George Boyle Hanna Currie MBE (19 December 1905 – 20 January 1978) was a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

barrister and politician. Currie went to

Campbell College Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

, Belfast, followed by

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

where he earned the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Bachelor of Laws. He was called to the English Bar by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1932, and practiced on the Northern circuit based in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. With an interest in politics, Currie was elected to Wirral County Borough Council and served as Chairman of the Council in 1938–39. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served with the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

and was on the staff of Lord Dowding at

RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Britai ...

, later switching to the legal branch. At the 1950 general election Currie fought as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

candidate for East Flintshire, a safe Labour seat. He fought this seat again in the 1951 election. He was then selected for North Down where the sitting

Ulster Unionist The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, 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 I ...

MP Patricia Ford was retiring after only two years. He won the seat in May 1955 and on 19 December made his maiden speech in a debate on the White Fish Subsidy (United Kingdom) No. 2 Scheme. Currie easily kept the seat which he represented for fifteen years before himself retiring at the 1970 general election. His successor was James Kilfedder former West Belfast MP.

References

* Obituary, "The Times", 24 January 1978. 1905 births 1978 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Down constituencies (since 1922) Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom People educated at Campbell College UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Members of the Middle Temple 20th-century lawyers from Northern Ireland {{NorthernIreland-UK-MP-stub