He was born at Queenstown, County Cork. He was the third child of Bob Stawell Ball, a customs official, and Mary Ball (née Green). The Ball family lived in Youghal, County Cork. Robert had two sisters who shared his interest in nature, Anne, a well-known phycologist, and Mary, an entomologist. He also had a brother, Bent (7 March 1806 - 19 May 1860), who did not appear to pursue any interest in these fields. He initially attended a school Clonakilty, before attending a Quaker school in Ballitore, County Kildare where his interest for natural history was developed with encouragement from his schoolmaster James White. He returned to Youghal in 1824 to take up a post as a magistrate which involved travel and was sometimes dangerous, even escaping an assassination attempt, but aided his natural history specimen collecting. He left Youghal for Dublin in 1827, and as he was unable to afford medical studies he worked for 20 years in the civil service, firstly as clerk in the Constabulary and Yeomanry Office, Dublin, and later assistant librarian and keeper of records at the same. He considered the work as "soul-subduing slavery" and pursued his natural history interests, actively associating with the local scientific circles. Ball left the civil service in 1852 with a small pension, as it was deemed he spent too much of his time on scientific pursuits than was suitable for a public servant. He went on natural history excursions with William Todhunter, William Thompson, Robert Patterson, George Hyndman, and Edward Forbes apart from travels to museums in Paris and meetings in Great Britain.
Extract all the names of people from this article about Robert Ball.
Bob Stawell Ball, Mary Ball, Robert Ball, Anne Ball, Mary Ball, Bent Ball, James White, William Todhunter, William Thompson, Robert Patterson, George Hyndman, Edward Forbes