William Richard O'Byrne (1823 – 7 July 1896) was an Irish biographer and politician, author of the ''
A Naval Biographical Dictionary'' (1849).
Life
He was elder son of Robert O'Byrne and his wife Martha Trougher, daughter of Joseph Clark. He was a young man when he conceived of publishing a record of the service of every living
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
officer of the executive branch. The work proved an unrewarding struggle.
Sir Francis Thornhill Baring appointed him librarian at the Admiralty; but his successor,
Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland
Admiral Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland, (15 December 1792 – 12 February 1865), styled Lord Algernon Percy from birth until 1816 and known as The Lord Prudhoe between 1816 and 1847, was a British naval commander, explorer and Cons ...
, did not confirm the position.
Recognition for O'Byrne's work came from the
Royal United Service Institution
The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank. ...
, and in 1857 he was specially elected a member of the
Athenæum Club. On the death of his cousin Georgiana O'Byrne, he succeeded to the
Cabinteely
Cabinteely () is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland.
Geography
Cabinteely lies around the crossroads of Johnstown Road / Brennanstown Road and the Old Bray Road, and on either side of ...
estate,
County Wicklow. In 1872, he was
High Sheriff of Wicklow
The High Sheriff of Wicklow was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Wicklow, Ireland from Wicklow's formation in 1606 until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Wicklow County S ...
, and was
M.P. for the county from 1874 to 1880. But the property to which he had succeeded was heavily mortgaged; the mortgagees foreclosed, and O'Byrne was left with little. In 1884, he was awarded £100 from the
royal bounty. The Admiralty refused him a post. During his last years O'Byrne's health broke down, and he was mainly dependent on his daughter.
In the summer of 1896 he was granted £125 from the royal bounty. He died in
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
on 7 July 1896. His wife, by whom he had one daughter, predeceased him.
Works
As a young man, O'Byrne conceived the idea of a ''Biographica Navalis'' (Naval Biographical Dictionary). It took six years for him to publish the first parts in 1845 and the full set of 1,400 pages was published by 1849. The Admiralty records were disorganised; O'Byrne corresponded with the subjects of his memoirs, supplementing their statements with the official records. He did not achieve much financial success from his work, though the
Royal United Service Institute rewarded him with a piece of plate and a gift of £400. While he aimed for meticulous accuracy, the biographical entries were often not particularly objectively written, as he invited serving officers to submit their own autobiographical conclusions. The accounts of their lives thus often make them appear as paragons of naval virtues.
In 1859, he began a second edition of the Dictionary, containing memoirs of officers of the civil branches of the service. It was never finished and he reached no further than the letter G.
References
;Attribution
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:OByrne, William Richard
1823 births
1896 deaths
Irish biographers
Irish male non-fiction writers
Irish male writers
Male biographers
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Wicklow constituencies (1801–1922)
High Sheriffs of Wicklow
UK MPs 1874–1880
Home Rule League MPs