Governor of Northern Ireland
| Governor of Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Style | Excellency |
| Residence | Hillsborough Castle |
| Appointer | British Monarch |
| Precursor | Lord Lieutenant of Ireland |
| Formation | 9 December 1922 |
| First holder | The 3rd Duke of Abercorn |
| Final holder | The Lord Grey of Naunton |
| Abolished | 18 July 1973 |
| Succession | Secretary of State for Northern Ireland |
The governor of Northern Ireland was the principal officer and representative in
British monarch
. The office was established on 9 December 1922 and abolished on 18 July 1973.
Overview
The office of Governor of Northern Ireland was established on 9 December 1922 under letters patent to:[1]
do and execute in due manner as respects Northern Ireland all things which by virtue of the [1920] Act and our said Letters Patent of 27 April 1921 or otherwise belonged to the office of Lord Lieutenant at the time of the passing of the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922.
The governor was the successor to the
secretary of state for Northern Ireland, a cabinet office that had been created in 1972, took over the functions of the governor on 20 December 1973 under Letters Patent.[4]
Analogous to the
prerogative of mercy.[5]
The governor gave
religious discrimination. The Home Office agreed with FitzAlan but the Law ministry advised FitzAlan to assent regardless, after James Craig threatened the resignation of his ministry in Stormont.[9] This precedent dissuaded later London governments from interfering in Northern Ireland, although newly enacted Stormont bills were sent to the Home Secretary for review as a matter of course.[5][10]
A 1951 visit by the governor to
a new Belfast bridge to be named after Elizabeth II rather than loyalist hero Edward Carson. A crowd led by Ian Paisley jostled and heckled Erskine and his wife as they left the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.[16][17]
Official residence
The official residence of the governor of Northern Ireland was
secretary of state for Northern Ireland.[18]
Governors of Northern Ireland (1922–73)
The Governor's standard term of office was six years, renewable without limit, and with no dependency on general elections to the Stormont Parliament. These provisions were carried over in 1922 from those applied by the 1920 act to the office of Lord Lieutenant. The Duke of Abercorn, whose third term as Governor expired in December 1940, agreed to stay on until the end of the Second World War, at which point Earl Granville served out the balance of Abercorn's term and a full term of his own. In 1968, Lord Erskine resigned owing to his wife's ill health. His successor Lord Grey's term was cut short by the 1972 imposition of direct rule.
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Monarch | Prime Minister | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
| 1 | 
|
Duke of Abercorn (1869–1953) |
12 December 1922 | 6 September 1945 | 22 years, 268 days | George V Edward VIII George VI |
Craigavon Andrews Brooke |
| 2 | 
|
Earl Granville (1880–1953) |
7 September 1945 | 1 December 1952 | 7 years, 85 days | George VI Elizabeth II |
Brooke |
| 3 | 
|
Lord Wakehurst (1895–1970) |
3 December 1952 | 1 December 1964 | 11 years, 364 days | Elizabeth II | Brookeborough O'Neill |
| 4 |
|
Lord Erskine of Rerrick (1893–1980) |
3 December 1964 | 2 December 1968 | 3 years, 365 days | O'Neill | |
| 5 | Lord Grey of Naunton (1910–1999) |
3 December 1968 | 18 July 1973 | 4 years, 205 days | O'Neill Chichester-Clark Faulkner | ||
Deputies
The 1922 "Instructions" sent alongside the
Lord Justice of Appeal
:
Denis Henry,[20][21]
William Moore,[20][21][22][23]
James Andrews,[20][21][22][23][24]
Anthony Babington,[24]
John MacDermott, Baron MacDermott,[25]
Samuel Clarke Porter.[25]
Others were Senators and/or county lieutenants:
Robert Sharman-Crawford,[21][22]
Robert David Perceval-Maxwell,[21]
Henry Armstrong,[22][23]
Sir Thomas Dixon, 2nd Baronet,[23][24]
Maurice McCausland,[23]
Francis Needham, 4th Earl of Kilmorey.[24][25]
See also
Notes
- Southern Ireland were established.[2]
References
- ^ "House of Lords, Northern Ireland Bill, Memorandum by the Northern Ireland Office". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011.
- ^ "Order in Council under the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 Fixing Appointed Days for Certain Purposes", SR&O 1921, No. 533
- ISBN 978-0-19-821745-9. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- ^ "Northern Ireland Act 1998". Legislation.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Torrance 2020 p. 38
- ^ Bloomfield 2007 p. 9
- ^ Torrance 2020 pp. 37, 40
- ^ Torrance 2020 p. 40
- ^ Torrance 2020 p. 39
- ^ Bloomfield 2007 pp. 9–11
- ^ Phoenix, Eamon. "McAteer, Edward Gerard (Eddie)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- ^ Mulholland, Marc. "Faulkner, (Arthur) Brian Deane". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-246-10586-8.
Obviously the decision was the Governor's alone, for in those days Unionist Prime Ministers were selected in the same way as their Conservative counterparts in Britain, where the Queen used to send for the person she thought most suitable.
- ^ Bloomfield 2007 p. 13
- ^ Bloomfield 2007 p. 14
- ^ Bloomfield 2007 p. 165–166
- .
- ^ "Hillsborough Castle opens its royal doors to all". Financial Times. 19 April 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
- ^ Quekett 1933 Vol.2 pp.70–71
- ^ a b c The Belfast Gazette No. 81 p.17 Archived 2021-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e The Belfast Gazette No. 161 p.880 Archived 2020-08-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d The Belfast Gazette No. 579 p.403 Archived 2021-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e The Belfast Gazette No. 705 p.451 Archived 2021-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d The Belfast Gazette No. 1265 p.217 Archived 2021-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c The Belfast Gazette No. 1577 p.219 Archived 2021-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
Sources
- Bloomfield, Ken (2007). A Tragedy of Errors: The Government and Misgovernment of Northern Ireland. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-84631-064-5.
- Quekett, Arthur S. (1928). The Constitution Of Northern Ireland. Vol. Part I: The Origin and Development of the Constitution. Belfast: HMSO.
- Quekett, Arthur S. (1933). The Constitution Of Northern Ireland. Vol. Part II: The Government of Ireland Act 1920 and Subsequent Enactments. Belfast: HMSO.
- Torrance, David (21 December 2020). "Parliament and Northern Ireland, 1921-2021" (PDF). House of Commons Briefing Papers (CBP-8884).
Further reading
- Mansergh, Nicholas (1936). "The Executive; The Governor of Northern Ireland". The government of Northern Ireland; a study in devolution. London: G. Allen & Unwin. pp. 169–174 – via Internet Archive.
- Lowry, Donal (2020). "A 'Supreme and Permanent Symbol of Executive Authority': The Crown and the Governorship of Northern Ireland in an Age of 'Troubles'". In Kumarasingham, Harshan (ed.). Viceregalism: The Crown as Head of State in Political Crises in the Post-War Commonwealth. London: Palgrave-Macmillan. pp. 93–126. S2CID 226590405.