James Dougherty (civil servant)

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Sir James Brown Dougherty, KCB, KCVO, PC (Ire) (13 November 1844 – 3 January 1934^[1]) was an Irish clergyman, academic, civil servant and politician.^[2]

Dougherty was born in Garvagh, County Londonderry, Ireland, to Archibald Dougherty, Esq., M.R.C.S., a surgeon, and Martha Dougherty (née Brown) of Garvagh. He was educated at Queen's College, Belfast, and at Queen's University, Belfast (B.A. 1864 & M.A., 1865).

In 1880, he married Mary Dougherty (née Donaldson) (d.1887), of The Park, Nottingham, with whom he had a son, John Gerald Dougherty (born 1883). In 1888, he married Elizabeth Dougherty (née Todd), of Oaklands, Rathgar, County Dublin.^[3]

Ordained a Presbyterian minister, he was Professor of Logic and English at then-Presbyterian Magee College, Londonderry from 1879 to 1895. He served as Assistant Commissioner on the Educational Endowments Commission of Ireland (1885–92) and was Commissioner of Education from 1890 to 1895.^[3] He became Professor of Logic and English at Magee College in Londonderry in 1879, holding the post until 1895.^[2] In 1895, he was appointed Assistant Under-Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (Lord Houghton) and became Under-Secretary for Ireland in 1908. He was appointed Clerk to H.M.'s Privy Council, and Deputy Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1895.^[3] He became a Liberal MP for Londonderry City from 1914–18,^[2] succeeding fellow Liberal David Cleghorn Hogg. He was succeeded by Eoin MacNeill of Sinn Féin in the 1918 general election.