Roger David Casement (1864 - 1916)

Born 1 Sep 1864 in Doyle's Cottage, Lawson Terrace, Sandycove, Dublin, Ireland

Ancestors

Died 3 Aug 1916 at age 51 in Pentonville Prison, London, England

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Biography

ROGER CASEMENT 1864 - 1916

Roger Casement was born 1 September1864 at Doyle’s Cottage, Lawson Terrace, Sandycove, Dublin, Ireland ^[1], son of Roger & Anne (Jephson) Casement. ^[2][3]

His mother died in 1873 in childbirth.

His father died in 1877,^[4]

Roger and his 2 brothers Charles and Tom and his sister Agnes, also called Nina became the wards of John Casement at Magherintemple House in County Antrim, Ireland

He was knighted 6th July 1911 by King George V for his services to the British consulate, having campaigned tirelessly to expose the cruelty inflicted on native workers in the Belgian Congo in 1904, and again in Brazil from 1911-1912, causing an international sensation with his reportage.

Roger Casement had become a member of the Gaelic League in 1904, writing nationalist articles under the pseudonym ‘Seán Bhean Bhocht’.

He retired from the British consular service in 1913, after which he joined the Irish Volunteers. Roger Casement was sent to Germany because of his experience to raise an Irish Brigade from Irish prisoners of war.

Returning from Germany in a German U-Boat, Roger Casement was captured in Kerry, Ireland on Good Friday 1916.

He was imprisoned in Pentonville Gaol, London, where he was tried on charges of High Treason. ^[5]

He was hanged for treason on 3 August 1916 at Pentonville Prison ,England ^[6],the only leader of the Rising to be executed outside of Ireland.^[7]

Research Notes

• According to an 1892 letter, Casement believed his mother was descended from the Jephson family of Mallow, County Cork. However, the Jephson family's historian provides no evidence of this. ^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Irish Civil Records:Birth of ROGER DAVID CASEMENT in 1864 Group Registration ID 7497529 SR District/Reg Area Rathdown Sex Male Mother's Birth Surname JEPHSON [ https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1864/03607/2330854.pdf ]
2. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/casement_01.shtml
3. ↑ http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Historical_Information/1916_Commemorations/The_Executed_Leaders_of_the_1916_Rising.html
4. ↑ Irish Civil Records:Death of ROGER CASEMENT in 1877 Group Registration ID 7697119 SR District/Reg Area Ballymena Deceased Age at Death 50[1]
5. ↑ The full transcript of the trial can be viewed onarchive.org. The book runs to 372 pages!
6. ↑ Free BMD UK :Deaths Sep 1916 (>99%) Casement Roger D 51 Islington 1b 248 Scan available - click to view [ https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=JbiOTNCeA1DLv7Zrh2smhQ&scan=1 ] Postem available
7. ↑ The Executed Leaders of the 1916 Rising - Roinn an Taoisigh [2]
8. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement

See also:

• BIRTH - Roger David Casement Rathdown - BIRTHS Reg Quarter and Year: 1864 Film Number: 101041 Volume Number: 12 Page Number: 940 Digital Folder Number: 4187281 Image Number: 00052
• Feis Na NGleann: A Century of Gaelic Culture in the Antrim Glens by Eamon Phoenix, Padraic O'Cleireachain [3]
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement
• Newly released letters by Roger Casement - now available online http://catalogue.nli.ie/Search/Results?filter[]=hierarchy_top_title:%22Roger+Casement+Papers+(2012+Release)+1882-1934%22&filter[]=digitised:%22Digitised%22
• NY Public Library :Roger Casement papers contain correspondence, articles by and about Casement, poems, diary extracts, photographs, and other materials regarding his work in American and Germany to gain support for the Irish Volunteers. Some of the materials are copies of original documents in the National Library of Ireland. https://archives.nypl.org/mss/1854#c1049783

Acknowledgements

• This biography was created by Sandy Culver through the import of Moresaga.ged on Apr 30, 2014. Thank you to Sandy.