Casement, Roger (1864-1916), was an official in the British consular service who later became an Irish revolutionary. He was hanged for high treason by the British during World War I (1914-1918).
Roger David Casement was born in Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire), near Dublin, Ireland, on Sept. 1, 1864. He was educated in the Dublin area and traveled widely in Africa before entering the consular service.
In 1903, the British government ordered Casement to investigate conditions on the rubber plantations in the Congo Free State, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His report led to a complete reorganization of the administration of the area. Transferred to Brazil, Casement became consul general in Rio de Janeiro in 1909. In 1910, the British government ordered him to investigate conditions in the rubber trade in Peru. His report exposed the cruel treatment of workers on the plantations along the Putumayo River. Casement was knighted in 1911 for his services.
Casement retired from the consular service in 1913 and returned to Ireland, which was then ruled by the British. There, he proclaimed his support for the Irish Republican cause, which sought a fully independent Ireland. During World War I, he went to Germany and tried to persuade Irish prisoners of war to form a brigade to drive the British out of Ireland. He persuaded the German government to send a shipload of arms to Ireland. The British captured Casement after he landed in Ireland from a German submarine. They also captured the ship carrying the weapons. Casement was tried in London, found guilty of treason, and hanged on Aug. 3, 1916, in Pentonville Prison in London. His remains were taken to Ireland in 1965 and reinterred at Glasnevin, Dublin, after a state funeral.
See also Easter Rising .
