Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baron Rathcavan

Robert William Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baron Rathcavan, PC, PC (Ire), DL (8 June 1883 – 28 November 1982), known as Sir Hugh O'Neill, Bt, from 1929 to 1953, was an Ulster Unionist member of both the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Parliament of Northern Ireland.


The Lord Rathcavan

Father of the House of Commons
In office
25 October 1951  8 October 1952
Preceded byThe 6th Earl Winterton
Succeeded byDavid Grenfell
Member of the House of Lords
Lord temporal
In office
11 February 1953  28 November 1982
Hereditary Peerage
Succeeded byThe 2nd Baron Rathcavan
Member of Parliament for
North Antrim

Antrim (1922–1950)
Mid Antrim (1915–1922)
In office
17 February 1915  8 October 1952
Preceded byArthur O'Neill
Succeeded byPhelim O'Neill
Personal details
Born8 June 1883
Died28 November 1982(1982-11-28) (aged 99)
NationalityBritish
Political partyIrish Unionist
Ulster Unionist

Background and education

O'Neill was the third son of Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill, and the uncle of Terence O'Neill, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Educated at Eton College and New College, Oxford, Hugh O'Neill was subsequently called to the Bar at Inner Temple. He served as a Major in the British Army.

Political career

Although O'Neill contested the constituency of Stockport in 1906, he was first elected to the Westminster Parliament for Mid-Antrim in 1915, he later represented Antrim and then North Antrim.

O'Neill was also elected to represent Antrim in the Northern Ireland House of Commons in 1921 and served as its first Speaker, before standing down from his seat in 1929. On 17 June 1929 he was created a Baronet, of Cleggan in the County of Antrim.[1] In 1934, he was appointed High Sheriff of Antrim.[2]

From 1933 to 1939, O'Neill was the Chairman of the 1922 Committee. He sat on the Privy Council of Ireland, and was the sole surviving member of that body immediately prior to his death in 1982. He was also a member of its northern relation, the Privy Council of Northern Ireland and the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. From 1939 to 1940, he was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for India and Burma, and was the Lord Lieutenant of Antrim from 1949 to 1959.

O'Neill retired from the Westminster Parliament in 1952, having become the Father of the House the previous year, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Rathcavan, of The Braid in the County of Antrim, on 11 February 1953.[3]

Personal life

Lord Rathcavan died in 1982 at the age of 99 and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Phelim.

See also

References

  1. "No. 33509". The London Gazette. 25 June 1929. p. 4189.
  2. "No. 656". The Belfast Gazette. 19 January 1934. p. 21.
  3. "No. 39798". The London Gazette. 13 March 1953. p. 1443.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Arthur O'Neill
Member of Parliament for Mid Antrim
19151922
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Antrim
19221950
With: Charles Craig 1922–1929
Sir Joseph McConnell 1929–1942
John Dermot Campbell 1943–1945
Samuel Gillmor Haughton 1945–1950
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for North Antrim
19501952
Succeeded by
Phelim O'Neill
Preceded by
Earl Winterton
Father of the House
1951–1952
Succeeded by
David Grenfell
New title Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons
1921–1929
Succeeded by
Harry Mulholland
Political offices
Preceded by
Anthony Muirhead
Under-Secretary of State for India and Burma
1939–1940
Succeeded by
Duke of Devonshire
Honorary titles
Preceded by
James Graham Leslie
Lord Lieutenant of Antrim
1949–1959
Succeeded by
Sir Richard Dobbs
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New title Baron Rathcavan
1953–1982
Succeeded by
Phelim O'Neill
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Cleggan)
1929–1982
Succeeded by
Phelim O'Neill

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