Description:

James Craig
Belfast, Northern Ireland; London, England, ca. 1905-1943
Archive of Sir James Craig, Leader of Pro-British Unionist Movement & First Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Ex-Forbes
Archive
This small but rich archive includes a variety of letters by and to Sir James Craig, a leading advocate of keeping Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom as most of Ireland sought independence. His anti-Home Rule efforts together with Sir Edward Carson resulted in the division of Ireland, with the predominantly Catholic southern five-sixths of the island becoming the Irish Free State in December 1922, while the predominantly Protestant northeastern sixth of the island remained a part of the United Kingdom with a devolved Parliament of Northern Ireland.

The archive includes letters by and to Sir James Craig and his wife Lady Cecil Craig, primarily from British artists and illustrators. It also includes photographs of Sir Edward Carson and a charming letter by Carson to Craig's six-year-old daughter. Several letters refer to sittings for a portrait of Sir James Craig painted by Irish artist John Lavery now owned by the Ulster Museum in Belfast.

JAMES CRAIG, 1ST VISCOUNT CRAIGAVON, Archive of 23 letters and related materials, 1905-1943. 75 pp. Individually sleeved; very good. Please refer to catalog photos for additional information related to condition. Ex-Collection of Steve Forbes.

Details and Excerpts
- E. [T.] R[eed]., Autograph Letter Initialed, to Cecil [Mary Nowell Dering Tupper], February 16, 1905, London, England. 3 pp., 4.5" x 7".
Cecil Mary Nowell Dering Tupper (1883-1960) married James Craig on March 22, 1905. They had twin sons and one daughter in 1906 and 1907. She was a founding member of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council (UWUC), serving as its vice president (1912-1923) and president (1923-1942). In 1927, she became Lady Craigavon, when her husband was created Viscount Craigavon.
Edward Tennyson Reed (1860-1933) was an English political cartoonist and illustrator, primarily known for his cartoons in Punch magazine.
- E. T. Reed, Autograph Letter Signed, to James Craig, March 24, [1911], London, England. Includes cartoon drawing. 3 pp., 5.5" x 7".
"I am so glad you look with your natural & characteristic leniency on my slanderous perpetration in ‘Punch'. It was indeed a ‘difficult job,' for pen & ink is an inferno to me & to draw John O'Connor in a horizontal position is an undertaking before which (but, possibly a surveying expert) might tremble!"
- Photograph of Craigavon, Strandtown, Belfast.
With caption: "It was on the lawn in front of the house that the first great demonstration against Asquith's Home Rule Bill was held on Saturday, 23 September, 1911. Sir Edward Carson addressed 50,000 men from every part of Ulster and was publicly adopted as leader of the Ulster Unionists."
- Programme and Time Table for "Ulster Day," September 16-28, 1912, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Signed by Craig, Carson, and others. Bound volume, 36 pp., 4.125" x 5.25".
- Postcard with photograph of Sir Edward Carson. 1 p., 3.375" x 5.5".
Edward Carson (1854-1935) was an Irish unionist politician, barrister, and judge. He served as the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (1911-1921), Attorney General and Solicitor General for England, Wales, and Ireland (1915), first Lord of the Admiralty (1916-1917), and minister without portfolio (1917-1918).
- Edward Carson, Autograph Letter Signed to "My dear little Ai Pai" (Aileen Craig), February 10, 1914, London, England. 1 p., 7" x 9".With envelope, 4.75" x 3.75".
"Thank you for your nice little letter for my birthday. I am sorry to hear that the boys are not well but hope they will soon be all right again and ready to fight for Ulster."
Ellinor Aileen Cecil Craig (1907-1978) was the youngest child and only daughter of James and Cecil Craig.
- [?], Autograph Letter Signed, to James Craig, October 22, 1914, London, England. 4 pp., 4.75" x 7.5".
"We have done what we can to help you along, and I am writing now to ask you whether you can help us, towards inducing recruits now that your Division is full to enlist into Special Reserve Battn belonging to the North Ireland. They are the feeders for all the Battns bearing their names, and it is of the utmost importance to have them full."
- James Craig, Autograph Note Signed, June 6, 1914, Craigavon, Strandtown, County Down. 1 p., 4.5" x 3.5".
"Please pass this Motor through Show Grounds to back of the Grand Stand. / James Craig"
- L. S. Amery, Autograph Letter Signed, to Jones, January 3, 1918, Versailles, France. 1 p., 5" x 7.5"
"This show here is working very well, & will I believe prove invaluable. And, as far as I am concerned, it gives us interesting work."
Leopold Stennett Amery (1873-1955) was a British Conservative politician and journalist. A pro-Zionist, he redrafted the Balfour Declaration before its release in November 1917. He also encouraged the formation of the Jewish Legion for the British Army in Palestine and was first elected to Parliament in December 1918. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty (1922-1924), Secretary of State for the Colonies (1924-1929), and during World War II, Secretary of State for India and Burma (1940-1945).
- Pass for Sir James Craig as Civil Commissioner, October 22, 1920, London, England. With photograph of Craig and signed by Craig. 3 pp., 3.5" x 4.5".
- Edward Marsh, Autograph Letter Signed, to Lady Craig, March 5, [1922?], Whitehall. 2 pp., 4.5" x 7.5".
"I want to thank you & Sir James most warmly for all yr great kindness to me at Belfast & for the perfectly delightful time I had, I shall never forget it. I had a perfect passage back-much better than Winston the next night."
Edward Howard Marsh (1872-1953) was a British polymath, who served as a private secretary to several of the United Kingdom's most powerful ministers, particularly Winston Churchill.
- Edward Marsh, Autograph Letter Signed, to James Craig, August 24, 1922, n.p. 1 p., 4.5" x 7.375".
"Mr Churchill has just gone to the country, but he will be in London on Monday & will be very glad to see you here at 12 o'clock."
- Leonard Raven-Hill, Autograph Letter Signed, to Lady Craig, February 21, 1922, St. Helens. 3 pp., 4.5" x 7".
"I tried to get an exhibition of the I. L. N. drawings but the principal galleries were full & it was useless having one in any out of the way place so I gave them to Captain Criag to do with them what they thought best."
Leonard Raven-Hill (1867-1942) was an artist and cartoonist who contributed to Punch and many other magazines. He also illustrated the works of writers such as H. G. Wells and Rudyard Kipling.
- John Lavery, Autograph Letter Signed, to James Craig, May 16, 1922, London, England. 1 p., 8" x 10".
"You were kind enough to say that you would allow me to paint your portrait when you had time to spare. This is just a line to remind you and to say that a telephone message will find me able to arrange, practically any time, to suit your convenience."
John Lavery (1856-1941) was an Irish painter best known for his portraits and wartime scenes.
- John Lavery, Autograph Letter Signed, to Lord Londonderry, December 30, 1922, London, England. 2 pp., 8" x 10".
"I hope very much that you have kept in mind my wish to paint Sir James Craig. I believe that he is strongly prejudiced against sitting because of my political and religious views, but perhaps you can explain to him that I am really only painting these pictures as an historical record of my own time, irrespective of religion or politics, and that I intend to present his portrait along with yours, Lord Carson's and those of other prominent Ulster people to the new municipal gallery in Belfast, while the Southern pictures will go to Dublin. So there will be no question of bad company in their permanent homes."
Lavery and his wife gave use of their London home to the Irish negotiators during the discussions leading up to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. In 1929, Lavery made substantial donations of his work to The Ulster Museum in Belfast and the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery in Dublin. He was made a freeman of both Dublin and Belfast.
- John Lavery, Autograph Letter Signed, to James Craig, January 11, 1923, London, England. 1 p., 8" x 10".
"Thank you very much for your kind letter promising to give me a couple of sittings.. .. The mornings are better because of the light and if I do not hear from you I shall look forward to seeing you, any time after ten o'clock on Wednesday the 24th."
- Caricatures of Craig and Helen Stewart by H. M. Brock, 1924, Mountstewart, County Down. On telegraph blank. 2 pp., 8" x 10".
Henry Matthew Brock (1875-1960) was a British illustrator and landscape painter.
- John Lavery, Autograph Letter Signed, to James Craig, July 11, 1925, Mount Stewart, County Down. 2 pp., 7" x 9".
"accept my best thanks for this honour which the Queen's University through your government has conferred upon me, made doubly significant coming as it does from my fellow citizens."
Queen's University Belfast bestowed an honorary degree on Lavery.
- "Dads" (James Craig), Autograph Letter Signed, to "Mums" (Cecil Craig), November 27, 1925, London, England. 2 pp., 5" x 8".
"I was sorry indeed to get the news of a return of your trouble when I returned from such a day with the cabinet, ending in dining alone with Winston at No 11, it is doubly unfortunate occurring while I am from home & unable to get away even for a day; there are constant comings and goings at every & any hour & it was decided that another conference be held on Monday, to which the Free Staters propose sending delegates. I have a feeling in my bones that the present boundary will be allowed to stand...."
- Charles G. Dawes, Typed Letter Signed, to Lord Craigavon, October 7, 1930, London, England. 1 p., 8" x 10.5".
"While admiring your own pipe, I feel you may want to experiment a little with the one I am sending you under separate cover."
Charles G. Dawes (1865-1951) was Vice President of the United States from 1925 to 1929 and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1931.
- Ian Hay Beith, Autograph Letter Signed, to Lady Craigavon, May 4, 1938, Knutsford, England. 1 p., 5.5" x 7".
John Hay Beith (1876-1952) was a British soldier, novelist, and playwright who wrote under the pen name Ian Hay. His first novel Pip about an English schoolboy was published in 1907. He served as an officer in the British Army in France and then America during World War I, rising to the rank of major, and his account of army life, The First Hundred Thousand (1915), was a best-seller. At the beginning of World War II, he served as Director of Public Relations at the War Office, with the honorary rank of major-general, from 1938 to 1941.
- [Jacque?] Nicholson, Autograph Letter Signed, to Lady Craigavon, January 5, 1943, n.p. 2 pp., 5" x 6.5".
"I can't sufficiently apologize to you for the delay in sending my cheque. I'm afraid I got all involved in Xmas, & then was suddenly swamped by a new novel, & I've been shockingly neglectful of my letters ever since."
The check may have been for the Ulster Hospital for Women and Children, for which Lady Craigavon served as governor and patron.
- Mounted Photograph of Edward Carson, James Craig, and three others, including signatures of all five, n.d. 1 p., 7.5" x 6.5."

James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon (1871-1940) was born in Belfast to a wealthy whiskey distiller and his wife and was educated at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh, Scotland. He became a stockbroker and opened his own firm in Belfast. He served in the army in the Second Boer War, was taken prisoner, exchanged due to illness, and made deputy assistant director of the military railways. After the war, he turned to politics and was elected to Parliament in 1906 as an Irish Unionist. In Parliament, he opposed Irish Home Rule. In 1905, he co-founded the Ulster Unionist Council, and in 1921, he succeeded Edward Carson as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. He advocated for a home-rule parliament in Belfast for the six counties that did not wish to join the rest of Ireland in independence. In 1921, Craig was elected to the new Northern Ireland House of Commons and in June was appointed the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Craig was made a baronet in 1918 and in 1927, he was created Viscount Craigavon, of Stormont in the County of Down. He remained Prime Minister until he died in November 1940.

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