Samuel Neilson (17 September 1761 – 29 August 1803) was an Irish businessman, journalist and politician. He was a founding member of the Society of United Irishmen and the founder of its newspaper, the ''Northern Star''. Along with many other

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

s of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

he was radicalised by the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. In 1797 he was arrested and the ''Northern Star'' suppressed by the Irish authorities. In prison during 1798, he took no part in the failed rebellion of that year. Later he went into exile in the United States, where he died of

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

Background

Neilson was born in Ballyroney, County Down in the north of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the son of

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister Alexander, and Agnes Neilson and was therefore a " son of the manse".Dickson p.216 He was educated locally, but like many of his contemporaries was influenced by English Whig and Scottish Enlightenment thinking. Neilson was the second son in a family of eight sons and five daughters. At sixteen years of age, Neilson was

apprenticed Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

to his elder brother, John, in the business of woollen drapery in

. At the age of twenty four he established his own business in the town.

United Irishman

Despite his commercial success, Neilson was drawn to politics and had early on been a member of the reformist

Volunteer movement The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

.Mark, Joshua J., "‘A planet of light and heat’: Samuel Neilson and the Northern Star", ''History Ireland'', Issue 6 (November/December 2015), Vol. 23
/ref> In 1790 he acted as the

election agent An election agent in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some other similar political systems such as elections in India, is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is ...

for Robert Stewart, the future Lord Castlereagh, when he successfully stood for the Down constituency of the Irish Parliament. In 1791, inspired by the

, he suggested to

Henry Joy McCracken Henry Joy McCracken (31 August 1767 – 17 July 1798) was an Irish republican, a leading member of the Society of the United Irishmen and a commander of their forces in the field in the Rebellion of 1798. In pursuit of an independent and democra ...

the idea of a political society of Irishmen of every religious persuasion. He helped establish the

United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional refor ...

in Belfast, at first a quasi-

Masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

society. He was also a founder of the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

United Irishmen, which functioned as a more open political club. His hardline support of the French Revolution led to him being dubbed "the Jacobin" by his friend and associate

Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone ( ga, Bhulbh Teón; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican soci ...

.Elliott p.132 In 1792 he launched the newspaper of the United Irishmen, the ''Northern Star'', which effectively bankrupted him. As its editor he was a high-profile target for the authorities and was prosecuted for libel several times, being twice imprisoned between 1796-98. When war broke out between Britain and France in 1793 the United Irishmen became involved in military efforts to help liberate Ireland from the control of Britain while Britain was distracted due to the war with France. With the assistance of France the United Irishmen began to wage a war against Britain to release Ireland from the control of Britain. Samuel Neilson was a driving force on the ground in Ireland, helping organise groups of Irishmen as soldiers in the battle of gaining independence from Britain.

Plans for rebellion

Along with several other "state prisoners" (persons imprisoned indefinitely without charge) Neilson was released in February 1798 following several petitions by influential friends, on grounds of bad health. Upon release he immediately involved himself in the

, aligning with the radicals among the leadership who were pressing for immediate rebellion and opposed to the moderates who wished to wait for French assistance before acting. The

were, however, severely infiltrated by informers, among them Thomas Reynolds, who kept

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin. Until 1922 it was the s ...

abreast of their plans and discussions. In March 1798, information of a meeting of the United Irish executive at the house of Oliver Bond led to the arrest of most of the leadership, leaving Neilson and

Lord Edward Fitzgerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...

the only figures of national importance still at liberty. Opposed by the Sheares brothers, who were working to subvert the conscript miiltia and to initiate a coup, they decided to press ahead as soon as possible and on the basis of the movement's own resources.Cullen, Louis. (1993), "The internal politics of the United Irishmen", in D. Dickson, D. Keogh and K. Whelan eds., ''The United Irishmen: Republicanism, Radicalism and Rebellion,'' Dublin: Lilliput Press, , (pp. 176-196) pp.195-196.

Arrests

As the date, finally set for May 23., loomed closer, the authorities went into overdrive to sweep up the rump leadership, and on 18 May Lord Edward was betrayed in his hiding place and critically wounded while resisting capture. Neilson, now with responsibility for finalising plans for the looming rebellion, decided that Fitzgerald was too valuable to do without and decided to try and rescue him from Newgate Prison in

. Wary of confiding his plans too early for fear of betrayal, Neilson went on a reconnaissance of the prison but was spotted by one of his former jailers, and after a fierce struggle, he was overpowered and dragged into the prison.

Imprisonment and exile

Neilson was indicted for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and held in Kilmainham Jail with other "state prisoners" for the duration of the doomed rebellion outside. After the execution of John and Henry Sheares, Neilson and the remaining prisoners agreed to provide the authorities with details of the organisation of the

and plans for the rebellion in exchange for a sentence of exile. Following the suppression of the rebellion, he was transferred to Fort George in

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in popula ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and in 1802 he was deported to

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. From there he made his way to America, arriving in December 1802. Neilson was preparing to revive the ''Northern Star'' and bring his family over from Ireland when an outbreak of

struck the city in August 1803. He took ill while traveling up the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

and landed at

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie ...

on Sunday, August 28. He died the next morning.

References

Bibliography

* Dickson, David. ''The First Irish Cities: An Eighteenth-Century Transformation''. Yale University Press, 2021. * Durey, Michael. ''Transatlantic Radicals and the Early American Republic''. University Press of Kansas, 1997. * Elliott, Marianne. ''Wolfe Tone: Prophet of Irish Independence''. Yale University Press, 1989. * Smyth, Jim. ''The Men of No Property''. Springer, 1998. {{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Samuel 1761 births 1803 deaths 18th-century Irish businesspeople 19th-century Irish businesspeople Burials at Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery Irish exiles Irish newspaper founders Irish Presbyterians People from County Down Protestant Irish nationalists Ulster Scots people United Irishmen Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)