Journalist, historian and author, Hugh McCall was born on the 21st April 1805 in Chapel Hill, Lisburn. He was the eldest child of Robert McCall, a local muslin manufacturer. The family lived in various places in the town, including Seymour Street and Market Square.
In 1818 Hugh joined his father’s muslin business, before setting up a pawnbrokers in 1823, with premises in Bow Street and another branch in Belfast. A prolific writer, Hugh contributed to The Northern Whig, The Belfast News Letter and The Lisburn Standard.
In 1881 he published The Cotton Famine which highlighted the plight of Lisburn’s weavers during what was termed the 1863 ‘Cotton Famine’.
McCall investigated the conditions of cotton weavers in Lisburn, producing evidence of severe poverty and starvation among the weaver population. A petition was presented to Lisburn town commissioners, which resulted in a relief fund being established for the weavers.
McCall died on 12th Marc, 1897. A memorial tablet dedicated to McCall hangs in Lisburn Cathedral. It reads
One who was given to Philanthropy, Justice and Truth.
A Journalist without fear
An Accurate Historian
A Painstaking Chronicler.
