William Johnston (22 February 1829 – 17 July 1902) was a nineteenth-century Irish politician and member of the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

. He is noted for his opposition to the Party Emblems Act and

Party Processions Act The Party Processions Act (''13 & 14 Vict c2'') was an 1850 Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which prohibited open marching, organised parades and sectarian meetings in Ireland in order to outlaw provocative movements in the wake of the ...

, which banned Orange marches.

Life

Johnston was the eldest son of John Brett Johnston of Ballykilbeg, co. Down, and his wife Thomasina Anne Brunette Scott, daughter of Thomas Scott. He was educated at

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 ...

being awarded B.A. in 1852 and M.A. in 1856.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
/ref> He wrote ultra-Protestant Tracts and fiercely Unionist novels during the decade and published a newspaper called ''The Downshire Protestant'' from 1855 to 1862. In 1857 he stood unsuccessfully for parliament at Downpatrick. In 1867, Johnston organised an

parade from Bangor to

Newtownards Newtownards is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtownard ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

despite the Party Procession Acts. The parade took part on 12 July 1867 and about 30,000 took part. Johnston was sentenced to a short term in prison the next year for his actions. He was elected as

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 of ...

for

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 ...

in 1868 and held the seat until 1878. He was called to the Bar at King's Inns Dublin in 1872. Johnston was also a prominent early supporter of the campaign for female suffrage and other social reforms. Johnston was Inspector of Fisheries in Ireland from 1878 to 1885, when he was dismissed for a speech in the General Synod of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

. Following his dismissal, he was elected an independent MP for Belfast South later the same year. He won the seat by a large majority in the 1886 general election, and was re-elected unopposed in the next three elections, serving until his death. He died at Ballykilbeg on 17 July 1902.

Family

Johnston married firstly in 1853, Harriet Allen daughter of Robert Allen of Kilkenny. He married secondly in 1861 Arminella Frances Drew, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Drew, D.D. He married thirdly in 1863, Georgiana Barbara Hay, daughter of Sir John Hay, 5th baronet. She died in 1900. He was the father of Charles Johnston (1867–1931).

Publications

*Protestant Work to be Done (1853) *The Nunnery Question 1854 *Narmo and Aimata, a tale of the Jesuits in Tahiti 1855 *Nightshade 1857 *The Boyne Book of Poetry and Song (editor) (1859 *Popish Tyranny, and God-sent deliverance, or the days of William the Third, a lecture (1860) *Speeches (1869) *Under Which King? (originally serialised in Downshire Protestant) 1873

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, William 1829 births 1902 deaths UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (1801–1922) Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of King's Inns