Norman Stronge | |
|---|---|
 Sir Norman Stronge wearing the Speaker's wig. | |
| Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons | |
| In office 1945–1956 | |
| In office 1956–1969 | |
| Member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons | |
| In office 1938–1969 | |
| Constituency | Mid Armagh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge (1894-07-23)23 July 1894 |
| Died | 21 January 1981(1981-01-21) (aged 86) |
| Manner of death | Assassination (gunshot wounds) |
| Political party | Ulster Unionist Party |
| Spouse(s) | Gladys Olive Hall (born 23 July 1894; m. 1921–1980; her death); 4 children |
| Children | James Stronge Daphne Marian, Mrs Kingan Evelyn Elizabeth Stronge Rosemary Diana Stronge |
Sir Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge, 8th Baronet,MC,PC,JP (23 July 1894 – 21 January 1981) was a seniorUlster Unionist Party politician inNorthern Ireland.
Before his involvement in politics, he fought in theFirst World War as a juniorofficer in theBritish Army. He fought in theBattle of the Somme in 1916 and was awarded theMilitary Cross. His positions after the war includedSpeaker of theHouse of Commons of Northern Ireland for twenty-three years.
He was shot and killed[1] (aged 86), along with his son,James (aged 48), by theProvisional Irish Republican Army in 1981 atTynan Abbey, their home, which was burnt to the ground during the attack.
Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge was born inBryansford,County Down, Ireland, the son ofSir Charles Stronge, 7th Baronet, and Marian Bostock, whose family were fromEpsom.[2]
Educated atEton, during theFirst World War (1914–18) he joined theBritish Army and wascommissioned as asecond lieutenant into theRoyal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He fought on theWestern Front with the 10th (Service) Battalion, aslieutenant and later ascaptain.[3] He was decorated with theMilitary Cross[4] and theBelgian croix de guerre. He survived thefirst day of theBattle of the Somme in July 1916 and was the first soldier after the start of the battle to bementioned in dispatches byGeneralSir Douglas Haig, commander of theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front. In April 1918, he was appointedadjutant of the 15th (Service) Battalion (North Belfast),Royal Irish Rifles.[5] He waswounded in action nearKortrijk,Belgium towards the end of the war on 20 October 1918.[6] He relinquished his commission on 19 August 1919, and was permitted to retain the rank of captain.[7]
On the outbreak of theSecond World War (1939–45) in September 1939, he was again commissioned, this time into theNorth Irish Horse,Royal Armoured Corps, reverting to the rank of second lieutenant.[8] He relinquished the commission on 20 April 1940 due to ill health.[9] In 1950, he was appointedHonorary Colonel of aTerritorial Army (TA) unit of theRoyal Irish Fusiliers.[10]
Stronge was appointedHigh Sheriff of County Londonderry in January 1934.[11] He was elected as anUlster Unionist Partymember of theHouse of Commons of Northern Ireland forMid Armagh in the byelection of 29 September 1938,[12][13] and held the seat until his retirement in 1969.[14][15][16][17][18][19] He made his maiden speech on 20 October, supporting the Marketing of Potatoes Bill.[20]
In his career atStormont, he became Assistant Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance (Assistant Whip) from 16 January 1941;[21] on 6 February 1942 he was promoted to be Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance (Chief Whip).[22] He held this post at the time whenJ. M. Andrews was deposed asPrime Minister of Northern Ireland and replaced bySir Basil Brooke due to backbench pressure from Ulster Unionist MPs. On 3 November 1944, Stronge stood down from the government.[citation needed]
When the new Parliament assembled on 17 July 1945 Stronge was nominated as Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons byLord Glentoran, who said that Stronge came from a "family which has been known for generations for its fairness, its courtesy, and its neighbourliness, and for that feeling of kindliness which is so essential to the Speaker of this House".[23] The nomination was seconded byJack Beattie, anIrish nationalist who sat as an Independent Labour MP.
On 30 October 1945, Stronge was involved in a dispute in the chamber. A minister in the government had been taken ill and was unable to answer a series of Parliamentary Questions which had been put to him; Stronge allowed the Members who had put the questions to defer them until the Minister had recovered.[24] Beattie protested that this was not correct procedure, and Stronge agreed to look at it further; this decision incensedHarry Midgley, who had personal grievances with Beattie. Midgley shouted at Stronge "Are you not competent to discharge your duties without advice from this Member on his weekly visits to the House?" Despite Stronge calling for order, Midgley then crossed over and punched Beattie. Stronge excluded him from the Chamber for the remainder of the sitting,[25] and Midgley apologised the next day.[26]
Stronge was appointed to thePrivy Council of Northern Ireland in 1946.[27][28][29] He was Chairman ofArmagh County Council[30] from 1944 to 1955. Among other positions he held wereLord Lieutenant of Armagh (1939–81),[31][32] (he was aDeputy Lieutenant from 1931[33][34]) President of the Northern Ireland Council of theRoyal British Legion andJustice of the Peace for both CountiesArmagh andLondonderry. He was the Sovereign Grand Master of theRoyal Black Institution and a member of Derryhaw Boyne Defenders Orange Lodge of theOrange Order. Stronge was appointed a Commander Brother of theVenerable Order of Saint John in 1952,[35] and promoted to Knight in 1964.[36]
In 1956, one of Stronge's outside posts caused difficulty. He had been named on the Central Advisory Council on Disabled Persons, a position which brought no remuneration in practice but could have done so in theory. It was realised that the theoretical possibility of money being paid meant that this was an "Office of Profit under the Crown" which disqualified him from election. On 16 January 1956 Stronge wrote to resign his post as Speaker temporarily so that legislation could be passed to validate his actions and indemnify him from the consequences of acting while disqualified.[37] Owing to the constitutional provisions of theGovernment of Ireland Act 1920, this legislation had to be passed by theParliament of the United Kingdom as theValidation of Elections (Northern Ireland) Act 1956.[citation needed]
Once it had been passed, on 23 April 1956 the Speaker who had been elected temporarily (W. F. McCoy) resigned.[38] Stronge was re-elected on 26 April, referring in his speech accepting the nomination to his time away from Parliament looking after his farm: "I have had more time to look at bullocks, and more time to look at their prices".[39]
Stronge was married on 15 September 1921 to Gladys Olive Hall,[40] daughter of Major H. T. Hall,[2] originally fromAthenry, County Galway.[2][41] The couple had four children:
After Stronge's retirement from politics in 1969, he farmed the family's several thousandacreestate at Tynan Abbey.[43]
Sir Norman Stronge (aged 86) and his son,James (aged 48), were killed while watching television in the library of their home,[42]Tynan Abbey, on the evening of 21 January 1981, by members of theProvisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), armed with machine guns, who used grenades to break down the locked heavy doors to the home.[42]
TheStronge family home was then burnt to the ground as a result of two bomb explosions.[44] On seeing the explosions at the house (and aflare Stronge lit in an attempt to alert the authorities), theRoyal Ulster Constabulary and British Army troops arrived at the scene and established a road-block at the gate lodge. They encountered at least eight fleeing gunmen in two cars. An RUC officer said afterwards that they at first mistook the IRA men, wearing black berets and "combat gear", for members of the British Army'sSpecial Air Service (SAS).[45] There followed a gunfight lasting twenty minutes in which at least two hundred shots were fired. There were no casualties among the security forces but the gunmen escaped.[6] The bodies of the father and son were later discovered in the library of their blazing home, each had gunshot wounds in the head.[44]
Stronge was buried inTynan Parish church in a joint service with his son. The sword and cap of theLord Lieutenant of Tyrone (Major John Hamilton-Stubber) were placed on his coffin in lieu of his own, which had been destroyed with his other possessions in the fire.[6]
The coffin was carried by the 5th Battalion theRoyal Irish Rangers, the successors to his old regiment. During the service, a telegram, sent from Queen Elizabeth II to one of Sir Norman's daughters, was read. It stated:[46]
I was deeply shocked to learn of the tragic death of your father and brother;Prince Philip joins me in sending you and your sister all our deepest sympathy on your dreadful loss. Sir Norman's loyal and distinguished service will be remembered.
The funeral was described in the following words:
The village of Tynan was crowded for the double funeral of Sir Norman Stronge and his son James. Mourners came from throughout the province and from England, including lords, politicians, policemen, judges and church leaders. The remains of Sir Norman were carried by the men of the 5th Battalion the Royal Irish Rangers. On the coffin were the cap and sword of Major John Hamilton-Stubber, Lord Lieutenant for County Tyrone, for all Sir Norman's possessions were destroyed in the fire which gutted the Abbey. James Stronge's coffin was carried by colleagues from the RUC Reserve, and a Constable's hat was placed on top. The coffins were met by the Rector of Tynan, former RAF Chaplain the Rev Tom Taylor, a close friend of the family. TwoRoyal British Legion standards were carried into the church. Sir Norman's daughters Daphne and Evie were accompanied by their husbands, and his grandson Mr James Kingan was also present. The funeral service was relayed over an amplifying system, as the church could only accommodate a small proportion of the mourners. After the service, the chief mourners moved out into the churchyard where the Last Post was sounded and aRoyal British Legion farewell was given. The two coffins were laid in the family plot, where Lady Stronge, Sir Norman's wife and mother of James, was buried a year previously.[47]
TheSecretary of State for Northern Ireland,Humphrey Atkins, was informed by friends of the Stronge family that he would not be welcome at the funeral because of government policy onIrish border security.[48] Atkins left theNorthern Ireland Office later that year, to be replaced byJim Prior.
Stronge is commemorated with a tablet in theNorthern Ireland Assembly Chamber (the formerHouse of Commons Chamber) inParliament Buildings on theStormont Estate.[49]
The IRA released a statement inBelfast, quoted inThe Times, claiming that "This deliberate attack on the symbols of hated unionism was a direct reprisal for a whole series of loyalist assassinations and murder attacks on nationalist peoples and nationalist activities." This followed the loyalist attempted killing ofBernadette McAliskey and her husband Michael McAliskey on 16 January, and the loyalist assassinations of four republican activists which had taken place since May 1980 (Miriam Daly,John Turnley, Noel Lyttle andRonnie Bunting).[50]
The killings were referred to as murder by multiple media sources includingThe Daily Telegraph,The Scotsman,The New York Times andTime magazine, by the ReverendIan Paisley in theHouse of Commons and byLord Cooke of Islandreagh in theHouse of Lords.[51]
Stronge was described at the time of his death bySocial Democratic and Labour Party politicianAustin Currie as having been "even at 86 years of age … still incomparably more of a man than the cowardly dregs of humanity who ended his life in this barbaric way".[52]
In 1984, Seamus Shannon was arrested by theGarda in theRepublic of Ireland and handed over to theRoyal Ulster Constabulary on a warrant accusing him of involvement in the murders of Sir Norman Stronge and Sir James Stronge. TheIrish Supreme Court, considering hisextradition toNorthern Ireland, rejected thedefence that these were political offences, saying that they were "so brutal, cowardly and callous that it would be a distortion of language if they were to be accorded the status of a political offence". Shannon was extradited but later acquitted.[53][54]
In 2015,Mitchel McLaughlinMLA was electedSpeaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly. McLaughlin was the first Speaker elected from Sinn Féin whose leader,Gerry Adams, had said regarding the Stronge murders:"The only complaint I have heard from nationalists or anti-unionists is that he was not shot 40 years ago."[55]
Speaking during the debate on McLaughlin's election,Traditional Unionist Voice politicianJim Allister criticised theDemocratic Unionist Party MLAs for voting to help elect McLaughlin as Speaker. He said "the next time they walk past the memorial to Sir Norman Stronge, may they hang their heads in shame."[56]
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Armagh 1939–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of Northern Ireland | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMid Armagh 1938–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Unionist Assistant Whip 1941–1942 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Unionist Chief Whip 1942–1944 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Assistant Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance 1941–1942 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance 1942–1944 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons 1945–1956 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons 1956–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Father of the House 1968–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Baronet (of Tynan) 1939–1981 | Unproven |
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
| Preceded by | Sovereign Grand Master of theRoyal Black Preceptory 1948–1971 | Succeeded by |
