Laurence H[ynes] Halloran (1765-1831)

Life
b. 29 Dec. 1765; Co. Meath, and christened as Catholic; orphaned young; raised by an uncle, Judge William Gregory and sent to Christ's Hospital School; joined navy, 1781; sentenced to two years in gaol for stabbing and killing a fellow midshipman, 1783; issued  Odes, Poems and Translations (1790) and Poems on Various Occasions (1791); taught at Alphington Academy, nr. Exeter, and taught Robert Gifford, 1st Baron Gifford there; m. Mary ("Polly") Boutcher, a Catholic ten years older than him, with whom six children; purported to have been ord. by Thomas O'Beirne, Bishop of Ossory, 1790 [converted to Protestantism, 1792]; became a navy chaplain, 1805; served as naval chaplain Earl of Northesk on board Britannia at Trafalgar, 1805; worked as Anglican priest in England, and later as chaplain to the British forces and school-teacher at Cape of Good Hope, 1807; interfered in duel between two officers, and banished to Simon’s Town;

resigned chaplaincy; issued Cap-abilities or South African Characteristics, a satire aspersing officers of the colony for which he was banished - the marriages over which he officiated being subsequently legalised; returned to England, 1811; worked as clergyman in different parishes under various aliases; transported to Australia for seven years for forging ten-penny frank [stamp], Nov. 1818; reached Sydney, June 1819; received ticket of leave from Governor Lachlan Macquarie; estab. school for Classical, Mathematical and Commercial Education [aka Sydney Grammar School]; supported in face of opposition from London by Lachlan Macquarie and Thomas Brisbane, gaining a high reputation as a teacher; applied ofr grant of land to establish a free grammar school in Sydney, Feb. 1827;

estab. a newspaper, the Gleaner (5 April 1827-29 Sept. 1827), ending with a successful action against him; appt. coroner by Governor Darling, who had opposed his free school, 1828; clashed with Archdeacon Scott over inclusion of Anglican Service in preface to his lectures; estab. a Memorial Office for statements relating to grievances to be put before the government; d. Sydney, 7 March 1831; he had a family of twelve children in Australia with his sister's illegitimate daughter Anna (12 years younger than him) posing as his wife 16-year old Elizabeth Forrester Turnbull at her death, 1823, with whom four more children; a son Henry Halloran became CMG and was known as a literary figure in Australia. DIW PI ODNB OCIL.

[ top ]

Works
A Collection of Odes, Poems and Trans. (Exeter 1789); Poems on Several Occasions (2nd edn. 1791); The Female Volunteer; or, The Dawning of Peace (London 1801); Lachrymae Hibernicae, or the Genius of Erin’s Complaint (1805), addressed to Lord Hardwicke; The Battle of Trafalgar: A Fugitive Poem with Other Pieces (Lon 1806) Cap-abilities, or South African Characteristics (1811).

COPAC lists:
Poetry
  • Poems on various occasions. Exeter, 1791.
  • An ode ... occasioned by the proposed visit of their majesties to the city of Exeter. (Exeter 1789)
  • On the Observance of the Sabbath: a sermon ... To which is added, a form of morning and evening prayer for the use of schools. Wisbech: J. White 1800
  • A sermon [on 2 Chron. xx. 13] for the 19th day of December, 1787, being the day appointed for a General Thanksgiving ... for the ... victories obtained ... in three ... naval engagements, etc. London, [1797?]
  • The battle of Trafalgar: a poem; to which is added, a selection of fugitive pieces ; chiefly written at sea / by Laurence Halloran, D.D., late chaplain of the Britannia, and secretary to Rear Admiral The Earl of Northesk, K.B. (London: Printed for the author, by Joyce Gold, and sold by B. White, R. Faulder, J. Asperne, and W.N. Gardner 1806), and Do. Digital Edition. [S.l.]: Kessinger [ca.2010]; available at Google Books. [Held at National Maritime Museum]
  • Lachrymae hibernicae, or The genius of Erin's complaint: a ballad, with a prefatory address to the Right Honorable the Earl of Hardwicke, the reported viceroy elect of Ireland. And a pair of epigrams. / By Laurence Halloran, D.D. ... London: Printed by W. Hughes, Smithfield, for S. Jordan, no.19, Ludgate-hill, opposite the Old Bailey, and no.166, Fleet street MDCCCI); [another edn.?] (London: [s.n.] 1801) [copy in TCD Lib.]
  • The female volunteer; or, The dawning of peace, a drama, by Philo-nauticus. (London: 1801).
Sermons
  • A sermon for the 19th day of December, 1797: being the day appointed for a general thanksgiving ... for the signal victories obtained by His Majesty's arms, in three great naval engagements, ... By the Rev. L. H. Halloran, ... (London: printed by Sampson Low [1797?]
  • A sermon, for the general fast, 8th of March, 1797: By the Reverend L. H. Halloran. / [By Halloran, Laurence Hynes 1766-1831.] Exeter: printed by McKenzie and Son [1797]
  • A funeral sermon delivered at the internment of an exemplary parish priest: to which is added An elegy on the death of the Right Honorable Lord Viscount Andover, respectfully inscribed to T.W. Coke, Esq. M.P. / by Laurence Halloran. Wisbech: Printed and sold by John White [1800?] [unique copy in Cambridge University, Special collections]
  • A sermon occasioned by the circumstances of the late glorious and decisive victory, obtained by the British fleet, under the command of Lord Viscount Nelson ... off Trafalgar on Monday, 21st October, 1805, delivered on board His Majesty's ship Britannia. ( London: [J] Gold 1806)
  • A sermon for the 19th day of December, 1797: being the day appointed for a general thanksgiving ... for the signal victories obtained by His Majesty's arms, in three great naval engagements, ... By the Rev. L. H. Halloran, ... London: printed by Sampson Low [1797?] [York UL microfilm]
Also listed
  • Alfred Laurence Halloran, Wae Yàng Jin. Eight months' journal kept on board one of Her Majesty's sloops of war during visits to Loochoo, Japan, and Pootoo. (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts 1856). [Copy held in Register of Preservation Surrogates / Microform]
  • Port Monganui in Lauriston Bay. ... By A. H. Halloran, Master of H.M.S. Osprey, 1845. [Admiralty Chart] (London 1847).
  • Dr. Halloran-pioneer convict schoolmaster in New South Wales: a study of his background. (Sydney: Australasian Medical Publishing Co 1970) [copy in City of London, Guildhall Library]

[ top ]

References
D. J. O’Donoghue, Poets of Ireland (Dublin: Hodges Figgis 1912), calls him Rev. Laurence H. Hallaran [sic on title-page of first work] and lists A Collection of Odes, Poems and Trans. (Exeter 1789), Poems on Several Occasions (repr. 1791); The Female Volunteer, or The Dawning of Peace (Lon. 1801); Lachrymae Hibernicae, or the Genius of Erin’s Complaint, a ballad add. to Lord Hardwicke, Viceroy ... (1805), The Battle of Trafalgar (1806), a fugitive poem with other pieces (Lon 1806) Cap-abilities, or South African Characteristics (1811) [sic]; ended in trouble; Capetown and Australia.

[ There is an entry by Percival Serle in the Dictionary of Australian Biography and an extremely able entry in Wikipedia online - apparently by R. V. Comerford - to which this page is much indebted. ]

[ top ]