Origins and career of Roger Casement with particular reference to the development of his interests in the rights of dependent ethnic groups

Sawyer, Roger Martyn (1979) Origins and career of Roger Casement with particular reference to the development of his interests in the rights of dependent ethnic groups. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Abstract

The study traces the development of Casement's interest in the rights of dependent ethnic groups from its roots in his ancestry and the long term affect upon its growth of the deprived and divided circumstances of his childhood. His curiosity about his own genealogy is the starting point of an examination of the diverse pressures of his family background which ultimately led to a complete break with the family seat in Ulster. Some attempt is made to define the functions of a consul of the period, in order that, with the help of hitherto unused Foreign Office records, the unsensational years of Casement's consular activity may be explored and his performance assessed In accordance with contemporary standards. Similarly a description is given of the social position of consuls in order that Casement's reactions to the social milieu in which he found himself may be clarified ; the sometimes delicate relationship between consuls and diplomatic colleagues is examined and seen as one cause of unsuccessful consul generalship in Rio, following success as a consul. The Congo and Putumayo anti-slavery investigations and reports are considered, as is the cumulative effect on Casement's mind of experiences within the Irish Cultural Revival when on leave. New sources are used to show the growth of nationalism among members of the Protestant Ascendancy in Ulster and like-minded Welsh and English friends. The transition from imperialism to subversive nationalism, as exemplified in the mission to Germany, is largely explained in terms of crucial friendships and familial influences. His main consular contribution is seen in his forceful influence on the broadening of responsibility until, in his protective role, the consul entered the field of basic human rights and broke free to some extent from the narrow limitations of national boundaries.

This record has no associated files available for download.

Contributors

Download statistics