Revision as of 11:31, 7 January 2007
Sir Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge, 8th Baronet PC (NI) (23 July 1894 - 21 Jan 1981), born in Bryansford, County Down, was speaker of the Northern Ireland Parliament for 23 years, an Ulster Unionist MP (Mid-Armagh 1938-1969) , Lord Lieutenant of Armagh (1939-1981), President of the Northern Ireland Council of the Royal British Legion, and Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Black Institution. He was assassinated in 1981 at Tynan Abbey, his home.
Family Life and Career
Sir Norman was educated at Eton. In the First World War he served with the 10th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, as Lieutenant and later as Captain. He was decorated with the Military Cross and the Belgian Croix de Guerre. After the Battle of the Somme began he was the first soldier mentioned in despatches by Lord Haig.
He was also a member of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland and, in latter years, farmed the family's several thousand acre estate.
He was married to Gladys Olive Hall and had issue:
- James Stronge. Killed with his father.
- Daphne Marian Stronge. Married Mr Thomas Kingham.
- Evelyn Elizabeth Stronge
- Rosemary Diana Stronge (died as a child)
Assassination
After his retirement from active politics in 1969, Sir Norman was assassinated, alongside his son James, by the IRA in the library of his home, Tynan Abbey, on the evening of 21st January 1981. The Stronge family's home was then burnt to the ground. The bodies of the father and son were later recovered from their blazing home.
On seeing the explosions at the house (and a flare Sir Norman lit in an attempt to alert the authorities), policemen and British troops arrived at the scene and established a road-block at the gate lodge. They encountered at least eight fleeing gunmen. There followed a gunfight lasting 20 minutes in which at least 200 shots were fired. There were no casualties among the security forces.
Sir Norman was described at the time of his death by Catholic Politician Austin Currie as having been "even at 86 years of age...still incomparably more of a man than the cowardly dregs of humanity who ended his life in this barbaric way."
He is presumed to have been succeeded to the Baronetcy by his son James, who was murdered alongside him. , albeit only briefly.
External link
Sources
- Burke's Peerage & Baronetage. 1975.
- IRA Atrocities
See also
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded bySir Charles Edmond Sinclair Stronge, 7th Baronet |
Baronet (of Tynan) 1939–1981 |
Succeeded byCapt. Sir James Stronge, 9th Baronet |
| Parliament of Northern Ireland | ||
| Preceded by(not known) | MP Mid-Armagh 1938–1969 |
Succeeded byCapt. Sir James Stronge, 9th Baronet |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byBasil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough |
Father of the House 1968–1969 |
Succeeded byTerence O'Neill |