25 Facts About Norman Stronge

Sir Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge, 8th Baronet, MC, PC, JP was a senior Ulster Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland.

Norman Stronge fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and was awarded the Military Cross.

Norman Stronge was shot and killed, along with his son, James, by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1981 at Tynan Abbey, their home, which was burnt to the ground during the attack.

Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge was born in Bryansford, County Down, Ireland, the son of Sir Charles Stronge, 7th Baronet, and Marian Bostock, whose family were from Epsom.

Norman Stronge fought on the Western Front with the 10th Battalion, as lieutenant and later as captain.

Norman Stronge was decorated with the Military Cross and the Belgian croix de guerre.

Norman Stronge survived the first day of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 and was the first soldier after the start of the battle to be mentioned in dispatches by General Sir Douglas Haig, commander of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front.

Norman Stronge was wounded in action near Kortrijk, Belgium towards the end of the war on 20 October 1918.

Norman Stronge relinquished his commission on 19 August 1919, and was permitted to retain the rank of captain.

Norman Stronge relinquished the commission on 20 April 1940 due to ill health.

Norman Stronge was elected as an Ulster Unionist Party member of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Mid Armagh in the byelection of 29 September 1938, and held the seat until his retirement in 1969.

On 3 November 1944, Norman Stronge stood down from the government.

On 30 October 1945, Norman Stronge was involved in a dispute in the chamber.

Beattie protested that this was not correct procedure, and Norman Stronge agreed to look at it further; this decision incensed Harry Midgley, who had personal grievances with Beattie.

Norman Stronge excluded him from the Chamber for the remainder of the sitting, and Midgley apologised the next day.

Norman Stronge was appointed to the Privy Council of Northern Ireland in 1946.

Norman Stronge was Chairman of Armagh County Council from 1944 to 1955.

Norman Stronge was the Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Black Institution and a member of Derryhaw Boyne Defenders Orange Lodge of the Orange Order.

Norman Stronge was appointed a Commander Brother of the Venerable Order of Saint John in 1952, and promoted to Knight in 1964.

Norman Stronge had been named on the Central Advisory Council on Disabled Persons, a position which brought no remuneration in practice but could have done so in theory.

On 16 January 1956 Norman Stronge wrote to resign his post as Speaker temporarily so that legislation could be passed to validate his actions and indemnify him from the consequences of acting while disqualified.

Norman Stronge was buried in Tynan Parish church in a joint service with his son.

The remains of Sir Norman Stronge were carried by the men of the 5th Battalion the Royal Irish Rangers.

James Norman Stronge's coffin was carried by colleagues from the RUC Reserve, and a Constable's hat was placed on top.

Norman Stronge is commemorated with a tablet in the Northern Ireland Assembly Chamber in Parliament Buildings on the Stormont Estate.