James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon

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James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon

James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Bart.

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown known as a baronetcy....
, PC (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940) was a prominent Irish unionist politician

Politician

A politician is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of politics or a person who influences the way a society is governed....
, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party

Ulster Unionist Party

The Ulster Unionist Party is the more moderate of the two main Unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Prior to the split in Unionism in the late 1960s, when the former Protestant Unionist Party began to attract more hard line support away from the UUP, it governed Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972 as the sole Unionist party....
and the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920....
.

Lord Craigavon was born at Sydenham, Belfast

Sydenham, Belfast

Sydenham is an electoral ward of East Belfast Belfast based on the area of the same name and containing the George Best Belfast City Airport. The ward was created in 1973 being carved out of the former Victoria ward and has had only minor alterations since then....
, the son of James Craig (1828–1900) a wealthy whiskey distiller; he had entered the firm of Dunville Whisky as a clerk and by aged 40 he was a millionaire and a partner in the firm. James Craig, Snr. owned a large house, Craigavon, overlooking Belfast Lough

Belfast Lough

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James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Bart.

Baronet

Politician

Ulster Unionist Party

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

Sydenham, Belfast

Belfast Lough

Belfast Lough is a large, natural intertidal sea lough situated at the mouth of the River Lagan on the east coast of Ireland. The inner part of the lough comprises a series of mudflats and lagoons....
. His mother Eleanor Gilmore Browne (b. 1835) was the daughter of Robert Browne, a prosperous man who owned property in Belfast and a farm outside Lisburn

Lisburn

Lisburn is the third-largest city in Northern Ireland, south-west of and adjoining Belfast. An Anglicise version of the Irish name, Lisnagarvey, is used in the title of schools and sporting clubs in the area....
. He was the seventh child and sixth son in the family; there were eight sons and one daughter in all.

He was educated at Merchiston Castle School

Merchiston Castle School

Merchiston Castle School is a private boarding school located in the village of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has approximately 430 pupils and is only open to boys between the ages of 8 and 18 as either boarders or day pupils; day pupils make up 30% of the school....
in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
, Scotland

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, his father had taken a conscious decision not to send his children to any the more fashionable public schools. After school he began work as a stockbroker, eventually opening his own firm in Belfast. He enlisted in the 3rd (militia) regiment of the Royal Irish Rifles on 11 January 1900 to serve in the Second Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War , commonly referred to as The Boer War and also known as the South African War , the Anglo-Boer War and in Afrikaans as the Boereoorlog or Tweede Vryheidsoorlog , was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902, between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics of the Orange Fre...
. Military life suited him well, but he became impatient with the lack of professionalism and efficiency in the British Army in this, its most severe test. He was seconded to the imperial yeomanry, becoming a lieutenant and then a captain, was taken prisoner in May 1900, but released by the Boers because of a perforated eardrum. On his recovery he became deputy assistant director of the Imperial Military Railways, showing the qualities of organization that were to mark his involvement in both British and Ulster politics. In June 1901 he was sent home suffering from dysentery

Dysentery

Dysentery is a disorder of the digestive system that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the feces. If untreated, Dysentery can be fatal....
, and by the time he was fit for service again the war was over.

On his return to Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
, having received a £100,000 legacy from his father's will, he turned to politics, serving as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators....
for East Down

East Down (UK Parliament constituency)

East Down was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland....
from 1906 to 1918. From 1918 to 1921 he represented Mid Down

Mid Down (UK Parliament constituency)

Mid Down was a UK United Kingdom constituencies in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons 1918-1922....
, and served in government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Pensions

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Pensions

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Pensions was a junior Ministerial office at Parliamentary Secretary rank in the United Kingdom Government, supporting the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions....
(1919-1920) and Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty (1920-1921).

Craig rallied the Ulster

Ulster

Ulster is one of the four Provinces of Ireland of Ireland, in addition to Connacht, Munster and Leinster. The name is sometimes informally used as a synonym for Northern Ireland, one of the countries of the United Kingdom, although Northern Ireland covers only two thirds of Ulster....
unionist opposition to Irish Home Rule

Home rule

Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-governance within the greater administrative purview of the central government....
in Ulster

Ulster

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, organising the paramilitary Ulster Volunteers and buying arms from Imperial Germany. The Volunteers became the nucleus of the 36th (Ulster) Division during the Great War. He succeeded Edward Carson as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party

Ulster Unionist Party

Northern Ireland general election, 1921

The Northern Ireland general election, 1921 was held on 24 May 1921. It was the first election to the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Ulster Unionist Party members won a two-thirds majority of votes cast and more than three-quarter of the seats in the assembly....
, the first ever, he was elected to the newly created Northern Ireland House of Commons as member for County Down

County Down

County Down is one of the nine Counties of Ireland that form the province of Ulster and one of six counties that form Northern Ireland. The county forms an area of ....
.

On 7 June 1921 (over two weeks before the opening of the Northern Ireland Parliament), Craig was appointed the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , also known as the Judiciar in the early mediaeval period and as the Lord Deputy of Ireland as late as the 17th century, was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ....
. A dedicated member of the Orange Order and staunchly Protestant, he famously stated, in April 1934, in response to Éamon de Valera

Éamon de Valera

?amon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in 20th century Ireland. His political career spanned over half a century, from 1917 to 1973; he served multiple terms as head of government and head of state, and is credited with a leading role in the authorship of the present-day Constitution of Ireland....
's assertion that Ireland was a "Catholic nation":

The hon. Member must remember that in the South they boasted of a Catholic State. They still boast of Southern Ireland being a Catholic State. All I boast of is that we are a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State. It would be rather interesting for historians of the future to compare a Catholic State launched in the South with a Protestant State launched in the North and to see which gets on the better and prospers the more. It is most interesting for me at the moment to watch how they are progressing. I am doing my best always to top the bill and to be ahead of the South..

He was made a baronet

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown known as a baronetcy....
in 1918, and was in 1927 created Viscount Craigavon, of Stormont

Stormont

Stormont may refer to:...
in the County of Down

County Down

County Down is one of the nine Counties of Ireland that form the province of Ulster and one of six counties that form Northern Ireland. The county forms an area of ....
. He was also the recipient of honorary degree

Honorary degree

An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements . The degree itself is typically a doctorate or, less commonly, a master's degree, and may be awarded to someone who has no prior connection with the institution in question....
s from the Queen's University of Belfast

Queen's University of Belfast

Queen's University Belfast is a university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is "The Queen's University of Belfast"....
(1922) and Oxford University (1926).

Craig had made his career in British as well as Ulster politics; but his premiership showed little sign of his earlier close acquaintance with the British political world. He became intensely parochial, and suffered from his loss of intimacy with British politicians in 1938, when the British government concluded agreements with Dublin to end the 'economic war' between the two states, on terms highly unfavourable to Northern Ireland. He never tried to persuade Westminster to protect Northern Ireland's industries, especially the linen industry, which was central to its economy. He was anxious not to provoke Westminster, or draw too much attention to what was happening in Northern Ireland, especially in the treatment of the Catholic minority. His desire to retain the closest links with Great Britain was seen in April 1939, and again in May 1940, when he called for conscription to be applied in Northern Ireland (which the British government, fearing a nationalist backlash, refused). Lord Craigavon was still prime minister when he died peacefully at his home at Glencraig, County Down

County Down

County Down is one of the nine Counties of Ireland that form the province of Ulster and one of six counties that form Northern Ireland. The county forms an area of ....
in 1940. He was buried on the Stormont Estate

Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)

Parliament Buildings, known as Stormont because of its location in the Stormont, Belfast area of Belfast, served as the seat of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and successive Northern Ireland assemblies and conventions....
, and was succeeded as leader of the Northern Ireland Government

Parliament of Northern Ireland

The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the Home Rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from 22 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended....
by the Minister of Finance John Miller Andrews.

His wife, Cecil Mary Nowell Dering Tupper (The Viscountess Craigavon; d. 1960), whom he married on 22 March 1905 after a very brief courtship, was English, the daughter of Sir Daniel Tupper, assistant comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain

Lord Chamberlain

The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom, and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officer of State....
's department of the king's household. They had twin sons and a daughter. A president of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, she was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1941.

Craigavon was succeeded as second viscount by his elder son, James (1906–1974). His estate was valued at £3,228, 2s., 6d. effects in England: probate, 20 March 1941, CGPLA NIre., £24, 138 9s. 9d.: probate, 3 March 1941, CGPLA NIre.

James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon

See also

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