View source for Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baron Rathcavan

{{Short description|British politician (1883-1982)}}
{{Other people|Hugh O'Neill}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Lord Rathcavan
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|PC|PCi|PCni}} [[DL]]
| image =
|office = [[Father of the House (United Kingdom)|Father of the House of Commons]]
|term_start = 25 October 1951
|term_end = 8 October 1952
|predecessor = [[Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton|The 6th Earl Winterton]]
|successor = [[David Grenfell]]
|office2          = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br/>[[Lords temporal|Lord temporal]]
|term_start2      = 11 February 1953
|term_end2 = 28 November 1982<br/>[[Hereditary peerage|Hereditary Peerage]]
|successor2 = [[Phelim O'Neill, 2nd Baron Rathcavan|The 2nd Baron Rathcavan]]
| office4 = [[North Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)|Member of Parliament for <br />North Antrim]]<br />{{small|[[Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)|Antrim]] '''(1922–1950)'''<br />[[Mid Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Antrim]] '''(1915–1922)'''}}
| term_start4 = 17 February 1915
| term_end4 = 8 October 1952
| predecessor4 = [[Arthur O'Neill]]
| successor4 = [[Phelim O'Neill, 2nd Baron Rathcavan|Phelim O'Neill]]
| birth_date = 8 June 1883
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1982|11|28|1883|6|8}}
| death_place =
| nationality = [[British people|British]]
| party = [[Irish Unionist Alliance|Irish Unionist]]<br />[[Ulster Unionist Party|Ulster Unionist]]
| spouse =
| father = [[Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill|Edward O'Neill]]
| relatives = [[Phelim O'Neill, 2nd Baron Rathcavan| Phelim O'Neill]] (son)
| education = [[Eton College]]
| alma_mater = [[New College, Oxford]]
}}
'''Robert William Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baron Rathcavan''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|PC|PCi|PCni}} [[DL]] (8 June 1883 – 28 November 1982), known as '''Sir Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baronet''', from 1929 to 1953, was an [[Ulster Unionist Party|Ulster Unionist]] member of both the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] and the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]].
==Background and education==
O'Neill was the third son of [[Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill]], and the uncle of [[Terence O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine|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 (UK Parliament constituency)|Stockport]] in [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906]], he was first elected to the Westminster Parliament for [[Mid Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid-Antrim]] in 1915, he later represented [[Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)|Antrim]] and then [[North Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)|North Antrim]].
O'Neill was also elected to represent [[Antrim (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)|Antrim]] in the [[Northern Ireland House of Commons]] in 1921 and served as its first [[Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons|Speaker]], before standing down from his seat in 1929. On 17 June 1929 he was created a '''Baronet''', of Cleggan in the [[County Antrim|County of Antrim]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33509 |date=25 June 1929 |page=4189}}</ref> In 1934, he was appointed [[High Sheriff of Antrim]].<ref>{{London Gazette| city = b | issue = 656 |page=21 | date = 19 January 1934 }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39798 |date=13 March 1953 |page=1443}}</ref>
==Personal life==
Lord Rathcavan died in 1982 at the age of 99 and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, [[Phelim O'Neill, 2nd Baron Rathcavan|Phelim]].
==See also==
* [[List of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Lords]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
*[http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/biographies.html Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Biographies]
*{{Rayment|date=February 2012}}
*{{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}
== External links ==
* [https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/cleggan-lodge Cleggan Lodge]
* {{Hansard-contribs | hon-hugh-oneill | The Lord Rathcavan }}
* {{cite TIWW |article=O'Neill, Rt. Hon. R. W. Hugh |page=194 }}
{{S-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Arthur O'Neill]]}}
{{s-ttl
| title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Mid Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Antrim]]
| years  = [[1915 Mid Antrim by-election|1915]]–[[1922 United Kingdom general election|1922]]
}}
{{s-non | reason = Constituency abolished }}
{{s-new | constituency }}
{{s-ttl
| title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)|Antrim]] |with=[[Charles Craig (Unionist MP)|Charles Craig]] 1922–1929
|with2=[[Sir Joseph McConnell, 2nd Baronet|Sir Joseph McConnell]] 1929–1942
|with3=[[John Dermot Campbell]] 1943–1945
|with4=[[Samuel Gillmor Haughton]] 1945–1950
| years  = [[1922 United Kingdom general election|1922]]–[[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950]]
}}
{{s-non | reason = Constituency abolished }}
{{s-new | constituency }}
{{s-ttl
| title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[North Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)|North Antrim]]
| years  = [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950]]–[[1952 North Antrim by-election|1952]]
}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Phelim O'Neill, 2nd Baron Rathcavan|Phelim O'Neill]] }}
{{succession box | title=[[Father of the House]] | before=[[Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton|Earl Winterton]] | after=[[David Grenfell]]| years=1951–1952}}
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl
| title=[[Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons]]
| years= 1921–1929
}}
{{s-aft | after= [[Sir Henry Mulholland, 1st Baronet|Harry Mulholland]] }}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Under-Secretary of State for India and Burma]]
| before=[[Anthony Muirhead]]
| after=[[Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire|Duke of Devonshire]]
| years=1939–1940}}
{{s-hon}}
{{succession box | title=[[Lord Lieutenant of Antrim]] | before=[[James Graham Leslie]] | after=[[Richard Arthur Frederick Dobbs|Sir Richard Dobbs]] | years=1949–1959}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new|creation}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Baron Rathcavan]]
| years=1953–1982
}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Phelim O'Neill, 2nd Baron Rathcavan|Phelim O'Neill]] }}
{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{s-new|Creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Baron Rathcavan|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Cleggan)''' | years=1929–1982}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Phelim O'Neill, 2nd Baron Rathcavan|Phelim O'Neill]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Fathers of the House}}
{{Chairmen of the 1922 Committee}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rathcavan}}
[[Category:1883 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Barons Rathcavan|1]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British Yeomanry officers]]
[[Category:Chairmen of the 1922 Committee]]
[[Category:Royal Ulster Rifles officers]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Antrim]]
[[Category:Younger sons of barons]]
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Antrim]]
[[Category:Ulster Unionist Party MPs|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1921–1925|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1925–1929|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Antrim constituencies (1801–1922)|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Antrim constituencies (since 1922)|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910–1918|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1918–1922|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1922–1923|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1923–1924|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1924–1929|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1929–1931|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1931–1935|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1935–1945|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1945–1950|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1950–1951|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1951–1955|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]
[[Category:Imperial Yeomanry officers]]
[[Category:Speakers of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:Foreign Office personnel of World War II|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:Irish Unionist Party MPs|Oneill, Hugh]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for County Antrim constituencies]]
[[Category:Ulster Unionist Party hereditary peers]]
[[Category:Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Chamberlain wartime government, 1939–1940]]
[[Category:O'Neill dynasty]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]