William Dargan: why did he refuse to accept a British knighthood & baronetcy?

Seanchai

Dargan (1799-1867) refused both a British knighthood from that country's Viceroy in Dublin and, in 1853 when Britain's Queen Victoria visited Dargan at his home in Dublin, he refused to accept a baronetcy from her.

Does anybody know why?

On TG4's excellent Boithre Iarainn tonight they were discussing him. All I can find on this issue is this:

Brian Mac Aongusa: "The Queen’s diary of the visit records she wished to bestow on Dargan a baronetcy in recognition of his considerable achievements, but he politely declined the honour without any reason being recorded. However, it is said that William Dargan always maintained he worked for the development of his own country which he believed was being largely ignored by the British establishment."

thecommietommy

"William Dargan always maintained he worked for the development of his own country which he believed was being largely ignored by the British establishment" Maybe that's the reason why ?

Wild Bill

Maybe he thought accepting awards from an Imperial State guilty of the cultural and physical genocide of his nation was a daft idea? :cool:

Fratton Fred

Wild Bill wrote: »

Maybe he thought accepting awards from an Imperial State guilty of the cultural and physical genocide of his nation was a daft idea? :cool:

Lol, maybe he believed that the royal family were lizards intent on taking over the planet.

MarchDub

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Lol, maybe he believed that the royal family were lizards intent on taking over the planet.

Well just enough of it so that the sun never set on it...

jonniebgood1

I don't think it had anything to do with patriotism as per some of the posts. If there was a source to suggest this it should be posted.

Seanchai wrote: »

Dargan (1799-1867) refused both a British knighthood from that country's Viceroy in Dublin and, in 1853 when Britain's Queen Victoria visited Dargan at his home in Dublin, he refused to accept a baronetcy from her.

Does anybody know why?

Dargan was a talented engineer and was involved in much of the development of Irish Railways including the first one in Ireland http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/William_Dargan

It was his promotion of Irish Industry that led him to royal attention. He organised an industry fair to promote Irish industry, this was the Dublin Industrial Exhibition and was held at the RDS. It was based on his contribution to Irish Industry that the knighthood was offered to Dargan in person by the Queen, he had previously refused honours from the Irish Viceroy.

If the magnanimity of Mr. Dargan was remarkable in refusing at the hands of the Irish viccroy the honour of a. knighthood, how much greater must it have been in declining n still higher dignity when proffered personally by the English monarch herself i But the favour of his sovereign raised him to a far more exalted eminence than his acceptance of any mere titular appellation

_ could have done. Her Majesty, with a truly royal graciousness worthy of all panegyric, on the occasion of her visit to Dublin last year, proceeded, accompanied by the Prince Consort, to the private residence of Mr. Dargan, at a short distance from the Irish metropolis, and expressed to hin'r- and his amiable wife her se of the admiration with whichshe had been filled by a confintion of the superb fabric his truly patriotic munificence had erected on the lawn of Leinster House. Not only did her Majesty do this but she took care to manifest her feelings towards him in the most conspicuous manner possible within the area of the beautiful building he had created, and repeated inspections of whose varied and extraordinary contents she made in company with him. The success of the Exhibition was great, though it resulted in a loss of not less than £20,000 to the projec'wr~u loss which he estimated as light indeed compared to the enduring good it was calculated to confer, and which it has conferred, on his country. *(taken from page 170 of the illustrated magazine of art, published in 1854)

The reason for this refusal seems to have been a more personal problem. The royals visited Dargans home and were openly welcomed. There was an understanding that the Queen would purchase some Irish produce and Dargan would then accept the knighthood. For varying reasons the royal purchase which would have promoted Irish goods did not take place and subsequently William Dargan did not recieve his honour. This explanation is taken from that in the Irish arts review 2001, page 76-79:

They both wanted something from
each other. In short, the Queen wanted
Dargan to accept her offer of knight
hood'7 and Dargan wanted the Queen
to buy the 'ShakespearSee rvice'. IfH er Majesty agreed to pur
chase the service,I rishm aterialsa nd native talentw ould have
been granteda n exceptional level of recognitionW. as there a
quid pro quo agreement between the Queen and Dargan? This
will neverb e known.R esultingf romt heirm eeting, however, the
Queen and Prince Albert made an early visit to the Kerr and
Binns displays tando n the followingd ay.T he royalc ouple spent
an unusually long time examining the various pieces from the
'ShakespearSee rvice'W. H Kerr produceda sampleo f feldspar
in the natural state and explained that it had been found on
Killiney Hill and that it was from this material that the
service had been manufactured at their
establishment in Worcester.'8 He also
drew their attention to the 'Shakespeare
Jug' which had been given to them on
loan. It had been presented to William They both wanted something from
each other. In short, the Queen wanted
Dargan to accept her offer of knight
hood'7 and Dargan wanted the Queen
to buy the 'ShakespearSee rvice'. IfH er Majesty agreed to pur
chase the service,I rishm aterialsa nd native talentw ould have
been granteda n exceptional level of recognitionW. as there a
quid pro quo agreement between the Queen and Dargan? This
will neverb e known.R esultingf romt heirm eeting, however, the
Queen and Prince Albert made an early visit to the Kerr and
Binns displays tando n the followingd ay.T he royalc ouple spent
an unusually long time examining the various pieces from the
'ShakespearSee rvice'W. H Kerr produceda sampleo f feldspar
in the natural state and explained that it had been found on
Killiney Hill and that it was from this material that the
service had been manufactured at their
establishment in Worcester.'8 He also
drew their attention to the 'Shakespeare
Jug' which had been given to them on
loan. It had been presented to William They both wanted something from
each other. In short, the Queen wanted
Dargan to accept her offer of knight
hood'7 and Dargan wanted the Queen
to buy the 'ShakespearSee rvice'. IfH er Majesty agreed to pur
chase the service,I rishm aterialsa nd native talentw ould have
been granteda n exceptional level of recognitionW. as there a
quid pro quo agreement between the Queen and Dargan? This
will neverb e known.R esultingf romt heirm eeting, however, the
Queen and Prince Albert made an early visit to the Kerr and
Binns displays tando n the followingd ay.T he royalc ouple spent
an unusually long time examining the various pieces from the
'ShakespearSee rvice'W. H Kerr produceda sampleo f feldspar
in the natural state and explained that it had been found on
Killiney Hill and that it was from this material that the
service had been manufactured at their
establishment in Worcester.'8 He also
drew their attention to the 'Shakespeare
Jug' which had been given to them on
loan. It had been presented to William Shakespeare when he was forty years old. Queen Victoria,
impressewd ith them agnificent display,r equesteds ome speci
men pieces from the service to be sent to her private apartments
for her further inspection.
The purchase of the service by the Queen would have had a
positive effect for all concerned. It would have ensured the suc
cessful continuity of the 'Royal Porcelain Works'. William
Dargan's vision for the development of Irish resources and
recognitiono f Irisht alent,l eadingt o gainfule mploymentw, ould
also have been realised. The Queen's offer of knighthood would
have been accepted by Dargan to the delight of the public at
large but none of this was to come to pass.
In 1841, Prince Albert was appointed head of a commission to
encourage the fine arts in Great Britain. His finest achievement
was the instigation of the Great Exhibition in 1851. It achieved its
goals in upholding the honour of Great Britain, augmenting the
fame of British manufacturers, and ensuring supremacy in every
branch of industrial art. The entire island of Ireland was part of the
United Kingdom at that time but it was held in low esteem as far
as industry and manufacture were concerned. Had the Queen pur
chased the 'Shakespeare Service', it might very well have been
viewed as favouringu nproven Irishm aterials over established
British mainland materials. Such a decision might also have under
mined Prince Albert's position. He had become Queen Victoria's
confidential adviser and her unofficial intermediary in many deli
cate matters of state.'9 In seeking his advice in relation to the
'Shakespeare Service', the hopes of Dargan and Kerr were shat
tered. The Queen decided not to purchase the service.

thecommietommy

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Lol, maybe he believed that the royal family were lizards intent on taking over the planet.

You forgot to mention the million Protestants who lived in the south of Ireland before partition.

jonniebgood1

thecommietommy wrote: »

You forgot to mention the million Protestants who lived in the south of Ireland before partition.

I already deleted a previous post of yours in this thread and asked you to desist.

The problem with the quoted post is that it unnessesarily brings religon into the discussion. This could bring a countering response, etc, etc. Refer to forum charter. It is also off-topic and your figure of one million is way off the mark (not that thats relevant but the figure in 1911 was 311,461).

If there is a problem with this PM me. If anybody else has a problem with this they should also PM me- there is no need for a counter religious argument.
Moderator.