Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson

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Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson of Duncairn, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, L.L.D., K.C. (9 February, 1854 – 22 October, 1935) was a barrister, King's Counsel, politician and committed Unionist. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty for six months in 1917 at the height of the submarine crisis. A brilliant barrister, he fought long and hard for Ulster to remain part of the United Kingdom and prior to the Great War was prepared to use force to prevent the Liberal government of the day from imposing Home Rule upon the whole of Ireland. After the war he was appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and sat in the House of Lords, the highest court in the land.

Early Life & Career

Carson was born on 9 February, 1854, the second son of Edward Henry Carson, a civil engineer, and Isabella, née Lambert. He was educated at Portarlington School, then took his degree at Trinity College, Dublin. After studying at King's Inns he was called to the Irish Bar in 1877. Two years later he married Sarah Annette Foster, daughter of Mr. Henry Pesse Kirwan of Co. Galway. By 1880 his work was such that he known by solicitors as "a desirable junior." He was kept busy by the upturn in work following William E. Gladstone's Irish Land Act of 1881, and in 1886, aged thirty-two, he was chosen by Irish Solicitor-General John Gibson to be his Crown Counsel. Carson remained in the position upon Gibson being succeeded by Peter O'Brien the following year. In 1887 he came to the attention of the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Arthur J. Balfour. That year there was a Land League demonstration at Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, and three strikers had been shot by the Royal Irish Constabulary. Immediately afterwards, Carson was instructed to prosecute William O'Brien, M.P. and others under the Crime Act. Balfour later recalled:

I made Carson and Carson made me. I've told you how no one had courage. Everybody right up to the top was trembling. Some of the R.Ms. were splendid, but on the whole it was an impossible state of affairs. Carson had nerve however. I sent him all over the place, prosecuting, getting convictions. We worked together.[1]

Carson was called to the English Bar by the Middle Temple on 26 April, 1893.[2] On 3 May, 1894 he was appointed Queen's Counsel ("of Her Majesty's Counsel learned in the Law")[3] and was sworn in by the Lord Chancellor (the chief Law officer in England and Wales) on 7 May.[4]

First Lord of the Admiralty

Post-War

"I am now willing to resign if I have done anything that is wrong; if your Lordships say I have done anything that is wrong. What do you think I care for my office, or salary, as compared with my honour?"[5]

Footnotes

  1. Dugdale. I. p. 102.
  2. "Calls to the Bar" (News). The Times. Thursday, 27 April, 1893. Issue 33936, col A, pg. 12.
  3. London Gazette: no. 26509. p. 2613. 4 May, 1894.
  4. "Court Circular" (Court and Social). The Times. Saturday, 5 May, 1894. Issue 34256, col G, pg. 9.
  5. Hansard. HL Deb 29 March 1922 vol 49 c938.

Bibliography

  • "Lord Carson" (Obituaries). The Times. Wednesday, 23 October, 1935. Issue 47202, col A, pg. 19.
  • Hyde, Harford Montgomery (1953). Carson: The Life of Sir Edward Carson, Lord Carson of Duncairn. London: Heinemann.


Political Offices
Preceded by
Arthur J. Balfour
First Lord of the Admiralty
1916 – 1917
Succeeded by
Sir Eric C. Geddes