Cecil Mary Nowell Dering Craig, Viscountess Craigavon, DBE ( Tupper; 22 January 1883 – 23 March 1960) was a British Unionist activist and politician in Northern Ireland.

Life

Cecil Mary Nowell Dering Tupper was born at 26 Chester Terrace,

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces fo ...

, London on 22 January 1883. Her father was assistant comptroller of the lord chamberlain's department in the king's household, Sir Daniel Tupper, and her mother was Mary Tupper (née Dering). In 1904 she met her future husband,

James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon PC PC (NI) DL (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940), was a leading Irish unionist and a key architect of Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom. During the Home Rule Crisis of 1 ...

at a shooting party in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

. They were married in March 1905 at the

Chapel Royal, St James's Palace The Chapel Royal is an establishment in the Royal Household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the British Royal Family. Historically it was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarch. The term is now also appl ...

, London. They had twin sons and one daughter,

James Craig, 2nd Viscount Craigavon James Craig, 2nd Viscount Craigavon (2 March 1906 – 18 May 1974), was a British hereditary peer who sat in the House of Lords. He was the son of James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and Cecil Mary ...

, Major Hon. Patrick William Dennis Craig (2 March 1906 – 15 August 1972), and Hon. Ellinor Aileen Cecil Craig (20 August 1907 – 23 April 1978). Having moved to

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

, she became active in local politics. Craig was a founding member of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council (UWUC), serving as vice-president from 1912 to 1923 and president from 1923 to 1942. She led the UWUC's delegation at the 1933 women's conference in London. She also served for more than 20 years as the vice-president of the

Ulster Unionist Council The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

. In 1927, she became Lady Craigavon when her husband was created Viscount Craigavon. Throughout her husband's political career, Craig took an interest and participated in his political activities. Due to her husband's poor health, she took responsibility for many of his public duties during the 1937 royal visit to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, she accompanied him on his many cruises and international visits. She served as the governor and patron of the Ulster Hospital for Women and Children. In 1941, she was awarded a DBE, and was also a commander of the Order of St John. She settled in England after the death of her husband in 1940.

Death

Craig died at her home in

Mere, Wiltshire Mere is a small town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It lies at the extreme southwestern tip of Salisbury Plain, close to the borders of Somerset and Dorset. The parish includes the hamlets of Barrow Street, Burton, Charnage, Limpers H ...

on 23 March 1960, and was buried beside her husband in the grounds of Stormont. A bridge on the Upper Lough Erne from Transa Island to Derrymacusey, which opened in 1936, is named in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Cecil Mary Nowell Dering 1883 births 1960 deaths People from London Commanders of the Order of St John Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire British viscountesses