Edward Carson
Solicitor-General for England | |
---|---|
In office 11 May 1900 – 4 December 1905 | |
Prime Minister |
|
Preceded by | 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 for Belfast Duncairn | |
In office 14 December 1918 – 31 May 1921 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Thomas McConnell |
Member of Parliament for Dublin University | |
In office 4 July 1892 – 14 December 1918 | |
Preceded by | Dodgson Hamilton Madden |
Succeeded by | Sir Robert Woods |
Personal details | |
Born | Dublin, Ireland | 9 February 1854
Died | 22 October 1935 Minster-in-Thanet, Kent, United Kingdom | (aged 81)
Political party | Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Party |
Other political affiliations | Liberal (until 1886) Liberal Unionist |
Spouse | Annette Kirwan
(m. 1879; died 1913) |
Children | 5 |
Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
Profession | Barrister |
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson,
Early life
Edward Carson, the second son of Edward Henry Carson,
He spoke Irish and was a regular player of Gaelic games as a child.[5]
He later received an
As a barrister
In 1877 Carson was called to the
Oscar Wilde
In 1895, he was engaged by the Marquess of Queensberry to lead his defence against Oscar Wilde's action for criminal libel. 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 "posing somdomite" [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[
Wilde abandoned the case when Carson announced in his opening speech for the defence that he planned to call several
Based on the evidence of Queensberry's detectives and Carson's cross-examinations of Wilde at the trial, Wilde was subsequently prosecuted for
Cadbury Bros.
In 1908 Carson appeared for the London Evening Standard in a libel action brought by George Cadbury. The Standard was controlled by Unionist interests which supported Joseph Chamberlain's Imperial Preference views. The Cadbury family were Liberal supporters of free trade and had, in 1901, purchased The Daily News. The Standard articles alleged that Cadbury Bros Ltd., which claimed to be model employers having created the village of Bournville outside Birmingham, knew of the slave labour conditions on São Tomé, the Portuguese island colony from which Cadbury purchased most of the cocoa used in the production of their chocolate.[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 the
Archer-Shee case
Carson was also the victorious counsel in the 1910 Archer-Shee Case, exonerating a Royal Naval College, Osborne cadet of the charge of theft. The cadet was from a quite prominent Roman Catholic banking family, and educated at Stonyhurst.[citation needed] On this case, Terence Rattigan based his play The Winslow Boy. The fictional barrister, Morton, is a somewhat different character from Carson.[citation needed]
Politics
Initially a radical Liberal,
Carson maintained his career as a barrister and was admitted to the English Bar by
In the 1918 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 (including Ulster Unionist Labour Association) won 26 seats, all but three of which were in the six counties that today form Northern Ireland, and the Irish Parliamentary Party won only six (down from 84), all but one in Ulster. The Labour Party did not stand in the election, allowing the electorate to decide between home rule or a republic by having a clear choice between the two nationalist parties. Irish Republicans regarded these elections as the mandate to establish the First 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 as gaeilge, to attend. He kept the invitation as a souvenir.[18] 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.[19] He was listed as "as láthair", or absent.
Unionism
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 the
Carson campaigned against
On Sunday 28 September 1912, "Ulster Day", he was the first signatory on the
The Home Rule Bill was passed by the Commons on 25 May 1914 by a majority of 77 and due to the
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, with Craig 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.[30]
In 1914, suffragettes Flora Drummond and Norah Dacre Fox (later known as Norah 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.[31] In a 1921 speech opposing the pending Anglo-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.[32][33]
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.[34]
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."[35]
Cabinet member
On 25 May 1915, Asquith appointed Carson
He played a major role in forcing the resignation of Asquith as Prime Minister, returning to office on 10 December 1916 as First Lord of the Admiralty,[37] and elevated to the powerful British War Cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio on 17 July 1917.[38]
Carson was hostile to the foundation of the League 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.[39]
Early in 1918, the government decided to extend conscription to Ireland, and that Ireland would have to be given home rule in order to make it acceptable. Carson disagreed in principle and again resigned on 21 January. He gave up his seat at the University of Dublin in the 1918 general election and was instead elected for Belfast Duncairn.[40]
He continued to lead the Unionists, but when the Government 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 the Parliament of Northern Ireland was established.[41]
In January 1921 he met in London over three days with
After the partition of Ireland, Carson repeatedly warned Ulster Unionist leaders not to alienate northern Catholics, as he foresaw this would make
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.[5]
Judge
Carson was asked to lead the Unionists during the election to become the first
Later years
Carson retired in October 1929. In July 1932, during his last visit to Northern Ireland, he witnessed the unveiling of a large statue of himself in front of Parliament Buildings at Stormont. The statue was sculpted by L. S. Merrifield. cast in bronze, and placed upon a plinth. The inscription on the base read "By the loyalists of Ulster as an expression of their love and admiration for its subject". It was unveiled by Lord Craigavon in the presence of more than 40,000 people.[46]
State funeral
Lord Carson lived at Cleve Court, a
Memories
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. The media enthusiastically participated, paying less attention to such issues as massive unemployment, poor housing, and rising religious tensions.[49]
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Carson's ceremonial dress uniform, worn on his appointment as Solicitor General for England in 1900.
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Lord Carson's statue at Stormont
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Edward Carson's statue at Stormont
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Sir Edward Carson mural in Belfast in 2006
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Carson Poster, Belfast, August 2007
Private life
Carson married twice. His first wife was Annette Kirwan from County Galway, daughter of Henry Persse Kirwan, a retired County Inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary. They were married on 19 December 1879. He had two sons and two daughters by his first wife (he described them as a "rum lot"),[46] namely:
- The Hon. William Henry Lambert Carson, born 2 October 1880 (d. 1930)
- The Hon. Aileen Seymour Carson, born 13 November 1881
- The Hon. Gladys Isobel Carson, born 1885
- The Hon. Walter Seymour Carson, born 1890
The first Lady Carson died in 1913.[46] His second wife was Ruby Frewen (1881–1966),[50] a Yorkshirewoman, 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; she was 32 and he was 60. They had one son:
- The Hon. Edward Carson MP, born 17 February 1920
Arms
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References
- ^ John Brown, "Carson, Sir Edward, Baron Carson 1854–1935" in David Loades, ed., Reader's Guide to British History (2003) 1:227
- ^ Marjoribanks, Volume One: The Life of Lord Carson, London, 1932, p. 5
- ^ Marjoribanks, Volume One: The Life of Lord Carson, London, 1932, p. 6
- ^ Dickson, Brice Drewry, Gavin The Judicial House of Lords 1876–2009 Oxford University Press page 755
- ^ a b "NI 100: Why did Carson give up chance to be NI's first PM?". BBC News. 4 February 2021.
- ^ "University intelligence". The Times. No. 36493. London. 28 June 1901. p. 10.
- ^ "History Learning Site". Archived from the original on 8 February 2007.
- ^ "Edward Carson". The Bar of Ireland Law Library. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
- ^ Sturgess, H.A.C. (1949). Register of Admissions of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. Butterworth & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.: Temple Bar. Vol. 2, p. 597
- ^ Myers, Kevin (20 March 2009). "Edward Carson and Oscar Wilde – mythic rewriting of history drives me wild". Belfast Telegraph.
- ISBN 0-415-94901-7.
- ISBN 0-8214-1626-X
- ^ Jackson, Alvin. "Carson, Edward Henry". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ "No. 26311". The London Gazette. 29 July 1892. p. 4314.
- ^ "leighrayment.com Privy Counsellors – Ireland". leighrayment.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "No. 27192". The London Gazette. 15 May 1900. p. 3070.
- ^ "No. 27862". The London Gazette. 8 December 1905. p. 8891.
- RTE.
- RTE.
- ^ Marjoribanks, The Life of Lord Carson, Vol. 1, Camelot Press, 1932 p. 68
- ^ "CAIN: Issues: Politics: Cochrane, Feargal (1997) 'The Unionists of Ulster: An ideological Analysis'". ulst.ac.uk.
- ^ "Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) – nidirect". 4 March 2016.
- ^ The number eventually exceeded 470,000 in England and Scotland.
- ^ M McNally, Easter Rising 1916: Birth of the Irish Republic, Osprey, 2007, pp. 8–9.
- ^ McNally, Easter Rising 1916, p. 11.
- ^ known as Operation Lion. Stewart, The Ulster Crisis, p. 88.
- ISBN 9780064957298.
- ^ Asgard (yacht)#cite note-ring95-99-1
- ^ ISBN 0-571-08066-9
- ^ Brown, Carson, p. 227
- ^ "Home - Mosley's Old Suffragette: A Biography of Norah Dacre Fox". 13 January 2012. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ISBN 0-7171-1075-3.
- ISBN 0-85034-108-6.
- ^ Address in Reply to His Majesty's Most Gracious Speech, HL Deb 14 December 1921 vol 48 cc5–56.
- ^ "IRISH FREE STATE: APPEALS TO THE PRIVY COUNCIL. (Hansard, 3 December 1929)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 3 December 1929.
- ^ "No. 29197". The London Gazette. 18 June 1915. p. 5871.
- ^ "No. 29860". The London Gazette. 12 December 1916. p. 12118.
- ^ War Memoirs of David Lloyd George, Vol. III, London: Ivor Nicholson & Watson, 1934, pp. 1175–77
- ^ Henry R. Winkler, "The Development of the League of Nations Idea in Great Britain, 1914–1919", The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 20, No. 2. (June 1948), p. 105.
- ^ "ElectionsIreland.org: Rt Hon Sir Edward Carson". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ^ Frank Costello, "King George V's Speech at Stormont (1921): Prelude to the Anglo-Irish Truce", Eire-Ireland, (1987), pp. 43–57.
- ^ "Memorandum by James O'Connor of an interview with Edward Carson"; RIA, Dublin, 1993. National Archives of Ireland file UCDA P150/1902
- ^ Dudley Edwards, Ruth (29 May 2005). "Biography: Carson by Geoffrey Lewis". The Times. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ Sir Charles Petrie, A Historian Looks at His World (London: Sedgwick & Jackson, 1972), p. 27.
- ^ Marjoribanks, Volume One: The Life of Lord Carson, London, 1932, p. 8
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32310. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "No. 32344". The London Gazette. 3 June 1921. p. 4425.
- ^ "Lord Carson's Funeral". News. The Times. No. 47206. London. 28 October 1935. col A, p. 11.
- ^ Gillian McIntosh, "Symbolic mirrors: commemorations of Edward Carson in the 1930s." Irish Historical Studies 32.125 (2000): 93–112.
- ^ "Ruby Carson (née Frewen), Lady Carson". National Portrait Gallery.
- ^ Baz Manning. Middle Temple Armory.
Further reading
- Hennessey, Thomas. Dividing Ireland: World War I and Partition (1998) (online) Archived 24 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- H. Montgomery Hyde, Carson (Constable, London 1974) ISBN 0-09-459510-0
- Marjoribanks, Edward and Colvin, Ian, The Life of Lord Carson, (Victor Gollancz, London, 1932–1936, 3 Vols).
- A.T.Q. Stewart The Ulster Crisis, Resistance to Home Rule, 1912–14, (Faber and Faber, London, 1967, 1979), ISBN 0-571-08066-9
- A.T.Q. Stewart, Edward Carson (Gill and Macmillan Ltd, Dublin 1981) ISBN 0-7171-1075-3
- Geoffrey Lewis, Carson, the Man who divided Ireland, (Hambledon and London 2005), ISBN 1-85285-454-5
- Jackson, Alvin, Judging Redmond and Carson, Royal Irish Academy (2018)
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Edward Carson
- "Archival material relating to Edward Carson". UK National Archives.
- Image: Sir Edward Carson inspecting the U.V.F, 1913
- Image: Sir Edward Carson at U.V.F rally, 1913
- Video footage of Lord Carson's funeral on YouTube
- Newspaper clippings about Edward Carson in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW