Daniel Stewart Thomas Bingham Dixon, 2nd Baron Glentoran,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

(19 January 1912 – 22 July 1995), was a

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

soldier and politician. Glentoran was the son of Herbert Dixon, 1st Baron Glentoran. After being educated at Eton and Sandhurst he was appointed aide-de-camp to the GOC in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in 1935. He served with the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

in World War II, for which he was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. In 1950 he succeeded his father as Baron Glentoran, as well being elected in his place as

Ulster Unionist The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist oppositi ...

member for Belfast Bloomfield in the

Northern Ireland House of Commons The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished with the p ...

(where peers could also hold a seat). Appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

in 1952, Lord Glentoran was the following year made Minister of Commerce, a post he held until elected to the Northern Ireland Senate in 1961. He was the Minister responsible for the destruction of much of the Great Northern Railway in Northern Ireland, when he unilaterally closed the Portadown – Armagh – Monaghan, Clones – Enniskillen -Belleek and Enniskillen – Omagh railway lines in 1957. Consequently, the privately owned

Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway The Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway (SL&NCR) was a railway in counties Cavan, Fermanagh, Leitrim and Sligo in north-west Ireland. It consisted of one main line, with no branch lines and remained privately owned until its closure ...

linking Enniskillen to Sligo was forced to close. He was then Minister in and Leader of the Senate for three years, becoming its last speaker in 1964. Lord Glentoran was said to have had such a "grand" demeanour that once, when visiting America, a

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

newspaper carried the headline "Irish royalty to visit Texas." Appointed

Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

(KBE) in 1973, Lord Glentoran was also the

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

(and from 1950 to 1976 Lieutenant) for

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from 1976 to 1985. In 1933 he married Lady Diana Mary Wellesley (died 1984), daughter of the third Earl Cowley, by whom he had three children; the eldest is Olympic gold medal-winning bobsledder Robin Dixon. Lord Glentoran died in 1995 aged 83 and was succeeded to the Barony by his son Robin.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Glentoran, Daniel Dixon, 2nd Baron 1912 births 1995 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Grenadier Guards officers British Army personnel of World War II Lord-lieutenants of Belfast Members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Dixon, Daniel Dixon, Daniel Dixon, Daniel Dixon, Daniel Dixon, Daniel Dixon, Daniel Dixon, Daniel Northern Ireland junior government ministers (Parliament of Northern Ireland) Northern Ireland Cabinet ministers (Parliament of Northern Ireland) Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Eton College Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies Ulster Unionist Party members of the Senate of Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party hereditary peers

See also

References