The Lord Carson | |
|---|---|
(2).jpg) Carson,c. 1900 | |
| Minister without portfolio | |
| In office 17 July 1917 – 20 January 1918 Serving with Arthur Henderson (until Aug 1917),The Viscount Milner,Jan Smuts,George Barnes (from Aug 1917) | |
| Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
| First Lord of the Admiralty | |
| In office 10 December 1916 – 17 July 1917 | |
| Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
| Preceded by | Arthur Balfour |
| Succeeded by | Sir Eric Geddes |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 19 October 1915 – 6 December 1916 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | H. H. Asquith |
| Preceded by | Bonar Law (May 1915) |
| Succeeded by | H. H. Asquith |
| Attorney General for England | |
| In office 25 May 1915 – 19 October 1915 | |
| Prime Minister | H. H. Asquith |
| Preceded by | Sir John Simon |
| Succeeded by | Sir F. E. Smith |
| Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party | |
| In office June 1911 – 10 February 1921 | |
| Preceded by | Walter Long |
| Succeeded by | James Craig |
| Leader of theIrish Unionist Parliamentary Party | |
| In office 21 February 1910 – June 1921 | |
| Preceded by | Walter Long |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Midleton |
| Solicitor-General for England | |
| In office 11 May 1900 – 4 December 1905 | |
| Prime Minister |
|
| Preceded by | Sir Robert Finlay |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Robson |
| Solicitor General for Ireland | |
| In office 20 June 1892 – 11 August 1892 | |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | John Atkinson |
| Succeeded by | Charles Hemphill |
| Member of Parliament forBelfast Duncairn | |
| In office 14 December 1918 – 31 May 1921 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Thomas McConnell |
| Member of Parliament forDublin University | |
| In office 4 July 1892 – 14 December 1918 | |
| Preceded by | Dodgson Hamilton Madden |
| Succeeded by | Sir Robert Woods |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1854-02-09)9 February 1854 |
| Died | 22 October 1935(1935-10-22) (aged 81) |
| Political party | Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Party |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal (until 1886) Liberal Unionist |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin (B.A., M.A.) |
| Profession | Politician, barrister, judge |
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson,PC,PC (Ire),KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known asSir Edward Carson, was anIrish unionist politician, barrister and judge, who was theAttorney General andSolicitor General forEngland,Wales andIreland as well as theFirst Lord of the Admiralty for theRoyal Navy. His authority as a unionist leader saw him elevated to theBritish War Cabinet as aMinister without Portfolio in 1917, and he was subsequently appointed as alife peer in theHouse of Lords in 1921, taking office under the political titleLord Carson of Duncairn. Due to his actions in both Great Britain and Ireland, he became widely regarded as one of the founding figures ofNorthern Ireland.
From 1905 onwards, Carson was both theIrish Unionist Alliance member of parliament (MP) for theDublin University constituency and leader of theUlster Unionist Council inBelfast. In 1915, he entered the war cabinet ofH. H. Asquith asAttorney-General. However, he was defeated in his ambition to maintainIreland as a whole in union withGreat Britain. Carson was instrumental in leading theUlster unionist resistance against theBritish crown's attempts to introducehome rule for the whole ofIreland, and later played a key role in forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Asquith in 1916. His leadership, however, was celebrated by some for securing a continued place in theUnited Kingdom for the six northeastern counties, albeit under a devolvedParliament of Northern Ireland that neither he nor his fellow unionists had sought.
He is also remembered for his open-ended cross-examination ofOscar Wilde in a legal action that led to plaintiff Wilde being prosecuted, gaoled and ruined. Carson unsuccessfully attempted to intercede for Wilde after the case.[1]
Edward Carson, the second son of Edward Henry Carson,architect, was born at 4Harcourt Street, inDublin, into a wealthyAnglican family.[2] The Carsons were of Scottish origin, Edward's grandfather having originally moved to Dublin fromDumfries in 1815. Carson's mother was Isabella Lambert, the daughter of Captain Peter Lambert, part of an oldAnglo-Irish family, the Lamberts ofCastle Ellen,County Galway. Carson spent holidays at Castle Ellen, which was owned by his uncle.[3] He was one of six children (four boys and two girls). Edward was educated at Arlington House inPortarlington,[4]Wesley College, Dublin[5] andTrinity College Dublin,[4] where he read law and was an active member of theCollege Historical Society. Carson graduatedBA andMA.
He later received anhonorary doctorate (LL.D.) from theUniversity of Dublin in June 1901.[6]
In 1877 Carson was called to theIrish Bar after graduating fromKing's Inns.[4] He gained a reputation for fearsome advocacy and supreme legal ability and became regarded as a brilliant barrister, among the most prominent in Ireland at the time.[7] He was also an acknowledged master of the appeal to thejury by his legal wit and oratory.[8] He was appointedQueen's Counsel (Ireland) in 1889 and was Called to the English Bar atMiddle Temple on 26 April 1893.[4] He was twice admitted to the Inn, once on 1 November 1875 and then again on 21 April 1893, and was made a Bencher on 15 June 1900.[9]
In 1895, he was engaged by theMarquess of Queensberry to lead his defence againstOscar Wilde's action forcriminal libel.[4] The Marquess, angry at Wilde's ongoing homosexual relationship with his son,Lord Alfred Douglas, had left his calling card at Wilde's club with an inscription accusing Wilde of being a "posingsomdomite" [sic]. Wilde retaliated with a libel action, as homosexuality was, at the time, illegal.
Kevin Myers states that Carson's initial response was to refuse to take the case. Later, he discovered that Queensberry had been telling the truth about Wilde's activity and was therefore not guilty of the libel of which Wilde accused him.[10]
Carson portrayed the playwright as a morally depraved hedonist who seduced naïve young men into a life of homosexuality with lavish gifts and promises of a glamorous artistic lifestyle. He impugned Wilde's works as morally repugnant and designed to corrupt the upbringing of the youth[citation needed]. Queensberry spent a large amount of money onprivate detectives who investigated Wilde's activity in the London underworld of homosexual clubs and procurers.[citation needed]
Wilde abandoned the case when Carson announced in his opening speech for the defence that he planned to call severalmale prostitutes who would testify that they had had sex with Wilde, which would have rendered the libel charge unsupportable as the accusation would have been proven true[citation needed]. Wilde wasbankrupted when he was then ordered to pay the considerable legal and detective bills Queensberry had incurred in his defence.[citation needed]
Based on the evidence of Queensberry's detectives and Carson's cross-examinations of Wilde at the trial, Wilde was subsequently prosecuted forgross indecency in a second trial. He was eventually found guilty and sentenced to two years'hard labour, after which he moved to France, where he died penniless.[citation needed]
In 1908 Carson appeared for the LondonEvening Standard in a libel action brought byGeorge Cadbury. TheStandard was controlled by Unionist interests which supportedJoseph Chamberlain'sImperial Preference views. The Cadbury family wereLiberal supporters offree trade and had, in 1901, purchasedThe Daily News. TheStandard articles alleged that Cadbury Bros Ltd., which claimed to be model employers having created the village ofBournville outsideBirmingham, knew of the slave labour conditions onSão Tomé, the Portuguese island colony from which Cadbury purchased most of thecocoa used in the production of theirchocolate.[11]
The articles alleged that George's son William had gone to São Tomé in 1901 and observed for himself the slave conditions, and that the Cadbury family had decided to continue purchasing the cocoa grown there because it was cheaper than that grown in the British colony of theGold Coast, where labour conditions were much better, being regulated by theColonial Office. TheStandard alleged that the Cadbury family knew that the reason cocoa from São Tomé was cheaper was because it was grown by slave labour. This case was regarded at the time as an important political case as Carson and the Unionists maintained that it showed the fundamental immorality of free trade. George Cadbury recoveredcontemptuous damages of onefarthing in a case described as one of Carson's triumphs.[12]
Carson was also the victorious counsel in the 1910Archer-Shee Case, exonerating aRoyal Naval College, Osborne cadet of the charge of theft of apostal order. The cadet was from a quite prominent Roman Catholic banking family, and educated, both before and after Osborne, atStonyhurst College.[citation needed][13] On this case,Terence Rattigan based his playThe Winslow Boy.
Initially a radical Liberal,[14] Carson's political career began on 20 June 1892, when he was appointedSolicitor-General for Ireland, although he was not then a member of theHouse of Commons. He was elected asMember of Parliament for theDublin University constituency in the1892 general election[15] as aLiberal Unionist, although overall the Liberal Party won the election.
Carson maintained his career as a barrister and was admitted to the English Bar byThe Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in 1893[4] and from then on mainly practised in London. In 1896 he was sworn of theIrish Privy Council.[16] He was appointedSolicitor-General for England on 7 May 1900,[17] receiving the customaryknighthood upon taking office.[4] He served in this position until theConservative government resigned in December 1905, when he was rewarded with membership of thePrivy Council.[18]
In the1918 general election, Sinn Féin won 73 out of the 105 Irish seats in the House of Commons. In 25 constituencies, Sinn Féin won the seats unopposed.Unionists (includingUlster Unionist Labour Association) won 26 seats, all but three of which were in the six counties that today formNorthern Ireland, and theIrish Parliamentary Party won only six (down from 84), all but one inUlster. TheLabour Party did not stand in the election, allowing the electorate to decide betweenhome rule or a republic by having a clear choice between the two nationalist parties. Irish Republicans regarded these elections as the mandate to establish theFirst Dáil. As such, all persons in Ireland elected to Westminster were considered to have been elected to Dáil Éireann. Had he chosen to do so, Carson could have exercised the option of attending the meeting of the First Dáil in the Mansion House on 21 January 1919. Like all of those elected to Irish seats in December 1918, he received an invitation, written inIrish, to attend. He kept the invitation as a souvenir.[19] When his name was called out in the first roll call of the new Dáil, it was met by silence, and then laughter, from the Sinn Féin delegates and the audience in the Mansion House.[20] He was listed as "as láthair", or absent.
In September 1911, a huge crowd of over 50,000 people gathered at a rally near Belfast where Carson made a speech in which he urged his party to take on the governance of Ulster. With the passage of theParliament Act 1911, the Unionists faced the loss of theHouse of Lords' ability to thwart the passage of the newHome Rule Bill. Carson disliked many of Ulster's local characteristics and, in particular, the culture ofOrangeism (although he had become an Orangeman at nineteen he left the institution shortly afterwards).[21] He stated that their speeches reminded him of "the unrolling of a mummy. All old bones and rotten rags."[22]
Carson campaigned againstHome Rule. He spoke against the Bill in theHouse of Commons and organised rallies in Ireland promoting a provisional government for "the Protestant province of Ulster" to be ready, should athird Home Rule Bill come into law.[23]
On Sunday 28 September 1912, "Ulster Day", he was the first signatory on theUlster Covenant, which bound 447,197 signatories[24] to resist Home Rule with the threat that they would use "all means necessary" after Carson had established theUlster Volunteers, the firstloyalistparamilitary group. From it, the Ulster Volunteer Force was formed in January 1913 to undergo military training and purchase arms.[25] In Parliament Carson rejected any olive branch for compromise demanding Ulster "be given a resolution rather than a stay of execution".[26] The UVFreceived a large arms cache from Germany on the night of 24 April 1914.[27] Historian Felician Prill says Germany was not trying to start a civil war, for the Ulster cause was not popular in Berlin.[28] Later that year, a further shipment of arms from Germany was delivered to the pro-Home Rule and IRB-influencedIrish Volunteers atHowth near Dublin.[29]
The Home Rule Bill was passed by the Commons on 25 May 1914 by a majority of 77 and due to theParliament Act 1911, it did not need the Lords' consent, so the bill was awaiting royal assent. To enforce the legislation, given the activities of the Unionists,H. H. Asquith'sLiberal government had prepared to send troops to Ulster. This sparked theCurragh Incident on 20 March. Together with the arming of the Irish Volunteers, Ireland was on the brink ofcivil war when the outbreak of theFirst World War led to the suspension of the Home Rule Act's operation until the end of the war.[30] By this time Carson had announced in Belfast that an Ulster Division would be formed from the U.V.F., and the36th (Ulster) Division was swiftly organised.[30]
Brown examines why Carson's role in 1914 made him a highly controversial figure:
But his commitment was unqualified, both to Ulster unionism and to its increasing extremism. Under Carson's leadership, withCraig as his lieutenant, discipline and organization were imposed on their supporters; proposed compromises were rejected; and plans were drawn up for a provisional government in the north, if the bill was passed, with its implementation to be resisted by the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force, which had been armed by illegal gun-running. It is this apparent willingness to carry resistance to virtually any length, even to risk civil war, that makes Carson so controversial.[31]
In 1914, suffragettesFlora Drummond and Norah Dacre Fox (later known asNorah Elam) besieged Carson's home, arguing that his form of Ulster "incitement to militancy" passed without notice whilst suffragettes were charged and imprisoned for same action.[32]In a 1921 speech opposing the pendingAnglo-Irish Treaty, Carson attacked the "Tory intrigues" that had led him on the course that would partition Ireland, an outcome he opposed almost as strongly as Home Rule itself. In the course of the speech, Carson said:
What a fool I was! I was only a puppet, and so was Ulster, and so was Ireland, in the political game that was to get the Conservative Party into Power.[33][34]
Later in the speech, Carson said:
But I say to my Ulster friends, and I say it with all sincerity and solemnity: Do not be led into any such false line. Stick to your old ideals of closer and closer connection with this country. The Coalition Government, after all, is not the British nation, and the British nation will certainly see you righted. Your interests lie with Great Britain. You have helped her, and you have helped her Empire, and her Empire belongs just as much to you as it does to England. Stick to it, and trust the British people.[35]
Although considering himself proudly British, Carson also considered himself a proud Irishman stating "I am very proud as an Irishman to be a member of the British Empire".[36]
On 25 May 1915, Asquith appointed CarsonAttorney-General[37] when the Coalition Government was formed after the Liberal government was brought down by theShell Crisis and the resignation ofAdmiral Fisher. He resigned on 19 October, however, citing his opposition to Government policy on war in the Balkans. During Asquith's coalition government of 1915–1916, there was no formal opposition in either the Commons or the Lords. The only party not in Asquith's Liberal, Conservative, and Labour Coalition was theIrish Nationalist Party led byJohn Redmond. However, this party supported the government and did not function as an Opposition. After Carson, the leading figure among the Irish Unionist allies of the Conservative Party, resigned from the coalition ministry on 19 October 1915, he then became the de facto leader of those Unionists who were not members of the government, effectivelyLeader of the Opposition in the Commons.
He played a major role in forcing the resignation of Asquith as Prime Minister, returning to office on 10 December 1916 asFirst Lord of the Admiralty,[38] and elevated to the powerful British War Cabinet as aMinister without Portfolio on 17 July 1917.[39]
Carson was hostile to the foundation of theLeague of Nations as he believed that this institution would be ineffectual against war. In a speech on 7 December 1917, he said:
Talk to me of treaties! Talk to me of the League of Nations! Every Great Power in Europe was pledged by treaty to preserve Belgium. That was a League of Nations, but it failed.[40]
Early in 1918, the government decided to extendconscription to Ireland, and that Ireland would have to be givenhome rule in order to make it acceptable. Carson disagreed in principle and again resigned on 21 January. He gave up his seat in Dublin University in the1918 general election and was instead elected forBelfast Duncairn.[41]
He continued to lead the Unionists, but when theGovernment of Ireland Act 1920 was introduced, advised his party to work for the exemption of six Ulster counties from Home Rule as the best compromise (a compromise he had previously rejected). This proposal passed and as a result, theParliament of Northern Ireland was established.[42]
In January 1921, he met in London over three days withFather O'Flanagan andLord JusticeSir James O'Connor to try to find a mutual agreement that would end theAnglo-Irish war, but without result.[43]
After thepartition of Ireland, Carson repeatedly warned Ulster Unionist leaders not to alienate northern Catholics, as he foresaw this would makeNorthern Ireland unstable (seeThe Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922)). In 1921, he stated: "We used to say that we could not trust an Irish parliament in Dublin to do justice to the Protestant minority. Let us take care that that reproach can no longer be made against your parliament, and from the outset let them see that the Catholic minority have nothing to fear from a Protestant majority."[44] In old age, while at London'sCarlton Club, he confided to the Anglo-Irish (and Catholic) historianSir Charles Petrie his disillusionment with Belfast politics: "I fought to keep Ulster part of the United Kingdom, but Stormont is turning her into a second-classDominion."[45]
Carson did not see himself as an Ulsterman and, unlike many northern unionists, it is thought he had an emotional connection with Ireland as a single entity.[46]
Carson was asked to lead the Unionists during the election to become the firstPrime Minister of Northern Ireland. He declined due to his lack of connections with any Northern Ireland constituency (an opponent once taunted him saying: "He has no country, he has no caste"),[47] and resigned the leadership of the party in February 1921.[48] Carson was appointed one of sevenLords of Appeal in Ordinary on 24 May 1921 and was created a life peer under theAppellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 on 1 June 1921 asBaron Carson, ofDuncairn in theCounty of Antrim.[49]
Carson retired in October 1929. In July 1933, during his last visit to Northern Ireland, he witnessed the unveiling of a large statue of himself in front ofParliament Buildings atStormont.[4] The statue was sculpted byL. S. Merrifield, cast in bronze, and placed upon a plinth. The inscription on the base read "By theloyalists of Ulster as an expression of their love and admiration for its subject". It was unveiled byLord Craigavon in the presence of more than 40,000 people.[48]
Lord Carson lived at Cleve Court, aQueen Anne house nearMinster in theIsle of Thanet,Kent, bought in 1921. It was here that Carson died peacefully on 22 October 1935.[4] Britain gave him a state funeral, which took place in Belfast atSt Anne's Cathedral; he is still the only person to have been buried there. From a silver bowl, soil from each of the six counties ofNorthern Ireland was scattered onto his coffin, which had earlier been covered by theUnion Flag, which however was removed during the service. At his funeral service the choir sang his favourite hymn, "I Vow to Thee, My Country". A warship had brought his body to Belfast and the funeral took place on Saturday 26 October 1935. Thousands of ship workers stopped work and bowed their heads asHMSBroke steamed slowly upBelfast Lough, with Carson's flag-draped coffin sat on the quarterdeck.[50] This would be the last state funeral for a non-member ofthe royal family until thefuneral of Winston Churchill in 1965.
Even before his death, there was an organized effort to portray Carson as the heroic embodiment of the militant unionist spirit. In November 1932, the new Stormont Parliament became the greatest Carson monument, giving his admirers the symbolic endorsement of their state. His statue was unveiled as the speakers excited the audience with triumphalist images of Protestant deliverance from Catholic tyranny. Carson's funeral in 1935 was attended with pomp and unionist symbolism, as happened again with the dedication of a plaque in his memory in 1938. Calling for unity with Britain, numerous ceremonial rituals, memorials, and anniversaries affirmed the legitimacy of the state, and the Protestant ascendancy.
_-_geograph.org.uk_-_693337.jpg)
Carson married twice. His first wife was Annette Kirwan fromCounty Galway, daughter of Henry Persse Kirwan, a retired County Inspector of theRoyal Irish Constabulary. They were married on 19 December 1879.[4] He had two sons and two daughters by his first wife (he described them as a "rum lot"),[48] namely:
The first Lady Carson died in 1913.[48] His second wife was Ruby Frewen (1881–1966),[51] the daughter of Lt.-Col. Stephen Frewen, later Frewen-Laton MP (1857–1933) and Emily Augusta (Peacocke) Frewen. They were married on 17 September 1914;[4] she was 32 and he was 60. They had one son:
|
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forDublin University 1892–1918 With:Hon. David Plunket 1892–1895 W.E.H. Lecky 1895–1903 James Campbell 1903–1917 Arthur Samuels 1917–1918 | Succeeded by |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forBelfast Duncairn 1918–1921 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Solicitor-General for Ireland 1892 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Solicitor-General for England 1900–1905 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Attorney-General for England 1915 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | First Lord of the Admiralty 1916–1917 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by — | Minister without Portfolio and Member of theWar Cabinet 1917–1919 | Succeeded by — |
| Vacant Title last held by Bonar Law on 25 May 1915 | Leader of the Opposition October 1915–6 December 1916 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Irish Unionist Parliament Party 1910–1921 | Succeeded by none |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party 1910–1921 | Succeeded by |
