but he felt it necessary now to obtain control, and, after a somewhat sharp struggle with the extremists, succeeded in doing so in June. At the end of July he took part, in spite of National- ist criticism, in the abortive Buckingham Palace Conference.
Then came the World War, and in the debate succeeding Sir E. Grey's famous declaration on bank holiday, Aug. 3, Redmond created a profound sensation by a speech in which he declared that the events of recent years had completely altered the Nationalist feeling towards Great Britain. The Government, he said, might withdraw its troops from Ireland, whose coasts would be defended by her own sons, Nationalist Volunteers joining with Ulster Volunteers in the task. This generous attitude was met by the decision of the Government to pass the Home Rule bill into law, suspending its operation till after the war. Redmond took an active part in promoting recruiting in Ireland. He stood on the platform in Dublin Mansion House on Sept. 25 by the side of the Prime Minister and the Lord Lieutenant, and said that Ireland would feel bound in honour to take her place beside the other autonomous portions of the King's dominions. " You have kept faith with Ireland," he said; " Ireland will keep faith with you." Unfortu- nately, owing partly to the anti-recruiting agitation promoted by Sinn Fein and other extremists, and partly to red tape at the War Office, his efforts were only moderately successful. But he constantly opposed the application of conscription in any shape to Ireland, and in consequence neither of the military service bills of the spring of 1916 applied to that country. He had refused Mr. Asquith's request for his help in office in the Coali- tion Government of June 1915; and the fact that he stood out, while Sir E. Carson was included, no doubt intensified the smouldering dissatisfaction in southern Ireland, which broke into a blaze in the Dublin Rebellion of Easter 1916. This was a stunning blow to Redmond, who had not realized the growing strength and virulence of the Sinn Fein movement. He expressed in the House of Commons his detestation of the crime, and lent his assistance to the attempt that was made by the Government in the summer through Mr. Lloyd George to arrange an agreed settlement of the whole Irish question. At first it looked as if the negotiations would be successful, on the basis of bringing the Home Rule Act into immediate operation, while excluding the six Ulster counties by an Amending bill which should cover all the period of the war, and a short interval after it. The consent was obtained of all Irish parties, except the southern Unionists; but certain modifications which the Unionists in the Cabinet demanded were treated by the Nationalists as amount- ing to a breach of faith; and Redmond announced his intention of criticising ministers for their procrastination not only with regard to Ireland but also with regard to the whole conduct of the war. The negotiations having failed, and the Government having restored the ordinary civil administration of Ireland, with Mr. Duke, K.C., a Unionist, as Chief Secretary, Redmond treated this as a fresh outrage on Ireland; and on Oct. 18 he moved a resolution charging ministers with maintaining a sys- tem of government in Ireland inconsistent with the principles for which the Allies were fighting in Europe. The result, he said, was that Irish regiments could not be kept up to their full strength, and that his efforts to aid recruiting had been nullified. The motion was, of course, rejected by a large majority. He criticised Mr. Lloyd George's administration in March 1917 on similar lines, and threatened a return by his party to the old obstructionist opposition. In May, however, the Prime Minister suggested among other alternatives that an Irish convention should be assembled for the purpose of producing a scheme of Irish self-government. To this Redmond agreed; and in the convention he played a prominent and conciliatory part, making in particular a favourable impression on the southern Unionists. During its sittings, however, his health failed. He died of heart failure in London on March 6 1918.
In private life, John Redmond was much liked among his friends, but he never went much into society. He was happily married to an Australian lady, Miss Dalton, by whom he had a son and two daughters.
His younger brother, WILLIAM HOEY KEARNEY REDMOND (1861-1917), intended, as a young man, to adopt the army as his profession, and in 1881 he was a lieutenant in the co. Wexford militia battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment. But he resigned his commission to take part in the Land League movement, was imprisoned as a " suspect " in Kilmainham, and went to Australia with his brother to raise funds for the Nationalist agitation. He was returned for Wexford borough in 1883, and sat in Parliament, though for different constit- uencies, from that time till his death. He was of an ardent and ebullient temper, which resulted in his spending three months in Wexford gaol in 1888 for inciting to resistance to the sheriff, on the occasion of an eviction, and in many agitated scenes at different times in the House of Commons, where, however, he was personally very popular. Like his brother, in the Nationalist split he adhered to Parnell, and also like his brother, on the outbreak of the World War he instantly recognized the duty of Ireland to fling herself into it on the side of the Allies. Though 53 years old, he joined at once the Irish Division, receiving a commission in the Royal Irish Regiment. He was promoted major for services at the front and mentioned in despatches. In his intervals of service he made two thrilling speeches in the House of Commons one in Dec. 1916, in which he advocated a new Ireland built up out of the war, and declared that Nation- alists and Ulstermen came together in the trenches and were friends, and that if they were brought together on the floor of an assembly in Ireland they would be friends too; the other in March 1917, when he besought the House to let the dead past bury its dead, and to make a new start between England and Ireland. He died of wounds in Fran.ce on June 7 1917.
REDWOOD, SIR BOVERTON, BART. (1846-1919), British
chemist, was born in London April 26 1846. He was educated at University College school, London, and by the Pharmaceutical Society, specialized in the study of petroleum and became in 1869 secretary to the Petroleum Association. In this connexion he gave evidence before a select committee of the House of Lords, and his investigations throughout Europe and America qualified
him to be the adviser of the Government as to the best use of
petrol and oil fuel both before and during the World War. He
founded the Institution of Petroleum Technologists and became
its first president. He was knighted in 1905 and created a
baronet in 1911. He died in London June 4 1919.
REHAN, ADA (1860-1916), American actress (see 23.48), died in New York City Jan. 8 1916.
REID, SIR GEORGE (1841-1913), British painter (see 23.50), died at Oakhill, Som., Feb. 9 1913.
REID, SIR GEORGE HOUSTOUN (1845-1918), Australian
statesman, was born at Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Feb. 25 1845. His father, a Presbyterian minister, emigrated to Australia
seven years later, and the boy was therefore Australian by
education though not by birth. At the age of 13 he became a
junior clerk in a business house in Sydney, but later entered the
N.S.W. civil service and began to read for the bar, being finally
called in 1879. Politics attracted him more than law, and in
1880 he was elected member for E. Sydney, together with Sir
Henry Parkes but above him in the poll. He stood as a free
trader, a policy to which he adhered throughout his political
career, and with one short break (1884-5) he represented E.
Sydney in the N.S.W. Legislature until 1901 when he was
elected its representative in the Federal Parliament. He first
held office in N.S.W. for a brief period in 1883-4 as Minister of
Public Instruction. In 1894 he became its Premier and during
his term of office (1894-9) introduced reforms into the civil
service and represented the Colony at Queen Victoria's Diamond
Jubilee. He did much to promote Federation and from 1901-0 led the free-trade party in the Federal Parliament, becoming Premier for a short period (1904-5) but being for the most part leader of the Opposition. When the Act to constitute an Australian High Commissionership was passed in 1909 Sir George Reid became the first High Commissioner and was created K.C.M.G. He represented his country in London in genial fashion until 1916, and at the end of his term of office
