William John Twaddell (1884 – 22 May 1922) was a Unionist politician from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. Twaddell was a draper from Belfast who was educated at a Belfast primary school. He was a Member of

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the l ...

from 1910 and sat as an

Ulster Unionist Party 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 ...

member. In November 1921, he and Robert Boyd organised the Ulster Imperial Guards as a paramilitary force of 21,000 men. He was elected to the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

for Belfast West from the general election of 1921 until he was assassinated on 22 May 1922 by the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

. He was walking in Garfield Street off

Royal Avenue Royal Avenue is a street in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In the Cathedral Quarter in the heart of Belfast city centre, as well as being identified with the more recent Smithfield and Union Quarter, it has been the city's principal shopping thor ...

, to his business, a short distance away, and had been followed closely by his assassins. His death precipitated a clamp-down on the IRA in

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 ...

and 350 IRA members were interned.

Seamus Woods Seamus Woods commanded a division of the Irish Republican Army during a period of intense conflict and was a senior leader of the newly formed Irish Free State army. Northern IRA leadership Seamus Woods was born in Ballyhornan, County Down, in mo ...

, who was interned on

HMS Argenta HMS ''Argenta'' (originally the American cargo ship SS ''Argenta'') was a prison ship of the British Royal Navy. Construction The two deck steamer was laid down in July 1917 by the National Shipbuilding Company of Orange, Texas as Hull No. 245. ...

during the clampdown, was charged with his murder. Woods who had joined the

Irish National Army The National Army, sometimes unofficially referred to as the Free State army or the Regulars, was the army of the Irish Free State from January 1922 until October 1924. Its role in this period was defined by its service in the Irish Civil War, ...

was trying to control irregular elements within the IRA. By agreement with the government of Northern Ireland, two officers of the Irish National Army were given permission to travel to the trial. General Ginger O'Connell and Commandant Charles McAlister gave evidence and Woods was found not guilty. Twaddell was buried at

Drumcree Church Drumcree Parish Church, officially The Church of the Ascension, is the Church of Ireland parish church of Drumcree in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It sits on a hill in the townland of Drumcree, outside Portadown. It is a site of histori ...

where his headstone says that he was 'foully murdered in Belfast'.

References

Stormont Biographies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twaddell, William 1884 births 1922 deaths Politicians from Belfast Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1921–1925 Members of Belfast City Council Assassinated politicians from Northern Ireland People killed in the Irish Civil War Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies