User:Jnestorius/Governor of Northern Ireland

Executive power
An Order in Council was delegated legislation made by the "Governor in Council", that is the Governor of Northern Ireland in consultation with the Privy Council of Northern Ireland.
 * Only the most important matters required an Order in Council. Included many related to the Special Powers Act 1922.

Devolved, reserved and excepted matters in relation to Government of Ireland Act 1920 and royal assent.
 * Public Order (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 has date of 5th February 1970 but sources say petition to reserve delayed assent until 7 December 1970. Irish Jurist lists of legislation have nothing for NI on 7 Dec so I guess that is the correct one and either:
 * Governor gave assent on 5 Feb and decided on 7 Dec not to revoke assent; or
 * Parliament passed on 5 Feb and Governor gave assent on 7 Dec
 * Apparently a state of emergency was due on 30 June 1970, which is rather late for 5 Feb but would have been odd if 7 Dec. OTOH Irish Supreme Court unconstitutionality declaration can also have retrospective complications.

London envoys
"Imperial Secretary for Northern Ireland" (previously secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland)
 * Stephen Tallents 1922–26 "retained in Belfast until 1926 as an adviser to both the Government and the Governor regarding reserved matters"

"United Kingdom Government Representative in Northern Ireland" post held successively by "diplomats between postings"
 * Oliver Wright August 1969 to March 1970
 * Ronald Burroughs in December 1970
 * Howard Smith (1971–1972)

"Special Adviser" (Foreign Office, parallel to Northern Ireland Office, for unofficial contacts with (?)extremists "who might not wish to be seen talking to the NIO")
 * Howard Smith
 * Frank Steele
 * James Allan


 * Based in a hotel outside Belfast, [Wright] travelled extensively in Northern Ireland maintaining contact with leading personages, especially catholics and nationalists who had little or no contact with Stormont ministers
 * In 1971 Smith oversaw the acquisition of Laneside, a house in North Down where the UK representative could live, work and entertain more easily.

Ceremonial
The Scale of Local Precedence for Northern Ireland placed the Governor next after the Sovereign, ahead of other members of the royal family. The scale was made and amended by a warrant under the Sovereign's royal sign-manual, which was addressed to the Governor.

As of 1953, the Gov NI ranked with governors-general (of realms) rather than with governors (of colonies/states/provinces) in Royal Navy ceremonial, and was entitled to a 19-gun salute.

The Lord Chamberlain's guide to court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom specified particular "household evening dress" for the Governor of Northern Ireland, with a St. Patrick's blue lining for the jacket. The Governor's ceremonial dress was similar to that of Governors in the Colonial Service, including a sword and plumed bicorne. Compare that of the Lord Lieutenant in 1921. Official portraits of all five governors in ceremonial dress are on display in Hillsborough Castle: Frank McKelvey's of Abercorn (1946); A. R. Middleton Todd's of Granville (1953); Derek Hill's of Wakefield (1959); Eamon O'Kane's of Erskine (1997); and Carol Graham's of Grey (1992).

The governor's speech seems to have been called the "King's/Queen's Speech" rather than the "Governor's Speech" or "Throne Speech".

The debate on the speech was titled "Debate on the Address" and the motion moved was:
 * That an humble Address be presented to His Excellency in the following words:
 * Your Excellency,
 * We, Her Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Senate of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, beg leave to offer our humble thanks to Your Excellency for the Speech which Your Excellency has addressed to both Houses of Parliament.

In 1945, there was a "King's Address" by the actual king on 18 July and a "King's Speech" by Abercorn on 20 July.

Abercorn was "Your/His Grace" not "Your/His Excellency". Successor was "His Excellency".

Three of the five governors, and their wives, received the Freedom of the City of Belfast: Abercorn (18 July 1927; wife 17 May 1935); Granville and wife (1 January 1952); Grey and wife (7 November 1972)

Films include the State Entries of 1923 and 1968, and the State Openings of Parliament of 1929, 1963, 1965, and 1969.

1922 Hansard
On Irish Free State (Agreement) Bill in March:
 * Thomas Moles wanted an amendment that, in the event of Stormont exercising its right to opt out of the Free State, "the [Free State] representative of the Crown ... shall exercise no jurisdiction or authority in or relating to Northern Ireland".
 * Winston Churchill rejected it as contrary to the Treaty but said:
 * I wish to make it quite clear that, if Ulster contracts out of the area of the Free State, as she will have a statutory right to do, and unless there is an agreement, we should regard the wishes of Ulster in this respect as decisive. I make that statement definitely. If she does not wish the Viceroy or Governor-General selected for the Free State to discharge these functions over Northern Ireland, some other arrangement will be made.
 * I can quite see the difficulties which would confront the Northern Government, assuming there were great differences of the kind indicated opened up between the Northern and the Southern administrations, and if these very important functions were discharged by a Governor-General physically located in the area of the Free State. It may be that other arrangements will have to be made; at any rate, as far as the Government is concerned, we quite recognise that, in the event of there being no agreement, and a separate arrangement being desired by Ulster, effect must be given to their view.
 * Hugh O'Neill: He [Churchill] now undertakes on the part of the Government that if and when Northern Ireland votes itself out of the Free State it will be dealt with by the appointment of a Governor of its own. I suppose it would be impracticable to leave the Northern Government responsible directly to His Majesty, and I assume the right hon. Gentleman means that there will be appointed a Governor, or Governor-General, or Lieutenant-Governor, or whatever he may be termed, for Northern Ireland. ... Article 3 of the Treaty says: The representative of the Crown in Ireland"— not in Southern Ireland[.]
 * Joseph Devlin: it is quite possible, if there were an impartial Governor-General of all Ireland, and if there were some wrong done or persecution continued against the already persecuted Roman Catholics of Ireland, that we might have a Governor-General to whom we could appeal, and so prevent the military forces in this country from being sent over there to back up the Government of hon. Members opposite, but, instead of that, you are giving them a Governor-General of their own, if they want one.
 * Charles Craig: We simply ask this Committee to affirm the principle, that whoever is to be in the position of Governor-General or Lieutenant-Governor, or whatever he may be in Southern Ireland, that individual shall not have anything to say in the government of Northern Ireland.
 * Robert Lynn: you would be having a Governor-General who might have to accept advice from two Governments, and their advice on a particular subject might be diametrically opposed.

On Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act 1922 in November:

Second reading:
 * Josiah Wedgwood: In every other of our Colonies and our Crown Colonies the expenses of the Governor are found by the Colony, but apparently in the case of Ulster we are to pay the piper.
 * Charles Craig: During the General Election returns for a number of writs from Ulster, including my own, were burnt when they got to Dublin. It is true that that did not cause us any great inconvenience, because they were able to send duplicates, which, apparently, served as well as the originals, because here we are. But I am informed that in the appointment of the new Governor of Ulster, these matters will be set right by reason of the fact that to him will be entrusted the Great Seal.
 * Charles Roberts: I think it was suggested by interjections that because Northern Ireland was contributing a large sum towards the Imperial expenses, it did not matter very much what we contributed to the Governor's salary. That seems to me a bad argument. I think this Governor is being paid too much. It is certainly much higher than the ordinary scale of a Governor. I do not know with what you ought to compare him. The Governor of Northern Ireland is certainly not more important than the Governor of New South Wales, who gets £5,000, whereas this man gets £8,000, to which we contribute £6,000. You can get a Governor to go to a tropical country like Kenya for £4,000, with, I think, an attendant allowance. It seems to me that the person with whom he should really be compared is the head of a provincial government in Canada or South Africa. They get about £2,500. You appear to be trying to set up in Northern Ireland a kind of diminished section of the Viceregal Court, and although I agree that out of his £8,000 the Governor has to find his personal staff, whatever that may be, are you going to set him up with a kind of general staff of a Governor-General? The personal staff of other provincial authorities is perhaps a private secretary or possibly an aide-de-camp. I think this is just the sort of extravagance of which the late Government were guilty.
 * Thomas Moles: He [Roberts] refrained from calling attention to the case of the Governor of Gibraltar, which is a very much smaller place, and who, for a long period of years while the hon. and gallant Gentleman was a Member of this House, was paid the sum of £8,000 a year. ... There is no analogy between the case of Canada or New South Wales because they do not make a shilling of Imperial contribution and they stand on a wholly different plane to Northern Ireland.
 * Joseph Kenworthy: The Governor of Gibraltar is always a distinguished soldier, usually an artillery or engineer officer, who performs the double function of Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the garrison; and to say that, because he has £8,000 a year, therefore the Governor of Northern Ireland should also have £8,000, is beside the point. ... I object to it because it is still further stereotyping partition. You will set up this petty viceregal court, a vested interest will grow up around it, and you will have, I am afraid, a certain amount of flunkeyism and snobbery, social influence, and so on, which will act as a bar to that union in Ireland which must come in the long run.
 * William Ormsby-Gore: In arriving at the figure, we have to take into account—comparing this officer with other Colonial Governors—that he will have to pay Income Tax and Super-tax at the full rate and he will have to pay all his staff out of his salary. In these circumstances I do not think the figure of £8,000, of which this House is asked to pay £6,000 and Belfast is asked to pay £2,000, is unreasonable. When you have taken into account the deduction which has to be made for Income Tax and Super-tax, which Colonial Governors have not got to meet, it brings the sum below £5,000. It is not excessive, and as to there being any idea of setting up an elaborate court, or anything of that kind, that, I gather, is not the intention. This was asked for by the Northern Government, was pressed for by Ulster, and I think it was a very reasonable figure to have fixed.

225–100 committee division in favour of money resolution which included salary of Governor:
 * Joseph Kenworthy: This £8,000 for a Governor of Northern Ireland is a luxury which is absolutely unnecessary and should not be imposed upon the British taxpayer. ... it has been admitted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the appointment of this Governor is pressed for by the people of Northern Ireland. If that be so, our argument is that Northern Ireland should pay for it.
 * Jack Jones: We are to have a Governor-General in the South of Ireland and another official to represent His Majesty in the North of Ireland. As an Irishman, I would like to see one representative only of Great Britain in Ireland, and he should use his influence with the object of bringing unity to the people of Ireland.
 * Josiah Wedgwood: It is perfectly possible for the Governor or the Viceroy in Dublin to spend part of his time in Belfast and to sign the documents and act as Viceroy in Belfast as well as in Dublin, and to say a suggestion of that sort is to impose autocracy upon Ireland or to impose a sort of Government they do not want is simply playing with the facts. We know perfectly well that if you have more of these Governors it merely means more centres of flunkeydom, more expense, more interference between the representatives of the people and the people themselves, and is in any case thoroughly reactionary.
 * Stanley Baldwin: this Clause in the Bill, as many other Clauses are, is really the fulfilment of a pledge. [quotes Churchill in March]

Report of money resolution:
 * William Pringle: Churchill, as representing the Government, at that time [In March] said that, if Northern Ireland desired a Governor, then the late Government was prepared to agree. I would like to know, in reference to that statement, first of all, whether the Northern Government have made application, and secondly, whether before the Northern Government made application it had the assent of the. Northern Parliament to that application. ... I submit that it is not necessary, in the case of a subordinate Government and of a subordinate Parliament so near to Great Britain, to have a Governor at all. ... Before the Union, Scotland for 100 years had a separate Parliament, and during the whole of that time there was no Governor-General or Viceroy, and the affairs of Scotland were perfectly well managed without any continuous representative of the Sovereign in that country. ... The Northern Government and the Northern Parliament have created so many offices, that if they desire another they ought to pay for it themselves.
 * Richard Wallhead: 10 or 15 years hence in such a contingency [Irish reunification], there would be a claim put forward for the payment of a lump sum in compensation for loss of income to the gentleman who occupied the office of Governor at that particular moment.

Committee stage:
 * William Pringle: The only defence made by the Government is that the Premier of Northern Ireland has insisted that this office shall be created for the benefit of Northern Ireland. I can understand the motive s which led the Premier of Northern Ireland to make that request. He found that, under the arrangements of the Irish Free State Constitution, the representative of the Crown in the South of Ireland was to be virtually selected by the Government of the Free State, and Northern Ireland felt that a representative so selected would not be acceptable as the representative of the Crown in Northern Ireland, and in these conditions Northern Ireland said, "We must seek another arrangement." The first idea that occurred to their mind was that there should be a Governor. He made that request and, as I understand it, the late Government yielded to the request ... I suggest that that consideration should not be binding either upon the Government or this House ... the anticipation on the part of Members of the Northern Parliament is that that Parliament will sit for not more than three months in the year. Surely, then, it is totally unnecessary to have a representative of the Crown in Belfast during the whole year ... This idea for Northern Ireland is due partly to the analogy of the Colonies and partly to the fact that Ireland has always been accustomed to having a Viceroy in Dublin.
 * Hugh O'Neill: Under the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 that old salary of £20,000 a year was not interfered with, but of that £20,000 a year the Imperial Government was to pay £15,000 and the Irish Governments, Northern and Southern together, were to pay £5,000. ... Instead of there being a Lord Lieutenant of all Ireland at £20,000 a year, there is to be a Governor for Northern Ireland at £8,000 a year and the proportion of eight to 20 has always been adopted in all adjustments as between Northern and Southern Ireland. ... This proposal simply continues under this present Measure the state of affairs which existed under the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 and applies it to Northern Ireland.
 * Richard Wallhead: I certainly think this Committee has a right to protest against what may be described as a Brobdignagian salary for a Lilliputian job ... I enter my protest against the erection here of vested interests which will render the union of Northern and Southern Ireland improbable if not impossible.
 * George Buchanan: I have heard no one say anything as to what duties are to be performed by the gentleman who is to be appointed to the office.
 * William Ormsby-Gore: Every one of these salaries has been fixed at below what the occupant of these posts is expected to spend. ... I think it is impracticable to suggest that the Governor-General of the Free State should fulfil the same functions in regard to the separate area of Northern Ireland. I do not think he could. The Free State would want him and his services for signatures to documents, for communications with His Majesty's Government, and for all the public functions which the head of the State and the representative of the Crown has to undertake, functions of many kinds. Those functions could not, in my opinion, be performed by one and the same man
 * William Wedgwood Benn: the first technical objection to appointing anybody at all is that it would give to Ulster the power of appointing the President for the whole of the Council of Ireland.
 * Josiah Wedgwood: whether a definite promise or not, it [Churchill's] cannot be held binding on a Liberal Government and a different Parliament, and least of all can it be held binding on those people in the old House of Commons who did not agree with the pledge, and who had no part in it. ... by establishing a Governorship for Northern Ireland, they will be setting up another vested interest to prevent the unity of Ireland in the years to come ... the whole idea of the Viceroy in Dublin is to be perpetuated now by the Governor in Belfast. We shall have the same Court, the same functionaries, the same Court dressmakers and the same flunkeyism that used to exist in Dublin.
 * William Ormsby-Gore: The duty of this Governor will be the duty of any other representative of the Crown whether under the Government of Ireland or elsewhere

Abercorn
Abercorn had a "Governor's Guard" from 1922 which was stationed at Hillsborough and his private residence, Baronscourt. It was composed of Ulster Special Constabulary ex-servicemen and commanded by Captain Howard de Courcy Martelli, ex-Auxiliary Division, who in 1925 was made Abercorn's aide-de-camp,

In the 1920s John McGee advertised his Ulster coat as "by appointment to His Grace the Governor of Northern Ireland".

1954-5
Ulster Mirror, a 15-minute magazine show by BBC Northern Ireland launched in 1954, often reported on the Governor's activities. It was broadcast across Great Britain from April 1955 but its bland pro-unionist content could not compete with the launch of ITV that autumn and it was cancelled. Lord Wakehurst made 16 mm home movies documenting his time as Governor, which are preserved at National Museums Northern Ireland. Some are available online. Edited extracts with Wakehurst's commentary were televised by BBC Northern Ireland in 1955 as A Governor's Notebook; he claimed Queen Elizabeth II's 1953 visit showed the "overwhelming affection and loyalty of the people of Northern Ireland".

In 1955, the Gov presented shamrock to the Royal Ulster Rifles at Wuppertal, West Germany.

Irish Peers 1966

 * [p. xiii-xiv]
 * [No. 11] Pursuant to the passing of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 [10 & 11 Geo. 5. c. 67 s. 44(2)] the executive functions of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland were transferred to the Lord Lieutenant [S.R.O. 1921 No. 1130]. Upon the passing of the Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act 1922 (Section [recte Session] 2) [13 Geo. 5. c.2] it was provided by section 1 thereof that subject to the provisions of the First Schedule the Government of Ireland Act 1920 [13 Geo. 5. c2 -- recte 10 & 11 Geo. 5. c. 67] shall cease to apply to any part of Ireland other than Northern Ireland. By paragraph 1 of the First Schedule to the said Act of 1922 there was to be a Governor of Northern Ireland to take the place of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and the provisions of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, relating to the Lord Lieutenant applied to the Government of Northern Ireland and in all enactments, references to the Lord Lieutenant were to be construed as made to the Governor of Northern Ireland. By Part II of the Second Schedule to the said Act of 1922 [13 Geo. 5. c.2]  the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was abolished. On the 2nd day of June 1949 the Ireland Act [12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6. c. 41] was enacted whereby it was recognized and declared that the part of Ireland known as Eire had ceased as from the 18th day of April 1949 to be part of His Majesty's dominions and was thenceforth in all future Acts and instruments to be referred to as the Republic of Ireland. It was further declared that Northern Ireland remained part of His Majesty's dominions and of the United Kingdom and that at no time should Northern Ireland cease to be such part as aforesaid without the consent of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.
 * [No. 12.] On the 5th day of December 1922 when the Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act 1922 [13 Geo. 5 c. 2] came into force there were twenty eight Representative Peers of the peerage of Ireland elected for life with the right to sit and vote in this Right Honourable House. Eight such Representative Peers were surviving in 1949. The last of the said Representative Peers, the 4th Earl of Kilmorey, died on the 12th day of January 1961. On a day in March 1964 a certificate of the death of the said 4th Earl was delivered to the Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom in the manner required by the said Act of Union [39 & 40 Geo. 3 c .67]. No writ to further the election of a Representative Peer of Ireland in the room of the said 4th Earl of Kilmorey has, to the knowledge of the Petitioners, been issued thereafter. The Petitioners, save and except the Lords Garvagh and Castlemaine (who have not yet complied with all formal requirements entitling them to vote) are now and have at all times been ready, able and willing to effect such an election.
 * [No. 13]. During the period from the 5th day of December 1922 when the Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act 1922 (Section 2) [13 Geo. 5. c.2] came into force it has become the practice recognized by this Right Honourable House to establish succession to a peerage of Ireland by petitioning this Right Honourable House for the right to vote at the election of Representative Peers for Ireland and such Petitions are referred by this Right Honourable House to the Lord Chancellor, who, if satisfied as to the said right, reports accordingly to this Right Honourable House . But if he is not so satisfied, the claim may be referred to the Committee for Privileges. This practice is exemplified in the instances of the succession of the present Lord Dunboyne the present Viscount Dillon and the present Viscount Bangor. But it is to be noted that a change in the procedure occurred between the 22nd day of October 1946 and the 16th day of May 1953. On the presentation of Petitions by the present Lord Dunboyne and the present Viscount Dillon to this Right Honourable House on the 22nd day of October 1946 the Lord Chancellor reported [L. J. CLVI pp. 431, 432 Annexure No. 5] that each had established to his satisfaction his succession respectively and the right of each to vote at any elections of Representative Peers for Ireland according to the statutes in force relating thereto. Thereupon this Right Honourable House ordered the said reports to lie on the Table and that they be sent to The Clerk of the Crown in Ireland together with certificates that such reports had been made. On the presentation of a Petition by the present Viscount Bangor on the 6th day of May 1953 to this Right Honourable House the Lord Chancellor reported in like manner as in the cases of the Lord Dunboyne and Viscount Dillon and the report was ordered to lie on the Table.[L. J. CLXXXV p. 182] No reference is made to the Clerk of the Crown in Ireland.
 * [paraph] Gov NI did issue writs (as well as for Stormont Commons and Senate) for Westminster Commons elections but not for Lords summons
 * I think Cttee's argument for rejecting the petition was, not that LCI's power failed to transfer to GovNI, but rather, than Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper had ceased to exist and not transferred and no mechanism to workaround. But compare
 * [p.34] What I suggest is that what was transferred [in 1922] to the Governor of Northern Ireland was purely the duties and functions which related to Northern Ireland and undoubtedly the duties and functions which may or may not have been transferred [in 1920] from the Lord Chancellor to the Lord Lieutenant did not relate to Northern Ireland at all. They related to Ireland as a whole.
 * [p.51] I would say that there is nothing which the Governor; can do in relation to what is now the Republic of Ireland. In my submission, these words make it clear that the Governor; of Northern Ireland inherits certain functions of the Lord Lieutenant, but only in their application to Northern Ireland. Therefore, my Lords, it is impossible, in my submission, to contend that the Governor; steps into the shoes formerly worn by the Lord Chancellor and that he can issue a direction to a now non-existent Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper, presumably in Dublin, to hold elections covering the whole of Ireland ; the thing would go to persons who are entirely outside his jurisdiction and with whom he has nothing to do.
 * Of the three "opinions", only the third mentions Governor explicitly but all make similar argument.
 * [p. 66; Lord Reid] So if the Irish representative peers were elected to represent Ireland I cannot see how there could now be an election of a peer to represent something which no longer exists politically . A statutory pro vision becomes obsolete if the state of things on which its existence depended has ceased to exist so that its object is no longer attainable . Or putting it in another way a statutory provision is virtually or impliedly repealed if a later enactment brings to an end a state of things the continuance of which is essential for its operation . On the other hand if I could hold that the Irish representative peers sat as representatives of the Irish peerage, I would not find it possible to say that any right of the Irish peerage to be represented in this House had lapsed or has been repealed.
 * [pp. 68-9; Viscount Dilhorne] When the Free State and Northern Ireland were created, Ireland as an entity ceased to be part of the United Kingdom. It necessarily follows that there was no territory called Ireland to be represented in the United Kingdom Parliament and thereafter it was in my opinion no longer possible to elect an Irish peer to sit and vote in the House of Lords on the part of Ireland for to do so would have meant the election of peers to represent a territory which had ceased to exist as a political entity and as part of the United Kingdom.
 * [pp. 72-3; Lord Wilberforce] It seems to me to be clear that, as the result of these express statutory provisions, the functions with regard to the election of Irish peers formerly exercisable by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, were not thenceforth exercisable by any person: not by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, because the office had been abolished: not by the Lord Lieutenant, because the office no longer existed: not by the Governor of Northern Ireland because the reference in the Act of 1920 to the Lord Lieutenant (as having transferred to him the executive functions of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland) could only thereafter be construed as referring to the Governor of Northern Ireland in a matter having "application to Northern Ireland". The election of 28 representative Irish Peers cannot in my opinion be considered as such a matter. The “mode” whereby alone the presence of Irish peers in your Lordships' house could be brought about was, therefore, removed in 1922 and could only be restored by fresh legislation.

See also

1972-3
Governor's functions handed off by Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972 to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, but office not abolished until s, 32 (1) of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.

130,000 unionists signed a petition calling on the British government to keep him in his post.

Did the Governor prorogue Stormont before the 1872 act took his powers?

In fact 1969-72 UK govt plans that became the Temporary Provisions Act envisaged the executive being in the hands of the Governor, until UK govt decided a SSNI would be more democratically accountable.

What did Lord Grey do in the interim? Probably many NI groups founded a year or two after NI was established had 50th-anniversary celebrations: below list has RUC and ADCNI.


 * 1972/0613 RUC golden jubilee passing out parade, gave out two awards
 * 1972/0704 Belfast City Council voted freedom of city to him and wife
 * 1972/0906 Spoke at 50th and last annual meeting of Assn of District Councils of NI
 * 30 October 1972 opened the Ulster Museum
 * 1972/1122 QE2 wrote to him to thank NI people for silver wedding anniversary good wishes
 * 1972/1219 Maj Robert Stevens represented Gov at funeral of George Chambers, RUC, killed by gunmen
 * 1972/1221 private secretary Maj R Stevens represented Gov at funeral of William Johnston, Armagh city councillor, shot by gunmen
 * 1973/0101 new year message
 * 1973/0110 luncheon in honour of firemen's work over past 4 years by Northern Ireland Fire Liaison Panel
 * 1973/0216 surveys bomb damage in Derry
 * 1973/02277 Lady Grey one of sponsors of "Youth in Action for Peace", cross-community youth club interactions
 * 1973/0302 Maj R Stevens represented Gov at funeral of William Raymond Wylie, RUC shot


 * 1973/0129 no longer signed warrants for QCs -- Whitelaw did

25 June 1973 Grey left NI. "The last Governor, Lord Grey of Naunton, and Lady Grey, by their tact and sympathy had won the esteem of the entire community, and their departure on 26 June was much regretted: the new bridge across the Lagan in Belfast was named the Governor's Bridge in tribute to Lord Grey."

raw links
http://lafayette.org.uk/cra3290a.html

https://books.google.ie/books?id=au_eDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT130&lpg=PT130&dq=Stephen+Tallents%22+%22Northern+Ireland%22&source=bl&ots=_TxVGjAgZ5&sig=ACfU3U3fa5JJ6uh3s4FwGjhg2hhIo6jJxQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiYhLjRvJz7AhWZEMAKHeV_B584PBDoAXoECAoQAg#v=onepage&q&f=false fn139

https://www.dib.ie/biography/tallents-sir-stephen-george-a8461

https://www.jstor.org/stable/44027488

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198217527.003.0006

https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-sijis/article/download/13746/12752/

https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/belfasts-big-welcome-for-first-governor-general-of-northern-ireland

Quotes
direct quotes [unless stated otherwise]


 * [para] letter from rector of Hillsborough parish, Down stating that the reason no Governor had ever attended RC service was because never invited


 * The British Government had also a clear power of legislative veto, as all Stormont legislation had to receive the assent of the Governor of Northern Ireland. He was obliged to give or


 * "Were the UK authorities bound to accept any law enacted by the Northern Ireland Parliament within its own powers even if they were antipathetic to it? There were in reality three possible sanctions available." (1) "goodwill of UK Governments for financial and other support" (2) "supreme legislative power reserved by section 75" of GIA 1920 (3) "Or the Royal Assent to a Northern Ireland Bill could be reserved or withheld. The mechanism here was that the Royal Assent was conveyed by the Governor of Northern Ireland, who in turn could be instructed by the secretary of state (then the Home Secretary) to delay or withhold ... In practice the giving of consent was deferred on only one occasion, in the earliest days of devolution, and even then was ultimately given."


 * the Governor of Northern Ireland represented the government [of NI] at his [John XXIII's] funeral


 * The Governor of Northern Ireland headed the administration and represented the British monarch by whom he was appointed. It was a position comparable to that of the Governor-General (Viceroy) of India.


 * or delegated by the King to the Governor of Northern Ireland. Calvert suggests an alternative … for the United Kingdom, so the Governor of Northern Ireland is his symbolic delegatee of all


 * [see also]


 * [paraphrase] In June 1971 through Mon O'Driscoll, Chairman of Allied Irish Banks, T. K. Whitaker was invited to meet Governor Lord Grey in Belfast. He went in July and presented an outline paper, N.I. A Possible Solution, broadly similar to Sunningdale and the GFA framework. In October O'Driscoll hosted a dinner party in Belfast attended by Whitaker, Grey, James Callaghan, Harry Tuzo, Maurice Hayes, Eric Gallagher, Howard Smith, William Philbin, and Monsignor [Patrick J.] Mullally [who often liaised between Philbin and the NI state ].

1958 swearing-in was televised by BBC.


 * In fact, the degree of contempt with which the Governor of Northern Ireland was held cannot be underestimated. At a meeting between Prime Minister Brian Faulkner and Lord Grey in


 * Scotland and Wales devolution mirrors "Whitehall, wherein the Prime Minister enjoys the flexibility of the royal prerogative in creating, merging and disposing of ministries as required. By contrast, in the Northern Ireland Act 1998 ... the appointment of Ministers is statutorily prescribed,[ 4] as is the existence of departments .... This bi-level Executive structure [goes back to 1921]. Originally, the Northern Ireland Executive consisted in Ministers who were the chief administrators of statutorily created departments, and while required to be members of the erstwhile bicameral Stormont Parliament, they were appointed by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and held office at his pleasure.[ 6] With the emergence of the Irish Free State, the executive powers of the Lord Lieutenant were transferred to the newly created Governor of Northern Ireland,[ 7] with the consequence that this executive continued to govern Northern Ireland without needing parliamentary confidence until its suspension in 1972[ 8] and abolition in 1973.[ 9] Against this history of non-responsible government, the current arrangements marked a radical departure."

a tripartite structure of accountability between the Governor of Northern Ireland, and a newly
 * For the first time the force was to be taken out of direct political control and located within


 * [p. xxviii] Cowan discusses power to select PM; UK Conservative 1957 OK but 1963 criticised and 1964 parl vote used, as per UK Labour 1957 decision and Aus NZ earlier precedents.


 * [para] Governor led annual commemoration at Belfast Cenotaph of the 36th (Ulster) Division on the anniversary of the First day on the Somme.


 * [the only Governor with an article in Dictionary of Irish Biography]


 * [the only Governor with an article in Dictionary of Ulster Biography]


 * It is bogus democracy when all the powers of the Governor of Northern Ireland, its parliament and government are concentrated in the hands of one man.


 * Cardinal Conway’s position remained unaltered: he accepted the existence of the state de facto and worked with its agents in practical matters, but would not go out of his way to show any positive cordiality towards it. He had already paid a visit to Government House: but at the Governor’s request this had not been made public.


 * The Cabinet debated whether they should instruct the Governor of Northern Ireland to appoint a Commissioner to represent Northern Ireland, but rejected this as it believed that it would


 * [p 179] The Cabinet debated whether they should instruct the Governor of Northern Ireland to appoint a Commissioner to represent Northern Ireland but rejected this as it believed that it would be so controversial that the ultimate award or decision would be legally challenged.
 * [p 181] The Irish Free State (Confirmation of Agreement) Act received the Royal Assent on 9 October 1924, by which time the [UK] Government had appointed a Northern Ireland representative to the Boundary Commission, which met for the first time on 6 November.


 * As in recent years, there were present the representatives of the two States, the Governor of Northern Ireland himself and a representative of the President of the Republic


 * [p 52] Finally, the 1920 Act explicitly maintained the national, UK Parliament’s ultimate authority over the Northern Ireland Parliament at Stormont, through four rules (Lawrence, 1965, p.27-28). 16 The most important of these was that the Northern Ireland Governor would withhold Royal assent of any Bill, if asked to do so by Westminster. This in effect gave Westminster the right of veto over any bills passed by Stormont, even if they related to matters transferred to the Northern Ireland Parliament.17
 * [fn 16] These were that 1.) the supreme authority of the UK Parliament in Northern Ireland was undiminished, 2.) Stormont could not repeal or alter any Act passed by the UK Parliament and which extended to Northern Ireland, 3.) Stormont’s statutes could not contradict and statutes passed by the UK Parliament and which extended to Northern Ireland, 4.) the Governor of Northern Ireland must comply with any instructions by the Crown in respect of any Bill and reserve the Royal assent if so directed (Lawrence, 1965, p.27-28)
 * [fn 17] The importance of the role of the Governor, and their interaction with Stormont, is best described by the Parliamentary Draftsman to the Government of Northern Ireland, Quekett (1928, p.36), who outlines how “All executive and administrative powers as respects matters over which the Parliament of Northern Ireland has jurisdiction remain vested in the Crown, and are exercised by the Governor through departments which had been established by the Lord Lieutenant on the 7th June 1921”


 * [p 19] Parliament ... consists of the Queen, the Senate and the House of Commons. The Governor of Northern Ireland summons, prorogues and dissolves Parliament in the Queen’s name and gives the Royal assent to Bills.
 * [p 22] Executive power, vested in the sovereign, may be exercised on her behalf by the Governor of Northern Ireland; but the framers of the constitution did not expect, in Ulster any more than Britain, that the monarch or her representative would actually direct the administration. They therefore gave the force of law to several rules which in the United Kingdom are conventions. Thus, Parliament must meet at least once a year,3 and the Governor’s executive powers in transferred matters are to be exercised through departments headed by Ministers who must be members both of the Parliament (within six months of their taking office) and of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland and who, together with any other persons appointed as Ministers, constitute an executive committee of the Privy Council called the Executive Committee of Northern Ireland
 * [p 27] The question whether any Act, Order or Bill is beyond the powers of Parliament can be referred also to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The reference is made by the Queen in Council on the representation of the Governor of Northern Ireland or a Secretary of State or on the petition of any person. The only case occurred in 1936, when Belfast Corporation unsuccessfully pleaded that a levy imposed on the poor rate and paid to the local Exchequer to help finance education was the same in character as income tax and so outside Stormont’s powers.
 * [p 28] Act by four rules : (a) the supreme authority in Northern Ireland of the United Kingdom Parliament remains undiminished;1 ( b ) Stormont cannot repeal or alter the constituent Act or any United Kingdom statute passed after 3 May 1921 and extending to Northern Ireland;2 ( c ) Northern Ireland statutes are void to the extent that they are repugnant to United Kingdom statutes passed after 3 May 1921 and extending to Northern Ireland;3 (d) the Governor must comply with any instructions by the Crown in respect of any Bill and reserve the Royal assent if so directed
 * [p 93] Finally, the Joint Exchequer Board, on which Northern Ireland is represented and which is evidently more active than before the war,1 is an in¬ dependent arbiter. The Board receives the Estimates, fixes the imperial contribution, determines Ulster’s revenue, and over the whole field of financial relations is the judge in any dispute that may arise between the Treasury and the Ministry of Finance.
 * [p 93 fn 1, paraphrase] Sir J. M. Erskine was chairman of the Board in 1956 and appointed Governor in 1964 (as Lord Erskine)


 * Specifically, it gave the Governor of Northern Ireland power to ‘make regulations for securing the essentials of life to the community’.


 * with the Union Jack in one comer and with the O'Neill shield surrounded by six stars, but that this flag, together with other insignia representing the Governor of Northern Ireland, never


 * [p 202] The British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, remarked to O’Neill at the onset of the Northern Ireland crisis that Ulster was rather like Rhodesia and the Governor of Northern Ireland, Lord Grey of Naunton, who had previously been Governor of British Guiana, was placed in a position almost as invidious as that of his Rhodesian counterpart.


 * Noteworthy too at that time, was the extensive personal movie collection compiled for television by the Governor of Northern Ireland, Lord Wakehurst.


 * as references to the Governor of Northern Ireland. By the second … : not by the Governor of Northern Ireland because the refer… as referring to the Governor of Northern Ireland in a matter


 * Whitaker responded to Newe's concerns by meeting, in Belfast, the governor of Northern Ireland Lord Grey and a group of prominent Northern Ireland Protestants


 * The governor of Northern Ireland, who was directly responsible to the Unionist minister of home affairs, appointed judges and magistrates, and the Queen appointed high-ranking


 * "the Governor was the centre's presence in Northern Ireland ... an extension of [GIA 1920 s 75]" ... [quotes 1941 memorandum functions 'not only formal', Gov should have 'broad outlook' and be 'neutral ground' where people of differing outlooks could meet and non-resident Gov would 'have to confine himself to giving formal entertainments'] ... "It depended on the individual ... The Duke of Abercorn commanded some respect in Northern Ireland whereas Lord Erskine, who graduated to the governorship via the Joint Exchequer Board, had little local influence"


 * [p 45 fn 12] Despite the Governor holding this power, Westminster rarely called upon him to exert this power, preferring to leave the Northern Irish Government to its own devices. Birrell and Murie, Policy and Government, p. 12.
 * [pp 45-6, paraphrase] September 1944 Basil Brooke suggested Commander Oscar Henderson, private secretary to the Governor of Northern Ireland, should be on planning committee for Belfast victory celebrations
 * [p 52 fn 70] The Governor was angered that the Northern Irish government could not ensure the late opening hours of public houses, similar to Britain. He threatened to put forward an Order-in-Council to guarantee this late opening. Gransden, on considering the Governor’s position, replied that the Cabinet felt that they could do little to alter the statute which dictated the opening hours of licensed premises in Northern Ireland
 * [p 58] As the Governor reached the Cathedral he was greeted by a Guard of Honour of the three Services and a band ... hierarchical positioning of the guests
 * [p 200] Home Office: HO 45/20942 – Governor of Northern Ireland – Note by Mr. Peake on Possibility of Abolishing the Office of Governor


 * by May 1928 the foundation-stone for the new structure had been laid by the Governor of Northern Ireland, the Duke of Abercorn


 * [p. 31] LL replaced by G in NI in 1922
 * [p. 34] If two Hs of Parl disagreed, Gov could convoke a joint meeting, but never needed to
 * [p. 137] Crumlin


 * Anglo-Irish Agreement signed at Hillsborough as SSNI residence, but also formerly GNI residence optics


 * 1 of the First Schedule to the Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1922, substituted the new office of Governor of Northern Ireland for the historic office of Lord Lieutenant, the


 * criticized because of its portrayal of loyalist Protestant organizations, but its première, like many others, amounted to a semi-state occasion attended by the governor of Northern Ireland


 * The cardinal himself had taken the initiative in this by paying a visit to the governor of Northern Ireland, lord Grey, but at the latter's request kept the meeting secret.


 * a new generation of Catholic churchmen gave symbolic expression to attempts at reconciliation. William Philbin, on his appointment as bishop of Down and Connor, paid a visit to Belfast City Hall in 1962(FN25) and at his enthronement speech made deliberate reference to a new era of understanding.(FN26) He would later pay a visit to the governor of Northern Ireland, several years before Cardinal Conway's famous if clandestine meeting.(FN27) ... By [August 1971] Conway had met the governor of Northern Ireland [when?] and for the first time in the history of the state the primate had a meeting with the prime minister [29 August 1969].(FN48)


 * [summary of Lowry 2022]
 * "the Governor’s discretionary role became more apparent in the appointment of Prime Ministers Terence O’Neill and James Chichester-Clark"
 * "An exceptional degree of autonomy extended to the exercise of the Royal Prerogative of mercy by the Governor in cases of capital murder, on the direct advice of his Prime Minister, rather than on the advice of the British ministers at Westminster."
 * "An exceptional degree of autonomy extended to the exercise of the Royal Prerogative of mercy by the Governor in cases of capital murder, on the direct advice of his Prime Minister, rather than on the advice of the British ministers at Westminster."


 * Between 1945 and 1952 the second holder of the office was Earl Granville, who, in contrast to the other four Governors and their wives, was directly connected to the royal family ... These familial connections were met with intense criticism within nationalist circles, with claims of occupation by a ‘foreign power’, while unionist newspapers reacted positively ... Lady Granville is a sister of the Queen ... Earl Granville’s time in office was characterised by increased royal visits to Hillsborough Castle ... Government House offered a secure environment in which the young Princess could learn the ropes of royal duties [1945 with parents, 1946 "first solo trip ... outside Britain", 1949 with Philip]


 * the Government of Northern Ireland issued this communiqué last week in Belfast :
 * The King, on recommendation of R. B. Bennett, Prime Minister of Canada, offered the Governor Generalship of that Dominion to the Duke of Abercorn, but the Duke felt he should remain in Ulster to complete his second term of office and therefore could not see his way to accept this appointment.
 * ... To brand Bessborough publicly as a second choice, to reveal blandly that the Duke of Abercorn has turned Canada down, preferring to remain Governor of Northern Ireland—"that," sputtered the Liberal London Star last week, "is one of those things which are 'not done.' We cannot recall an indiscretion of parallel magnitude in connection with a command from royalty. ... In Court circles ... this gross discourtesy ... to the Crown ... has not passed unnoticed."


 * In an official souvenir handbook, the Governor of Northern Ireland hailed the Festival as “a source of new inspiration to all who value the British way of life and are ready to play their


 * Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester was made "a Knight of St Patrick in 1934 ... following a successful tour of the province of Northern Ireland. The Governor, the Duke of Abercorn, recommended him, with the approval of the Prime Minister, Lord Craigavon. The King reminded the Governor that appointments were made by him alone, and then gave it to his son."


 * no government involvement in or recognition of St Patrick’s Day, apart from a number of dinners or dances on the day, organised by the duke of Abercorn as governor of Northern Ireland


 * GIA 1920 reserved "matters relating to" NI Sup Ct of Jud (HC and CA) to Westminster; lower-court judges, and AG, were appointed by Govnr on advice of PMNI


 * "There was also a Governor of Northern Ireland, who mattered even less than the Senate." The Senate "developed into a sinecure for politicians who couldn't or wouldn't get into the lower house" and "has been largely ignored by historians of the period".

NILQ various
 * At that meeting the chancellor, Lord Grey, a former governor of Northern Ireland, gave his word that, at the next meeting, there would be a properly reasoned submission arguing the
 * "In December 1926 the benchers petitioned King George V, through the then governor of Northern Ireland (his Grace the Duke of Abercorn), seeking permission to use the words "The Honorable"
 * "In September 1970, Lord Grey of Naunton, the present Governor of Northern Ireland, honoured the Inn of Court by accepting election as an Honorary Bencher"