Edward Carson

The Right Honourable The Lord Carson PC PC (Ire), KC
Minister without portfolio
In office 17 July 1917 – 20 January 1918 Serving with Arthur Henderson (until Aug 1917), The Viscount Milner, Jan Smuts, George Barnes (from Aug 1917)
Prime Minister	David Lloyd George
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office 10 December 1916 – 17 July 1917
Prime Minister	David Lloyd George
Preceded by	Arthur Balfour
Succeeded by	Sir Eric Geddes
Leader of the Opposition
In office 19 October 1915 – 6 December 1916
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	H. H. Asquith
Preceded by	Bonar Law (May 1915)
Succeeded by	H. H. Asquith
Attorney General for England
In office 25 May 1915 – 19 October 1915
Prime Minister	H. H. Asquith
Preceded by	Sir John Simon
Succeeded by	Sir F. E. Smith
Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
In office June 1911 – 10 February 1921
Preceded by	Walter Long
Succeeded by	James Craig
Leader of the Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party
In office 21 February 1910 – June 1921
Preceded by	Walter Long
Succeeded by	The Earl of Midleton
Solicitor-General for England
In office 11 May 1900 – 4 December 1905
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour
Preceded by	Sir Robert Finlay
Succeeded by	Sir William Robson
Solicitor General for Ireland
In office 20 June 1892 – 11 August 1892
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	John Atkinson
Succeeded by	Charles Hemphill
Member of Parliament for Belfast Duncairn
In office 14 December 1918 – 31 May 1921
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Thomas McConnell
Member of Parliament for Dublin University
In office 4 July 1892 – 14 December 1918
Preceded by	Dodgson Hamilton Madden
Succeeded by	Sir Robert Woods
Personal details
Born	(1854-02-09)9 February 1854 Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
Died	22 October 1935(1935-10-22) (aged 81) Minster-in-Thanet, Kent, United Kingdom
Political party	Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Party
Other political affiliations	Liberal (until 1886) Liberal Unionist
Spouse	Annette Kirwan ​ ​ (m. 1879; died 1913)​
Children	5
Alma mater	Trinity College Dublin
Profession	Barrister

Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, PC, PC (Ire), KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician, barrister and judge, who was the Attorney General and Solicitor General for England, Wales and Ireland as well as the First Lord of the Admiralty for the British Royal Navy. From 1905 Carson was both the Irish Unionist Alliance MP for the Dublin University constituency and leader of the Ulster Unionist Council in Belfast. In 1915, he entered the war cabinet of H. H. Asquith as Attorney-General. Carson was defeated in his ambition to maintain Ireland as a whole in union with Great Britain. His leadership, however, was celebrated by some for securing a continued place in the United Kingdom for the six north-eastern counties, albeit under a devolved Parliament of Northern Ireland that neither he nor his fellow unionists had sought. He is also remembered for his open ended cross examination of Oscar Wilde in a legal action that led to plaintiff Wilde being prosecuted, gaoled and ruined. Carson unsuccessfully attempted to intercede for Wilde after the case.^[1]