord Edward FitzGerald, who himself was married to a Newfoundland woman, Pamela Simms of Fogo. The members of the Society of United Irishmen were strongly influenced by the ideals of the American and French Revolutions. Poorly trained and ill-armed men marched out to meet the British army, only to see their hopes ultimately crushed by the might of a superior force. Echoes of the Rising of '98 have reverberated down through 200 years of Irish history. The rising is now commemorated by Irish historians as the beginning of events that finally led to the independence of Ireland.

HST: 1780 joined the British Army
c.1781 Fought in North Carolina 'against the cause of Liberty'
1783 put on half pay following the end of the American wars
1788 went to Nova Scotia in Canada
1790 returned to England
1792 Established himself in Ireland
1792 visited Paris, staying with Thomas Paine; had affair with Sheridan's wife about that time (she died giving birth)
1798 supported the French Revolution
1798 wounded in the shoulder, resisting arrest
1798 d.o.w. in prison. With him, Capt Ryan was Killed, and Major Swan was Mortally wounded 'sic - he lived almost another forty years'
Sources:
- person, family 2: Renaud de Paysac
- family 1: E. Polti (d'après Stellia Tillyard "Quatre aristocrates anglaises", au Seuil)