Samuel Neilson

Neilson was born in Ballyroney, County Down in the north of Ireland, the son of Presbyterian minister Alexander, and Agnes Neilson and was, therefore, a "son of the manse".^[1] 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 to his elder brother, John, in the business of woollen drapery in Belfast. At the age of twenty-four, he established his own business in the town.^[2]

Despite his commercial success, Neilson was drawn to politics and had early on been a member of the reformist Volunteer movement.^[3] In 1790 he acted as the election agent for Robert Stewart, the future Lord Castlereagh, when he successfully stood for the County Down constituency of the Irish Parliament.^[4]

In 1791, inspired by the French Revolution, he suggested to Henry Joy McCracken the idea of a political society of Irishmen of every religious persuasion. He helped establish the United Irishmen in Belfast, at first a quasi-Masonic society. He was also a founder of the Dublin United Irishmen, which functioned as a more open political club.^[1] His hardline support of the French Revolution led to him being dubbed "the Jacobin" by his friend and associate Wolfe Tone.^[5]

In 1792 he launched the newspaper of the United Irishmen, the Northern Star,^[2] 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 and 1798. 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.

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 United Irishmen, 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 United Irishmen were, however, severely infiltrated by informers, among them Thomas Reynolds,^[3] who kept Dublin Castle 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 the only figures of national importance still at liberty. Opposed by the Sheares brothers, who were working to subvert the conscript militia and to initiate a coup, they decided to press ahead as soon as possible and on the basis of the movement's own resources.^[6]

As the date, finally set for 23 May, 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 the 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 Dublin. 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.

Neilson was indicted for high treason and held in Kilmainham Jail with other "state prisoners" for the duration of the doomed rebellion outside.^[3] 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 United Irishmen 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, Scotland, and in 1802 he was deported to the Netherlands. 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 yellow fever struck the city in August 1803. He took ill while travelling up the Hudson River and landed at Poughkeepsie on Sunday, August 28. He died the next morning.^[3]

• 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.