William McConnell Wilton 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 ...

Unionist politician who served as Chairman of the

Independent Unionist Association The Independent Unionist Association or Independent Unionist Party was a political party in Northern Ireland. The organisation was founded in 1937, shortly before the announcement of the 1938 Northern Ireland general election. It consisted of a ...

. He was also a prominent lay

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Biography

In his youth, Wilton was a keen footballer, and played for Institute F.C. in the club's first ever match. Wilton became politically active. His first candidacy was as an

independent Unionist Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism (not to be confused with trade unionism). It is most popularly associated with candidates in elect ...

in Belfast Oldpark, at the

1933 Northern Ireland general election The 1933 Northern Ireland general election was held on 30 November 1933. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. 33 of the 52 seats were uncontested, the l ...

. He lost to the incumbent,

Wilson Hungerford Sir Alexander Wilson Hungerford (1884 – 19 January 1969), known as Wilson Hungerford, was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland. Born in Belfast, Hungerford was employed by the Irish Unionist Party from 1912. In 1921, he became Secretary ...

, despite taking more than 40% of the vote. When the Independent Unionist Association was founded, in 1937, Wilton was elected as its Chairman."Feeling in Northern Ireland", ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', 14 January 1938 He stood for the new organisation at the 1938 general election, in Belfast Clifton, taking 45.6% of the vote, but again missing out on election. Wilton also stood in the 1943 Belfast West by-election, taking third place, with 17.5% of the votes cast. Wilton was a member of the Northern Ireland Senate from 1945 until 1953. In the early 1950s, he produced the ''Ulster Protestant'' newspaper with Norman Porter.

Clifford Smyth Clifford Smyth (born 1944) is a historian and former politician in Northern Ireland. Smyth stood for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in North Antrim in the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election, narrowly missing out on a seat. Following ...

, ''Ian Paisley: Voice of Protestant Ulster'', p.5 Outside Parliament, he led a campaign against activity on the Sabbath, and served on the council of the

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

.''Liberty'', vol.50-54, p.32

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilton, William McConnell Year of birth missing Year of death missing Independent members of the Senate of Northern Ireland Institute F.C. players Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1945–1949 Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1949–1953 Presbyterians from Northern Ireland Place of birth missing Association footballers not categorized by position Association footballers from Northern Ireland