Samuel MacCurdy Greer facts for kids

Samuel MacCurdy Greer (1810–1880) was an Irish politician. He was known for supporting the rights of farmers and the Presbyterian people in Ulster. He helped start two important groups: the Ulster Tenant Right Association and the all-Ireland Tenant Right League. In 1857, he was elected to the UK Parliament in Westminster. He represented County Londonderry and promised to fight for tenant rights.

Early Life and Education

Samuel MacCurdy Greer was born in 1810 at Springvale, near Castlerock, in County Londonderry. His father, Rev. Thomas Greer, was a Presbyterian minister. His mother was Elizabeth Caldwell. Samuel went to the Belfast Academy and then to Glasgow University. In 1833, he became a lawyer in Ireland.

Fighting for Tenant Rights

Samuel Greer became active in public life after the Great Irish Famine. This famine, along with lower farm prices, made life very hard for tenant farmers. They often lived in poverty and worried about losing their land.

In 1847, Greer helped create the Ulster Tenant Right Association. He worked with James MacKnight, a newspaper editor, and William Sharman Crawford, a fair landlord. This group wanted to lower rents for farmers. They also wanted to make the "Ulster tenant right" a real law. This was a custom that allowed tenants to sell their interest in the land they had improved.

Greer became well-known when Downhill Castle burned down. The owner, Sir Harvey Bruce, wanted local people to pay for rebuilding it. Greer successfully fought this in court, stopping the cost from being put on taxpayers. He was then asked to speak at public events and join a group that went to London to ask for rent controls.

In 1850, Greer joined Charles Gavan Duffy to form the all-Ireland Tenant Right League. This group brought together tenant rights supporters from Ulster and other parts of Ireland.

Becoming a Politician

In the 1852 election for Westminster, Greer ran on a platform of tenant rights. However, the plan to unite supporters from the North and South of Ireland did not work well. There was strong opposition, sometimes violent, from the Orange Order. Only one Member of Parliament (MP) from Ulster, William Kirk, was elected with the League's support.

Greer supported keeping Ireland part of Great Britain. However, he did not want to join a group that only included Protestants. Many members of the Anglican Church (the official church at the time) wanted to keep their special rights. They also wanted landlords to keep their power. The costs of the Established Church were passed to tenants through higher rents.

In 1857, Greer ran for election again in County Londonderry. This time, he was supported by the Presbyterian Representation Society. This group wanted to make sure Presbyterians had a voice in Parliament and in public jobs.

Greer won one of the two seats for the county in the general election that year. He ran as a Radical politician. Even some members of the Orange Order supported him because he fought for tenant rights. He beat Sir Harvey Bruce, the Tory landlord, by many votes.

Two years later, in 1859, Greer ran for the Liberal Party. This party was a mix of Radicals, Whigs, and some Tories. But his support dropped, and the Conservatives won both seats. After this loss, many Presbyterians stopped being involved in politics.

In 1860, Greer tried to win a seat for Derry City in a special election. He lost to William McCormick, a Conservative who had many Catholic workers. McCormick managed to get some Catholic votes, which split Greer's support.

Even though he didn't win more elections as a Liberal, Greer helped the party in Ulster. The Liberal Party helped pass the first Irish Land Acts in 1870. This law made the "Custom of Ulster" a legal right. This custom stopped landlords from unfairly raising rents on improvements made by tenants. In 1872, the government also introduced the secret ballot, which meant landlords and employers could not scare people into voting a certain way.

In 1870, Greer became the recorder (a type of judge) for Londonderry. He held this job until 1878. Then, he became a county court judge for Cavan and Leitrim. Samuel MacCurdy Greer passed away in 1880.