Hello,
Two of the founders of United Irishmen newspaper, the Northern Star, were brothers Robert Simms (c1761-1843) and William Simms (c1763-1843). According to “Society and Manners in Early Nineteenth-Century Ireland” their father was a wealthy tanner. Both brothers were arrested during the 1790s, though William was less involved than Robert, who was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the rebel army in Antrim in December 1797.
The below is (I believe) the death notice for Robert, though I haven’t found any contemporary references to his radical past:
Northern Whig, 27 Jun 1843
At his house, in Franklin-place, on the 23d instant, Mr. Robert Simms, in the 83rd year of his age. For upwards of thirty years, he discharged, with zealous attention to its interests, the duties of Assistant-Secretary to the Royal Belfast Academical Institution.
And I’m about 95% sure this was his marriage in 1786:
Saunders’s Newsletter, 14th Aug 1786
MARRIED.] … Mr. Robert Simms, of Belfast, to Miss Gilliland, of Colin.
There are family graves in Clifton Street and Knockbreda which tell me Robert’s wife was called Mary, which fits with what I know of this Gilliland family. However, the evidence is all circumstantial, so I’m hoping someone else has researched this and knows some further evidence to back it up?
Also I wonder if anyone knows who the parents of Robert and William Simms were?
Thanks,
Gilby