John Templeton (botanist)
John Templeton (1766–1825) was a pioneering Irish naturalist, sometimes referred to as the "Father of Irish Botany". He was a leading figure in Belfast's late eighteenth-century enlightenment, initially supported the United Irishmen, and figured prominently in the town's scientific and literary societies.
Watercolour of Orobanche rubra by John Templeton
Cranmore House 1886
Partial reconstruction of the Cranmore garden
Plants in the tropical house in the Botanic Gardens, Belfast
Mary Ann McCracken was a social activist and campaigner in Belfast, Ireland, whose extensive correspondence is cited as an important chronicle of her times. Born to a prominent liberal Presbyterian family, she combined entrepreneurship in Belfast's growing textile industry with support for the democratic programme of the United Irishmen; advocacy for women; the organising of relief and education for the poor; and, in a town that was heavily engaged in trans-Atlantic trade, a lifelong commitment to the abolition of slavery. On International Women's Day 2024, a statue of Mary Ann McCracken was unveiled in the grounds of Belfast City Hall.
McCracken (l) and her niece Maria, miniature, 1801
Wollstonecraft by John Opie c 1797
Mary Ann McCracken is believed to have posed as the tea-leaf reader in the "Cup-tossing" by Belfast painter Nicholas Crowley, 1842.
McCracken distributing anti-slavery leaflets. Bronze by Ralph Sander, Belfast City Hall, March 2024