James Chichester-Clark
Member of the Northern Ireland Parliament for South Londonderry | |
|---|---|
| In office 9 July 1960 – 30 March 1972 | |
| Preceded by | Dehra Parker |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Dawson Clark 12 February 1923 Moyola Park, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 17 May 2002 (aged 79) |
| Political party | Ulster Unionist Party |
| Spouse |
Moyra Haughton (m. 1959) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | James Lenox-Conyngham Chichester-Clark Marion Chichester |
| Relatives | Robin Chichester-Clark (brother) Penelope Hobhouse (sister) |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Sandhurst |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch/service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1960 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | Irish Guards |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
James Dawson Chichester-Clark, Baron Moyola,
Chichester-Clark's election as UUP leader resulted from the sudden resignation of Terence O'Neill after the ambiguous result of the preceding general election. His term in office was dominated by both internal unionist struggles, seeing the political emergence of Ian Paisley from the right and Alliance Party of Northern Ireland from the left, and an emergent Irish nationalist resurgence. In March 1971, with his health suffering under the strain of the growing political strife, he resigned, having failed to secure extra military resources from the British Government.
Family background and early life
Chichester-Clark was born as James Dawson Clark at Moyola Park, Castledawson, County Londonderry, his family's ancestral home.[1] He was the eldest of three children of James J. Lenox-Conyngham Clark and Marion Caroline Dehra, née Chichester. His brother was Robin Chichester-Clark and his sister, Penelope Hobhouse, the garden writer and historian.[1]
In 1924 James Clark, Snr. changed the family name to Chichester-Clark by deed poll, thus preventing the old Protestant Ascendancy name Chichester (his wife's maiden name) from dying out. On his mother's side the family are descended from the Donegall Chichesters and were the heirs of the Dawsons of Castledawson, who had originally held Moyola Park.
Educated, against his own wishes, at Selwyn House,
He married widow Moyra Haughton (née Morris) in 1959.
Military career
Chichester-Clark was an officer in the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, part of 24th Guards Brigade attached to British 1st Infantry Division, and participated briefly in the Anzio landings. He was injured on 23 February 1944 by an 88m shell as he and his Platoon Sergeant took their first look at the ground in the 'gullies' to the west of the Anzio-Albano road. His company were all but wiped out, and he spent most of his war in hospital recovering from injuries, the effects of which stayed with him throughout his life.[1] Following the war, his military career took him from the dull duties of the post-war occupation of Germany, to Canada as aide-de-camp to Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, then Governor General of Canada.[1] The popularity and competence of his senior officer made this uneventful two-year period of Chichester-Clark's life the most remarkable element of his pre-parliamentary career.[citation needed] On returning from Canada, Chichester-Clark continued in the Army for several years, refusing promotion to seniority before retiring a major in 1960.[3]
Political life
In an uncontested by-election in 1960, he took over the
He retained the seat for the remainder of the Parliament's existence, and so the South Londonderry area was represented by three generations of the same family for the entire period of the Northern Ireland House of Commons. Between 1929 and the last election in 1969, the family was challenged for the seat on only two occasions, the second being in 1969, when future Westminster MP
Chichester-Clark made his
Minister
For the remainder of
In 1967, O'Neill sacked his Minister of Agriculture, Harry West, for ministerial impropriety,[8][9] and Chichester-Clark was appointed in his place, a position he retained for two quiet years. On 23 April 1969, he resigned from the Cabinet one day prior to a crucial Parliamentary Party meeting, claiming that he disagreed with the Prime Minister's decision to grant universal suffrage in local government elections at that time. He stated that he disagreed not with the principle of one man one vote but with the timing of the decision, having the previous day expressed doubts over the expediency of the measure in Cabinet. It has since been suggested that his resignation was in order to accelerate O'Neill's own resignation, and to improve his own position in the jostling to succeed him.[10]
O'Neill "finally walked away"[10] five days later on 28 April 1969. In order to beat his only serious rival, Brian Faulkner, Chichester-Clark needed the backing of O'Neill-ite MPs elected at the 1969 Northern Ireland general election, to which end he attended a tea party in O'Neill's honour only days after he had caused his resignation.[11]
Prime Minister
He beat Faulkner in the 1969 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election by one vote on 1 May 1969, with his predecessor using his casting vote in the tied election for his distant cousin because "Faulkner had been stabbing him in the back for a lot longer".[12] Although Faulkner believed, until his death, that he had been the victim of an upper-class conspiracy to deny him the premiership, he became a high profile and loyal member of Chichester-Clark's cabinet.
His premiership was punctuated by the civil unrest that erupted after August 1969. He suffered from the effects of the Hunt Report, which recommended the disbandment of the Ulster Special Constabulary, which his Government accepted to the consternation of many Unionists.
In April 1970 his predecessor and another Unionist MP resigned their seats in the NI House of Commons. The by-election campaigns were punctuated by major liberal speeches by senior government figures like Brian Faulkner, Jack Andrews and the Prime Minister himself. Ian Paisley's Protestant Unionist Party, however, took both seats in the House of Commons. Later the same month the O'Neill-ite group, the New Ulster Movement, became the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, and his party began passing votes of no confidence in him.
As the civil unrest grew, the
Resignation and beyond
On 9 March 1971 the
- I have decided to resign because I can see no other way of bringing home to all concerned the realities of the present constitutional, political and security situation... It is apparent that public and parliamentary opinion in Northern Ireland looks to the Northern Ireland government for measures which can bring the current IRA campaign swiftly to an end. I have expressed to British Ministers the full force of this opinion and have pressed upon them my view that some further initiative is required. While they have agreed to take any feasible steps open to them to intensify the effort against the IRA, it remains the professional military view – and one which I indeed have often expressed myself – that it would be misleading the Northern Ireland community to suggest that we are faced with anything but a long haul, and that such initiatives as can be taken are unlikely to effect a radical improvement in the short term...[14]
He agreed to tone down his statement so as to smooth the way for his successor.[13] The Unionist Party internal newspaper, the Ulster Times in April 1971 carried a "respectful political obituary", which "condemned those who attacked Catholics in their homes":
For these stupid barbarities Major Chichester-Clark had to a substantial extent carry the can in Downing Street. He had also to carry the entangling burden of every event in the Ulster past which could cast doubt and discredit upon the viability of the Northern Ireland Constitution.[13]
On 23 March 1971, Brian Faulkner was elected UUP leader in a vote by Unionist MP's, defeating William Craig by twenty-six votes to four. He was appointed Prime Minister the same day.[15]
Peerage and later life
On 20 July 1971 Chichester-Clark was created a
He was Vice-
Lord Moyola died on 17 May 2002 at the age of 79; he was the last surviving Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.[1]
|
Ancestors
| 16. Alexander Clark | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8. Sir William Fitzwilliam Lenox-Conyngham | |||||||||||||||||||
| 21. Charlotte Melosina Staples of Lissan House | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5. Elizabeth Mary Lenox-Conyngham MBE | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22. George Arbuthnot (1772–1843) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11. Laura Arbuthnot | |||||||||||||||||||
| 23. Elizabeth Fraser | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1. Lord Moyola | |||||||||||||||||||
| 24. Edward Chichester, 4th Marquess of Donegall | |||||||||||||||||||
| 12. Lord Adolphus John Spencer Churchill Chichester | |||||||||||||||||||
| 25. Amelia Spread Deane Grady | |||||||||||||||||||
| 6. Robert Peel Dawson Spencer Chichester | |||||||||||||||||||
| 26. Col. Robert Peel Dawson | |||||||||||||||||||
| 13. Mary Dawson of Castledawson | |||||||||||||||||||
| 27. Mary Peel (daughter of Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3. Marion Caroline Dehra Chichester | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14. James Ker Fisher | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7. Dehra Kerr-Fisher | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15. Annie Kerr-Forsythe | |||||||||||||||||||
See also
- List of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Lords
References
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/76880. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Lord Moyola". The Daily Telegraph. London. 20 May 2002. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006.
- ^ Scoular, p. 69
- ^ Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results: Counties: Londonderry Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. election.demon.co.uk
- ^ Scoular, p. 46
- Whyte, J H(1973) "Intra Unionist disputes in the Northern Ireland House of Commons 1921–72" Economic and Social Review Vol. 5(1): 99–104 (103)
- ISBN 0856405256. p. 74
- ^ Walker, p. 165
- ^ Mullholland, p. 120
- ^ a b Walker, p. 173
- ^ Mulholland, p. 196
- ^ Walker, p. 175
- ^ a b c Walker, p. 189
- ^ ISBN 0-333-73162-X. p. 189
- ^ Walker, p. 190
- ^ "No. 45429". The London Gazette. 22 July 1971. p. 7853.
- better source needed]
- ^ Death of James Chichester-Clark Archived 23 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine. BBC. 20 May 2002
- ^ The Troubles and a PM's act of despair Archived 23 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine dated May 25, 2002 at smh.com.au, accessed 22 February 2018
- ^ "Life Peerages - M". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
Sources
- Mullholland, M. (2000) Northern Ireland at the Crossroads. Palgrave Schol. ISBN 0333760751
- Scoular, Clive (2000) James Chichester-Clark: Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. ISBN 0953960102
- Walker, G. (2004) A history of the Ulster Unionist Party. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-6108-3
Further reading
- "Family tree". Archived from the original on 15 June 2006.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - Obituary, Telegraph.co.uk. Accessed 24 December 2022.
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