James Chaine (1841 – 4 May 1885) was an Irish shipping businessman and a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Walker, p. 249. politician from

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

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 ...

. The son of James Chaine of Ballycraigy and his wife, Maria (née Whittle), from Antrim, he was educated in

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

. In 1863, he married Henrietta Creery from Newcastle, County Down.Debrette, p. 44. Chaine was influential in developing the cross-channel links between

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

and Stranraer,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. He was the director of the Larne and Stanraer Boat Company, and was the key figure behind the building of the Port and Harbour of

.Campbell, p. 146. He promoted and financed construction of railroad lines from Larne to

Ballyclare Ballyclare () is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,953 according to the 2011 census, and is located within the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It sits on the river Six Mile Water. The town ...

and from Larne to Ballymena (the Ballymena and Larne Railway). He was elected at the 1874 general election as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Antrim, and held the seat until his death at the age of 43 in May 1885. Chaine, James Porter Corry and William Ewart formed a minority of Irish MPs from "the world of the big business" while the majority were either landowners or descendants of the landed families. Chaine himself became a major landowner by the purchase of a £64,000 estate in

Carncastle Carincastle or Cairncastle (, and the English word "castle") is a small village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland near the town of Larne and inland from the village of Ballygally. It had a population of 66 people in the 2001 C ...

followed by a £22,000 estate in

Killead Killead () is a hamlet and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is near Aldergrove and Antrim and is accessed from the A26 Tully Road. It had a population of 81 people (32 households) in the 2011 Census. (2001 Census: 78 peopl ...

.Thomson, p. 54.

Death

He died after catching a chill, which developed into

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

. His estate was valued at £62,681. He was buried, in an upright position, overlooking

Larne Lough Larne Lough, historically Lough Larne (), is a sea loch or inlet in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies between the Islandmagee peninsula and the mainland. At its mouth is the town of Larne. It is designated as an area of special scientif ...

, near Sandy Point. The

Chaine Memorial The Chaine Memorial Tower in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is a memorial to James Chaine, a former Member of Parliament for Antrim, who died in 1885. It is a cylindrical stone tower lighthouse with a conical roof, situated on the wes ...

, a replica

Irish round tower Irish round towers ( ga, Cloigtheach (singular), (plural); literally 'bell house') are early mediaeval stone towers of a type found mainly in Ireland, with two in Scotland and one on the Isle of Man. As their name indicates, they were origin ...

, was built in Larne in 1888 to commemorate him.

Notes

References

* * Campbell, Fergus (2009).
The Irish Establishment 1879-1914
'. Oxford University Press. . * * Thomson, Frank (2001).
The end of liberal Ulster: land agitation and land reform, 1868-1886
'. Ulster Historical Foundation. . *

External links

* 1841 births 1885 deaths People from Larne Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Antrim constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Irish Conservative Party MPs Businesspeople in shipping 19th-century Irish businesspeople {{Conservative-UK-MP-1840s-stub