Sir Wilfrid Bliss Spender KCB CBE DSO MC (6 October 1876 – 21 December 1960) was a British Army officer, colonial administrator and civil servant who helped re-organise the Ulster Volunteers (UVF) into the Ulster Special Constabulary and was responsible for laying the foundations for the civil service of Northern Ireland . He served as Secretary to the government of Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1925 and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Finance from 1925 to 1944. He was knighted in 1929. His wife, Lady Spender (née Alice Lilian Dean; 1880-1966) , was a member of the UVF Nursing Corps and worked in the Ulster Division Comforts Fund during World War I . Later in life Spender became a noted diarist.
155-591: Wilfrid Bliss Spender was born in Plymouth , England, the third son of Edward and Ellen (née Rendle) Spender. His father was co-founder of the Western Morning News in Plymouth . When Wilfrid was one year old, his father and two elder brothers were drowned whilst boating at Whitsand Bay outside Plymouth. He was educated at Winchester College and the Staff College, Camberley . He obtained
310-538: A fait accompli on 3 May 1921. Following the 1921 elections , Ulster unionists formed a Northern Ireland government. A Southern government was not formed, as republicans recognised the Irish Republic instead. During 1920–22, in what became Northern Ireland, partition was accompanied by violence "in defence or opposition to the new settlement" – see The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1920–1922) . In
465-550: A civil rights campaign to end discrimination, viewing it as a republican front. This helped spark the Troubles ( c. 1969 –1998), a thirty-year conflict in which more than 3,500 people were killed. Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the Irish and British governments and the main political parties agreed to a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland, and that the status of Northern Ireland would not change without
620-746: A dockyard was established on the River Tamar for the Royal Navy and Plymouth grew as a commercial shipping port throughout the Industrial Revolution . After absorbing nearby settlements in 1914, the borough was awarded city status in 1928. During World War II , Plymouth suffered extensive damage in the Plymouth Blitz , leading to post-war rebuilding that significantly shaped its modern appearance. A further expansion of its boundaries in 1967 contributed to its current status as
775-484: A 'northern corridor' including Derriford and the vacant airfield site at Roborough ; and an 'eastern corridor' including major new settlements at Sherford and Langage . Plymouth is categorized as a Small-Port City using the Southampton System for port-city classification. Plymouth has a moderated temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen Cfb ) which is wetter and milder than the rest of England. This means
930-433: A French attack in 1340 burned a manor house and took some prisoners, but failed to get into the town. In 1403 the town was burned by Breton raiders . On 12 November 1439 the market town of Sutton was incorporated as a borough and formally renamed Plymouth, with a subsequent charter the following year formalising its boundaries. It was the first time a borough charter had been issued by parliament rather than directly from
1085-769: A Liberal government if it introduced another home rule bill. The Parliament Act 1911 meant the House of Lords could no longer veto bills passed by the Commons, but only delay them for up to two years. British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith introduced the Third Home Rule Bill in April 1912. An amendment to the Bill was introduced calling for the partition of Ireland. In June 1912 Asquith spoke in Parliament rejecting
1240-422: A Parliament of its own would not be in nearly as strong a position...where, above all, the paraphernalia of Government was already in existence...We should fear no one and would be in a position of absolute security." In reference to the threat of Unionist violence and the achievement of a separate status of Ulster, Winston Churchill felt that "...if Ulster had confined herself simply to constitutional agitation, it
1395-643: A Provisional Ulster Government. In response, Irish nationalists founded the Irish Volunteers to ensure Home Rule was implemented. The Ulster Volunteers smuggled 25,000 rifles and three million rounds of ammunition into Ulster from the German Empire , in the Larne gun-running of April 1914. The Irish Volunteers also smuggled weaponry from Germany in the Howth gun-running that July. On 20 March 1914, in
1550-569: A commission first in the Devon artillery . In 1897 he joined the Royal Artillery , seeing service in Bermuda , Canada , Malta , England , Ireland , and India . He was promoted to lieutenant 18 June 1900, and to captain on 13 February 1902. After Camberley he was nominated to attend a naval war course, one of the first two army staff officers to be so chosen. In 1909 became a member of
1705-411: A destroyed city centre, but Abercrombie also took the opportunity to lay out a whole hierarchy of settlements across the city of communities, neighbourhoods and districts. Central to this was a revision of transport infrastructure that prioritised the position of the railway as a gateway to the city centre and provided in the long-term for a dual carriageway road by-pass that only finally came into being in
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#17327794983821860-611: A favoured location when the Azores High pressure area extends north-eastwards towards the UK, particularly in summer. Coastal areas have average annual sunshine totals over 1,600 hours. Owing to its geographic location, rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection and is more frequent and heavier than in London and southeast England. The Atlantic depressions are more vigorous in autumn and winter and most of
2015-535: A fort (later known as Drake's Fort) in 1596; it was the site of the Citadel , established in the 1660s (see below). During the 16th century, locally produced wool was the major export commodity. Plymouth was the home port for successful maritime traders, among them Sir John Hawkins , who led England's first foray into the Atlantic slave trade , as well as Sir Francis Drake , Mayor of Plymouth in 1581–2. Crews for
2170-613: A home of Waldorf and Nancy Astor , it was given by Lady Astor to the City of Plymouth as an official residence for future Lord Mayors and is also used today for civic hospitality, as lodgings for visiting dignitaries and High Court judges and it is also available to hire for private events. The Civic Centre municipal office building in Armada Way became a listed building in June 2007 because of its quality and period features, but has become
2325-684: A majority. Irish unionists assembled at conventions in Dublin and Belfast to oppose both the Bill and the proposed partition. The unionist MP Horace Plunkett , who would later support home rule, opposed it in the 1890s because of the dangers of partition. Although the Bill was approved by the Commons, it was defeated in the House of Lords . Following the December 1910 election , the Irish Parliamentary Party again agreed to support
2480-562: A noteworthy recent exception was the period of the European winter storms of 2009–10 which, in early January 2010, covered Plymouth in at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) of snow; more on higher ground. Another notable event was the 8 inches (20 cm) of snowfall between 17 and 19 December 2010 – though only 2 inches (5.1 cm) would lie at any one time due to melting. Over the 1961–1990 period, annual snowfall accumulation averaged less than 7 cm (3 in) per year. South West England has
2635-676: A rebellion against British rule, the Easter Rising. It was crushed after a week of heavy fighting in Dublin. The harsh British reaction to the Rising fuelled support for independence, with republican party Sinn Féin winning four by-elections in 1917. The British parliament called the Irish Convention in an attempt to find a solution to its Irish Question . It sat in Dublin from July 1917 until March 1918, and comprised both Irish nationalist and Unionist politicians. It ended with
2790-452: A report, supported by nationalist and southern unionist members, calling for the establishment of an all-Ireland parliament consisting of two houses with special provisions for Ulster unionists. The reports proposal for the setting up of an all Ireland parliament was passed by 51 votes to 18. The amendment to exclude Ulster from the jurisdiction of a national parliament was voted down by 52 votes to 19. The majority of southern Unionists voted for
2945-700: A retired officer, was told to hold himself ready to take up an appointment with the eastern command in Chatham. He returned to England. After the outbreak of war, he was transferred as general staff officer to the new 36th (Ulster) Division . He served with the Ulster division until 1916, and was present at the Battle of the Somme , when he won the Military Cross for his part in the assault on Thiepval . He also won
3100-490: A single county borough of Plymouth. Collectively they were referred to as " The Three Towns ". Plymouth was granted city status on 18 October 1928. Between 1439 and 1935, Plymouth had a mayor. In 1935 the city was given the right to appoint a Lord Mayor. The city's boundaries further expanded in 1967 to include the town of Plympton and the parish of Plymstock . The 1971 Local Government White Paper proposed abolishing county boroughs, which would have left Plymouth,
3255-488: A six counties Parliament, with 52 members, the Unionist majority, would be about ten. The three excluded counties contain some 70,000 Unionists and 260,000 Sinn Feiners and Nationalists, and the addition of that large block of Sinn Feiners and Nationalists would reduce our majority to such a level that no sane man would undertake to carry on a Parliament with it. That is the position with which we were faced when we had to take
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#17327794983823410-568: A speech in the British House of Commons where he made clear the future make up of Northern Ireland: "The three Ulster counties of Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal are to be handed over to the South of Ireland Parliament. How the position of affairs in a Parliament of nine counties and in a Parliament of six counties would be is shortly this. If we had a nine counties Parliament, with 64 members, the Unionist majority would be about three or four, but in
3565-433: A third of the council being elected each time for a four year term. The total electorate for Plymouth's Parliamentary constituencies was 190,006 in April 2019. Since May 2023 Plymouth has had a Labour majority Council. Plymouth City Council is formally twinned with: Brest , France (1963), Gdynia , Poland (1976), Novorossiysk , Russia (1990) San Sebastián , Spain (1990) and Plymouth , United States (2001). Plymouth
3720-497: A town of 250,000 people, being administered from a council based at the smaller Exeter , on the other side of the county. This led to Plymouth lobbying for the creation of a Tamarside county, to include Plymouth, Torpoint , Saltash , and the rural hinterland . The campaign was not successful, and Plymouth ceased to be a county borough on 1 April 1974 with responsibility for education, social services, highways and libraries transferred to Devon County Council . All powers returned when
3875-719: A truce in July 1921 and led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that December. Under the Treaty, the territory of Southern Ireland would leave the UK and become the Irish Free State. Northern Ireland's parliament could vote it in or out of the Free State, and a commission could then redraw or confirm the provisional border. The Northern government chose to remain in the UK. The Boundary Commission proposed small changes to
4030-474: A very weak case on the issue "of forcing these two Counties against their will" into Northern Ireland. On 28 November 1921 both Tyrone and Fermanagh County Councils declared allegiance to the new Irish Parliament (Dail). On 2 December the Tyrone County Council publicly rejected the "...arbitrary, new-fangled, and universally unnatural boundary". They pledged to oppose the new border and to "make
4185-493: A wide range of exotic plants, palm trees, and yuccas can be cultivated. The annual mean high temperature is approximately 14 °C (57 °F). Due to the moderating effect of the sea and the south-westerly location, the climate is among the mildest of British cities, and one of the warmest UK cities in winter. The coldest month of February is similarly moderate, having mild mean minimum temperatures between 3 and 4 °C (37 and 39 °F). Snow usually falls in small amounts but
4340-519: Is a Site of Special Scientific Interest , because of its geology. The bulk of the city is built upon Upper Devonian slates and shales and the headlands at the entrance to Plymouth Sound are formed of Lower Devonian slates, which can withstand the power of the sea. A band of Middle Devonian limestone runs west to east from Cremyll to Plymstock including the Hoe. Local limestone may be seen in numerous buildings, walls and pavements throughout Plymouth. To
4495-551: Is a port city and unitary authority in Devon , South West England . It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers Plym and Tamar , about 36 miles (58 km) southwest of Exeter and 193 miles (311 km) southwest of London. It is the most populous city in Devon. Plymouth's history extends back to the Bronze Age , evolving from a trading post at Mount Batten into the thriving market town of Sutton, which
4650-571: Is also home to the University of Plymouth , reflecting its educational and cultural significance. Today, the city is governed locally by Plymouth City Council and is represented nationally by three Members of Parliament . Upper Palaeolithic deposits, including bones of Homo sapiens , have been found in local caves, and artefacts dating from the Bronze Age to the Middle Iron Age have been found at Mount Batten , showing that it
4805-559: Is extremely improbable that she would have escaped inclusion in a Dublin Parliament." The Irish War of Independence led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, between the British government and representatives of the Irish Republic. Negotiations between the two sides were carried on between October and December 1921. The British delegation consisted of experienced parliamentarians/debaters such as Lloyd George , Winston Churchill , Austen Chamberlain and Lord Birkenhead , they had clear advantages over
Wilfrid Spender - Misplaced Pages Continue
4960-509: Is the story of weeping women, hungry children, hunted men, homeless in England, houseless in Ireland. If this is what we get when they have not their Parliament, what may we expect when they have that weapon, with wealth and power strongly entrenched? What will we get when they are armed with Britain's rifles, when they are clothed with the authority of government, when they have cast round them
5115-590: The 30th-most populous built-up area in the UK and the second-largest city in the South West after Bristol , with a population in 2022 of 266,862. Plymouth's economy, historically rooted in shipbuilding and seafaring, has transitioned towards a service-based economy since the 1990s. It maintains strong maritime connections, hosting HMNB Devonport , the largest operational naval base in Western Europe, and offering ferry links to Brittany and Spain. The city
5270-642: The British Parliament to introduce bills that would give Ireland a devolved government within the UK ( home rule ). This led to the Home Rule Crisis (1912–14), when Ulster unionists/ loyalists founded a large paramilitary organization (at least 100,000 men), the Ulster Volunteers , that could be used to prevent Ulster from being ruled by an Irish government. The British government proposed to exclude all or part of Ulster, but
5425-711: The Buckingham Palace Conference to allow Unionists and Nationalists to come together and discuss the issue of partition, but the conference achieved little. After much negotiations in 1914, John Redmond the leader of the largest political party in Ireland (the Irish Parliamentary Party) agreed to the temporary exclusion of some areas of Ulster. In June 1916 Lloyd George asked for Redmonds approval for six counties (now to include Tyrone and Fermanagh) to be temporarily excluded (four counties had been requested in 1912 and 1914). Redmond
5580-462: The Council House on Armada Way in the city centre. There are no civil parishes in the city, which is an unparished area . The city forms part of the ceremonial county of Devon for the purposes of lieutenancy , but has been administratively independent from Devon County Council since it became a unitary authority in 1998. The first record of the existence of a settlement at Plymouth
5735-532: The DSO and was mentioned in despatches four times. In 1916 he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and served with General Lord Cavan 's corps, and then at advanced general headquarters working under Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig (later created Lord Haig ). Spender strongly opposed accepting a proposed six-county option for the partition of Ireland , and on these grounds, he declined an invitation from Carson to contest an Ulster constituency at Westminster. About
5890-638: The Fermanagh County Council passed the following resolution: "We, the County Council of Fermanagh, in view of the expressed desire of a large majority of people in this county, do not recognise the partition parliament in Belfast and do hereby direct our Secretary to hold no further communications with either Belfast or British Local Government Departments, and we pledge our allegiance to Dáil Éireann." Shortly afterwards, Dawson Bates
6045-588: The Irish War of Independence (1919–21), a guerrilla conflict between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and British forces. In 1920 the British government introduced another bill to create two devolved governments: one for six northern counties (Northern Ireland) and one for the rest of the island (Southern Ireland). This was passed as the Government of Ireland Act 1920, and came into force as
6200-585: The Modernist zoned low-density garden city model advocated by Abercrombie. By 1964 over 20,000 new homes had been built, more than 13,500 of them permanent council homes and 853 built by the Admiralty . Plymouth is home to 28 parks with an average size of 45,638 square metres (491,240 sq ft). Its largest park is Central Park , with other sizeable green spaces including Victoria Park , Freedom Fields Park , Alexandra Park, Devonport Park and
6355-764: The Parliament of Northern Ireland (24 May 1921), the 1921 Northern Ireland general election returned Sinn Fein/Nationalist Party majorities: 54.7% Nationalist / 45.3% Unionist in Fermanagh – Tyrone (which was a single constituency). In a letter dated 7 September 1921 from Lloyd George to the President of the Irish Republic Eamon de Valera regarding Counties Fermanagh and Tyrone, the British Prime Minister stated that his government had
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6510-524: The Plymouth Blitz . He represented the seat until 1955. After serving as Secretary of State for Education and being responsible for the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act , he went on to become the leader of the Labour Party (1980–1983). The City of Plymouth is divided into 20 wards , 17 of which elect three councillors and the other three electing two councillors, making up a total council of 57. Elections are held three years out of every four, with
6665-543: The Ulster Special Constabulary . With the partition of Ireland in 1921 Spender was appointed as Cabinet Secretary in Northern Ireland and, in 1925, as permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance. He opposed any discrimination on religious grounds in the civil service, but was unable to prevent Unionist members of the Northern Ireland parliament dominating the selection boards for other ranks. He
6820-549: The University of Plymouth , the University of St Mark & St John , and the Arts University Plymouth . Partition of Ireland The Partition of Ireland ( Irish : críochdheighilt na hÉireann ) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland . It
6975-609: The modernist high rise of the Civic Centre was constructed, an architecturally significant example of mid-twentieth century civic slab-and-tower set piece. The Plymouth City Council allowed it to fall into disrepair but it was grade II listed in 2007 by English Heritage to prevent its demolition. Post-war, Devonport Dockyard was kept busy refitting aircraft carriers such as the Ark Royal and, later, nuclear submarines . New light industrial factories were constructed in
7130-567: The " Curragh incident ", many of the highest-ranking British Army officers in Ireland threatened to resign rather than deploy against the Ulster Volunteers. This meant that the British government could legislate for Home Rule but could not be sure of implementing it. Ireland seemed to be on the brink of civil war. In May 1914, the British government introduced an amending bill to the Third Home Rule Act allowing for
7285-427: The "temporary exclusion of Ulster" from Home Rule. Some Ulster unionists were willing to tolerate the 'loss' of some mainly-Catholic areas of the province (the Ulster counties of Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal). In May 1914 three border boundary options were proposed for the temporary exclusion of part of Ulster from Home Rule. One option recommended that Counties Tyrone and Fermanagh, south County Armagh, south County Down,
7440-560: The 1920 partition for the time being, and of the rest of Treaty text as signed in regard to Northern Ireland: That whilst refusing to admit the right of any part of Ireland to be excluded from the supreme authority of the Parliament of Ireland, or that the relations between the Parliament of Ireland and any subordinate legislature in Ireland can be a matter for treaty with a Government outside Ireland, nevertheless, in sincere regard for internal peace, and to make manifest our desire not to bring force or coercion to bear upon any substantial part of
7595-444: The 1980s (forty years after being planned). The plan is the subject of Jill Craigie 's documentary The Way We Live (1946). By 1964 over 20,000 new homes had been built, transforming the dense overcrowded and unsanitary slums of the pre-war city into a low density, dispersed suburbia. Most of the city centre shops had been destroyed and those that remained were cleared to enable a zoned reconstruction according to his plan. In 1962
7750-657: The 20th century. During the First World War , Plymouth was the port of entry for many troops from around the Empire . It was developed as a facility for the manufacture of munitions . Although major units of the Royal Navy moved to the safety of Scapa Flow , Devonport was an important base for escort vessels and repairs. Flying boats operated from Mount Batten. During the Second World War, Devonport
7905-654: The Athenaeum, the Theatre Royal and Royal Hotel, and much of Union Street . Local chemist William Cookworthy established his short-lived Plymouth Porcelain venture in 1768 to exploit the deposits of china clay that he had discovered in Cornwall. He was acquainted with engineer John Smeaton , the builder of the third Eddystone Lighthouse . The 1-mile-long (2 km) Breakwater in Plymouth Sound
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#17327794983828060-435: The Belfast shipyards, all of them either Catholics or Protestant labour activists . In his Twelfth of July speech, Unionist leader Edward Carson had called for loyalists to take matters into their own hands to defend Ulster, and had linked republicanism with socialism and the Catholic Church. In response to the expulsions and attacks on Catholics, the Dáil approved a boycott of Belfast goods and banks. The 'Belfast Boycott'
8215-490: The Bill two entirely new provisions, one providing for the permanent exclusion of Ulster, of the six Ulster counties...and I was given to understand in so many words that this decision was not put before me for the purpose of discussion or consultation, that the decision was absolute and final, and the right hon. Gentlemen described themselves to me simply as messengers, without any power or authority to discuss these questions in any way whatever with me, and they informed me that it
8370-460: The Bill, fearing industrial decline and religious persecution of Protestants by a Catholic-dominated Irish government. English Conservative politician Lord Randolph Churchill proclaimed: "the Orange card is the one to play", in reference to the Protestant Orange Order . The belief was later expressed in the popular slogan, "Home Rule means Rome Rule " . Partly in reaction to the Bill, there were riots in Belfast , as Protestant unionists attacked
8525-405: The British Government entertain an earnest hope that the necessity of harmonious co-operation amongst Irishmen of all classes and creeds will be recognised throughout Ireland, and they will welcome the day when by those means unity is achieved. But no such common action can be secured by force. In reply, de Valera wrote We most earnestly desire to help in bringing about a lasting peace between
8680-399: The British House of Commons concerning the Government of Ireland Act: I was pleased to fight shoulder to shoulder, on the Somme and elsewhere, with my fellow-countrymen from the North of Ireland. We fraternised, and we thought that when we came home we would not bicker again, but that we would be happy in Ireland, with a Parliament for our own native country. We did not want two Irelands at
8835-423: The Catholic majority counties (Tyrone and Fermanagh) would later be incorporated into Northern Ireland. In September 1912, more than 500,000 Unionists signed the Ulster Covenant , pledging to oppose Home Rule by any means and to defy any Irish government. They founded a large paramilitary movement, the Ulster Volunteers , to prevent Ulster becoming part of a self-governing Ireland. They also threatened to establish
8990-459: The Crown . Mount Batten tower also dates from around this time. Throughout the 17th century, Plymouth had gradually lost its pre-eminence as a trading port. By the mid-17th century, commodities manufactured elsewhere in England cost too much to transport to Plymouth, and the city had no means of processing sugar or tobacco imports, major products from the colonies. Local sailors turning to piracy such as Henry Every became infamous, celebrated in
9145-658: The Dáil in September 1919. The number of counties that might be excluded from an Irish Home Rule parliament varied over the years. During the Gladstone era it was proposed that all nine counties of Ulster be excluded. A nine county exclusion was again proposed in September 1912, during this time the Unionist leader Edward Carson repeatedly spoke of the exclusion of all nine counties of Ulster. In April 1912 Winston Churchill proposed that three counties (Down, Antrim and Londonderry) be excluded. Later that year Bonar Law added County Armagh thereby recommending that four counties be excluded from Home Rule. During Asquith's time in office
9300-491: The Free State, leaving the remaining territory too small to be viable. In October 1922, the Irish Free State government established the North-Eastern Boundary Bureau (NEBB) a government office which by 1925 had prepared 56 boxes of files to argue its case for areas of Northern Ireland to be transferred to the Free State. De Valera had drafted his own preferred text of the treaty in December 1921, known as "Document No. 2". An "Addendum North East Ulster" indicates his acceptance of
9455-449: The Front; it was one Ireland, whether we, came from the North or from the South...I feel in common with thousands of my countrymen in Ireland, that I and they have been cheated out of the fruits of our victory. We placed our trust in you and you have betrayed us. Michael Collins had negotiated the treaty and had it approved by the cabinet, the Dáil (on 7 January 1922 by 64–57), and by the people in national elections. Regardless of this, it
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#17327794983829610-426: The Hoe. Central Park is the home of Plymouth Argyle Football Club and a number of other leisure facilities. The Plymouth Plan 2019–2034 was published May 2019 and sets the direction for future development with a new spatial strategy which reinforces links with the wider region in west Devon and east Cornwall in its Joint Local Plan and identifies three development areas within the city: the City centre and waterfront;
9765-408: The Home Rule Bill (now Government of Ireland Act 1914) on 18 September 1914. The Suspensory Act ensured that Home Rule would be postponed for the duration of the war with the exclusion of Ulster still to be decided. During the First World War, support grew for full Irish independence, which had been advocated by Irish republicans . In April 1916, republicans took the opportunity of the war to launch
9920-644: The Imperial garb, what mercy, what pity, much less justice or liberty, will be conceded to us then? That is what I have to say about the Ulster Parliament." Ulster Unionist Party politician Charles Craig (the brother of Sir James Craig) made the feelings of many Unionists clear concerning the importance they placed on the passing of the Act and the establishment of a separate Parliament for Northern Ireland: "The Bill gives us everything we fought for, everything we armed ourselves for, and to attain which we raised our Volunteers in 1913 and 1914...but we have many enemies in this country, and we feel that an Ulster without
10075-422: The Irish Free State (Agreement) Bill was being debated on 21 March 1922, amendments were proposed which would have provided that the Ulster Month would run from the passing of the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act and not the Act that would establish the Irish Free State. Essentially, those who put down the amendments wished to bring forward the month during which Northern Ireland could exercise its right to opt out of
10230-458: The Irish Free State. Not only is this opposed to your pledge in our agreed statement of November 25th, but it is also antagonistic to the general principles of the Empire regarding her people's liberties. It is true that Ulster is given the right to contract out, but she can only do so after automatic inclusion in the Irish Free State. [...] We can only conjecture that it is a surrender to the claims of Sinn Fein that her delegates must be recognised as
10385-434: The Irish Free State. Once the treaty was ratified, the Houses of Parliament of Northern Ireland had one month (dubbed the Ulster month ) to exercise this opt-out during which time the provisions of the Government of Ireland Act continued to apply in Northern Ireland. According to barrister and legal writer Austen Morgan, the wording of the treaty allowed the impression to be given that the Irish Free State temporarily included
10540-442: The Liberal Chief Whip proposed that "roughly five counties" be excluded. Finally, in May 1916 Lloyd George proposed that six counties be excluded from a Dublin Home Rule parliament. However, in a 29 May 1916 letter to the Unionist leader Edward Carson, Lloyd George made clear that the exclusion should not be temporary: "We must make it clear that at the end of the provisional period Ulster does not, whether she wills it or not, merge in
10695-420: The London play The Successful Pyrate . It played a part in the Atlantic slave trade during the early 18th century, although it was relatively small. In the nearby parish of Stoke Damerel the first dockyard, HMNB Devonport , opened in 1690 on the eastern bank of the River Tamar . Further docks were built here in 1727, 1762 and 1793. The settlement that developed here was called "Dock" or "Plymouth Dock" at
10850-407: The Plymothians at Freedom Fields Park. The civil war ended as a Parliamentary win, but monarchy was restored by King Charles II in 1660, who imprisoned many of the Parliamentary heroes on Drake's Island . Construction of the Royal Citadel began in 1665, after the Restoration ; it was armed with cannon facing both out to sea and into the town, rumoured to be a reminder to residents not to oppose
11005-405: The Sinn Féin negotiators. The Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921. Under its terms, the territory of Southern Ireland would leave the United Kingdom within one year and become a self-governing dominion called the Irish Free State . The treaty was given legal effect in the United Kingdom through the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 , and in Ireland by ratification by Dáil Éireann . Under
11160-526: The Sound is Drake's Island which is seen from Plymouth Hoe , a flat public area on top of limestone cliffs. The Unitary Authority of Plymouth is 80 square kilometres (31 sq mi). The topography rises from sea level to a height, at Roborough , of about 509 feet (155 m) above Ordnance Datum (AOD). Geologically, Plymouth has a mixture of limestone, Devonian slate , granite and Middle Devonian limestone. Plymouth Sound, Shores and Cliffs
11315-797: The UK, with their own bicameral parliaments, along with a Council of Ireland comprising members of both. Northern Ireland would comprise the aforesaid six northeastern counties, while Southern Ireland would comprise the rest of the island. The Act was passed on 11 November and received royal assent in December 1920. It would come into force on 3 May 1921. Elections to the Northern and Southern parliaments were held on 24 May. Unionists won most seats in Northern Ireland. Its parliament first met on 7 June and formed its first devolved government , headed by Unionist Party leader James Craig. Republican and nationalist members refused to attend. King George V addressed
11470-762: The UVF, based at the Old Town Hall in Belfast, while remaining a director of his newspaper in Plymouth. In December 1913, amid widespread suspicions that sympathy for the Unionist cause might make army officers reluctant to move against the Ulster Volunteers, the CIGS Sir John French recommended that Spender be cashiered (stripped of his commission - a social disgrace that disqualified the person from any further Crown employment) "pour décourager les autres" , but this did not happen. In July 1914 Spender, as
11625-681: The Ulster Unionist leader Sir James Craig met with the President of Sinn Féin, Éamon de Valera , in secret near Dublin. Each restated his position and nothing new was agreed. On 10 May De Valera told the Dáil that the meeting "... was of no significance". In June that year, shortly before the truce that ended the Anglo-Irish War, David Lloyd George invited the Irish President de Valera to talks in London on an equal footing with
11780-663: The United Kingdom. Many Irish republicans blamed the British establishment for the sectarian divisions in Ireland, and believed that Ulster Unionist defiance would fade once British rule was ended. In an attempt to bring about the secession of Ireland from the UK, the Irish War of Independence began on 21 January 1919 with the Soloheadbeg ambush . A guerrilla war developed as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) began attacking British forces. The British authorities outlawed
11935-615: The United Kingdom. The nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party won most Irish seats in the 1885 general election . It then held the balance of power in the British House of Commons , and entered into an alliance with the Liberals . IPP leader Charles Stewart Parnell convinced British Prime Minister William Gladstone to introduce the First Irish Home Rule Bill in 1886. Protestant unionists in Ireland opposed
12090-404: The achievement of a republic through negotiation was impossible'. On 20 July, Lloyd George further declared to de Valera that: The form in which the settlement is to take effect will depend upon Ireland herself. It must allow for full recognition of the existing powers and privileges of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which cannot be abrogated except by their own consent. For their part,
12245-404: The all Ireland parliament proposal. The report was, however, rejected by the Ulster unionist members, and since Sinn Féin had not taken part in the proceedings, the convention was considered a failure. In 1918, the British government attempted to impose conscription in Ireland and argued there could be no Home Rule without it. This sparked outrage in Ireland and further galvanised support for
12400-603: The army, feeling his services were required in Ulster, Spender sought legal advice from Sir Edward Carson . He invited Spender to Belfast to help organise the Ulster Volunteer Force , a paramilitary group to resist Home Rule. During a period of leave from service in India , Spender met an old friend, Alice Lilian Dean. They were married within a few weeks. After a ten-day honeymoon , he and his wife travelled to Belfast, where Spender became Quartermaster General of
12555-445: The basis of the legislation that partitioned Ireland – the Government of Ireland Act 1920. At the first meeting of the committee (15 October 1919) it was decided that two devolved governments should be established — one for the nine counties of Ulster and one for the rest of Ireland, together with a Council of Ireland for the "encouragement of Irish unity". The Long Committee felt that the nine-county proposal "will enormously minimise
12710-411: The bomb-damaged city was published; it called for demolition of the few remaining pre-War buildings in the city centre to make way for their replacement with wide, parallel, modern boulevards aligned east–west linked by a north–south avenue (Armada Way) linking the railway station with the vista of Plymouth Hoe. A peripheral road system connecting the historic Barbican on the east and Union Street to
12865-413: The border in 1925, but they were not implemented. Since partition, most Irish nationalists/republicans continue to seek a united and independent Ireland, while Ulster unionists/loyalists want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK. Over the years the Unionist governments of Northern Ireland have been accused of discrimination against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority. In 1967 Unionists opposed
13020-463: The borough of Plymouth", but generally known as the corporation or town council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, both Plymouth and neighbouring Devonport were considered large enough to provide their own county-level services and so they were made county boroughs , independent from Devon County Council . In 1914 the county boroughs of Plymouth and Devonport and the adjoining urban district of East Stonehouse were merged to form
13175-518: The boundaries". This left large areas of Northern Ireland with populations that supported either Irish Home Rule or the establishment of an all-Ireland Republic. The results from the last all-Ireland election (the 1918 Irish general election) showed Nationalist majorities in the envisioned Northern Ireland: Counties Tyrone and Fermanagh, Derry City and the Constituencies of Armagh South, Belfast Falls and Down South. Many Unionists feared that
13330-561: The centre of a controversy as the council planned for its demolition estimating that it could cost £40m to refurbish it, resulting in possible job losses. Plymouth lies between the River Plym to the east and the River Tamar to the west; both rivers flow into the natural harbour of Plymouth Sound . Since 1967, the unitary authority of Plymouth has included the, once independent, towns of Plympton and Plymstock which lie along
13485-482: The ceremonial opening of the Northern parliament on 22 June. Meanwhile, Sinn Féin won an overwhelming majority in the Southern Ireland election. They treated both as elections for Dáil Éireann , and its elected members gave allegiance to the Dáil and Irish Republic, thus rendering "Southern Ireland" dead in the water. The Southern parliament met only once and was attended by four unionists. On 5 May 1921,
13640-636: The cities of Newry and Derry should be left under the proposed Irish Parliament. There was then debate over how much of Ulster should be excluded and for how long, and whether to hold referendums in each county. The Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George supported "the principle of the referendum...each of the Ulster Counties is to have the option of exclusion from the Home Rule Bill." In July 1914, King George V called
13795-549: The city became a unitary authority on 1 April 1998 under recommendations of the Banham Commission . In the Parliament of the United Kingdom , Plymouth is represented by the three constituencies of Plymouth Moor View , Plymouth Sutton and Devonport and South West Devon . Prior to Brexit in 2020 it was represented within the European Parliament as South West England . In 1919, Nancy Astor
13950-403: The city's Catholic nationalist minority. The Bill was defeated in the Commons. Gladstone introduced a Second Irish Home Rule Bill in 1892. The Irish Unionist Alliance had been formed to oppose home rule, and the Bill sparked mass unionist protests. In response, Liberal Unionist leader Joseph Chamberlain called for a separate provincial government for Ulster where Protestant unionists were
14105-478: The consent of a majority of its population. The treaty also reaffirmed an open border between both jurisdictions. Results in Ireland of the December 1910 United Kingdom general election showing a large majority for the Irish Parliamentary Party . During the 19th century, the Irish nationalist Home Rule movement campaigned for Ireland to have self-government while remaining part of
14260-480: The crisis was interrupted by the First World War (1914–18). Support for Irish independence grew during the war and after the 1916 armed rebellion known as the Easter Rising . The Irish republican political party Sinn Féin won the vast majority of Irish seats in the 1918 election . They formed a separate Irish parliament and declared an independent Irish Republic covering the whole island. This led to
14415-432: The decision a few days ago as to whether we would call upon the Government to include the nine counties in the Bill or be settled with the six." In what became Northern Ireland, the process of partition was accompanied by violence, both "in defence or opposition to the new settlement". The IRA carried out attacks on British forces in the north-east, but was less active than in the south of Ireland. Protestant loyalists in
14570-590: The east of the River Plym. The River Tamar forms the county boundary between Devon and Cornwall and its estuary forms the Hamoaze on which is sited Devonport Dockyard . The River Plym, which flows off Dartmoor to the north-east, forms a smaller estuary to the east of the city called Cattewater . Plymouth Sound is protected from the sea by the Plymouth Breakwater , in use since 1814. In
14725-399: The east, Boringdon Camp and Maristow Camp to the north. The settlement of Plympton , further up the River Plym than the current Plymouth, was also an early trading port. (See Plympton for the derivation of the name Plym .) As the river silted up in the early 11th century, mariners and merchants were forced to settle downriver, at the current day Barbican near the river mouth. At
14880-419: The ending of the ongoing "Belfast Boycott" of northern goods by the south and the return of jobs to the thousands of Catholics that had been forcibly removed from Belfast's mills and shipyards (see The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1920–1922) . The second Pact consisted of ten Articles which called for an end to all IRA activity in Northern Ireland and the setting up of a special police force that would represent
15035-435: The entire region was the dockyard. The Three Towns conurbation of Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport enjoyed some prosperity during the late 18th and early 19th century and were enriched by a series of neo-classical urban developments designed by London architect John Foulston . Foulston was important for both Devonport and Plymouth and was responsible for several grand public buildings, many now destroyed, including
15190-713: The first English failed settlement attempt at Roanoke Colony in North America departed in 1587 under Sir Walter Raleigh 's and Drake's leadership; returning bearing maize, tobacco and potatoes . In 1588, according to legend, Drake insisted on completing his game of bowls on the Hoe before engaging the Spanish Armada . In 1620 the Pilgrims set sail for the New World from Plymouth, establishing Plymouth Colony –
15345-471: The floor of the House of Commons: I was informed, on behalf of the Cabinet, that negotiations and communications and consultations with me had been struck off, and that I would receive no communication from the Cabinet until they had come to a decision, behind my back, upon proposals which I had never seen and which they refused to submit to me. I asked them what the nature of these new proposals was, and I
15500-476: The former Act, at 1 pm on 6 December 1922, King George V (at a meeting of his Privy Council at Buckingham Palace ) signed a proclamation establishing the new Irish Free State. Under the treaty, Northern Ireland's parliament could vote to opt out of the Free State. Under Article 12 of the Treaty, Northern Ireland could exercise its opt-out by presenting an address to the King, requesting not to be part of
15655-551: The fullest use of our rights to mollify it". While speaking in the British House of Parliament on 14 December 1921, the British Prime Minister remarked on the possibility of including Tyrone and Fermanagh into Northern Ireland: "There is no doubt—certainly since the Act of 1920—that the majority of the people of two counties prefer being with their Southern neighbours to being in the Northern Parliament." On 21 December 1921
15810-573: The home defence section of the Imperial Defence Committee, which was then involved with the general defence of the United Kingdom. He was at one point the youngest staff officer in the British army. He organized, and partly financed, a national petition against proposed Home Rule in Ireland, and helped establish the Junior Imperial League . He accepted an invitation to stand for Parliament , but withdrew when
15965-650: The long time (1921–1943) Minister of Home Affairs (Northern Ireland) authorized that both County Councils offices be seized (by the Royal Irish Constabulary), the County officials expelled, and the County Councils dissolved. The British government introduced the Government of Ireland Bill in early 1920 and it passed through the stages in the British parliament that year. It would partition Ireland and create two self-governing territories within
16120-412: The monarch. In the late fifteenth century, Plymouth Castle , a "castle quadrate", was constructed close to the area now known as The Barbican; it included four round towers, one at each corner, as featured on the city coat of arms. The castle served to protect Sutton Pool , which is where the fleet was based in Plymouth prior to the establishment of Plymouth Dockyard . In 1512, an Act of Parliament
16275-475: The more convinced am I that these differences will disappear." Unionists opposed the Bill, but argued that if Home Rule could not be stopped then all or part of Ulster should be excluded from it. Irish nationalists opposed partition, although some were willing to accept Ulster having some self-governance within a self-governing Ireland ("Home Rule within Home Rule"). Winston Churchill made his feelings about
16430-472: The most significant imports to Plymouth from the Americas and Europe during the latter half of the 19th century included maize, wheat, barley, sugar cane, guano , sodium nitrate and phosphate . Aside from the dockyard in the town of Devonport, industries in Plymouth such as the gasworks, the railways and tramways, and a number of small chemical works had begun to develop in the 19th century, continuing into
16585-482: The new Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, James Craig, which de Valera attended. De Valera's policy in the ensuing negotiations was that the future of Ulster was an Irish-British matter to be resolved between two sovereign states, and that Craig should not attend. After the truce came into effect on 11 July, the USC was demobilized (July – November 1921). Speaking after the truce Lloyd George made it clear to de Valera, 'that
16740-483: The newly zoned industrial sector, attracting rapid growth of the urban population. The army had substantially left the city by 1971, after barracks were pulled down in the 1960s, but the city remains home to 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery and also 42 Commando of the Royal Marines . As a unitary authority there is only one tier of local government covering Plymouth. Plymouth City Council meets at
16895-577: The north and northeast of the city is the granite mass of Dartmoor; the granite was mined and exported via Plymouth. Rocks brought down the Tamar from Dartmoor include ores containing tin, copper, tungsten , lead and other minerals. There is evidence that the middle Devonian limestone belt at the south edge of Plymouth and in Plymstock was quarried at West Hoe, Cattedown and Radford. On 27 April 1944 Sir Patrick Abercrombie's Plan for Plymouth to rebuild
17050-700: The north-east attacked the Catholic minority in reprisal for IRA actions. The January and June 1920 local elections saw Irish nationalists and republicans win control of Tyrone and Fermanagh county councils, which were to become part of Northern Ireland, while Derry had its first Irish nationalist mayor. In summer 1920, sectarian violence erupted in Belfast and Derry, and there were mass burnings of Catholic property by loyalists in Lisburn and Banbridge . Loyalists drove 8,000 "disloyal" co-workers from their jobs in
17205-598: The only Irishmen consulted during this time. During the summer of 1919, Long visited Ireland several times, using his yacht as a meeting place to discuss the "Irish question" with the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland John French and the Chief Secretary for Ireland Ian Macpherson . Prior to the first meeting of the committee, Long sent a memorandum to the British Prime Minister recommending two parliaments for Ireland (24 September 1919). That memorandum formed
17360-581: The partition issue...it minimises the division of Ireland on purely religious lines. The two religions would not be unevenly balanced in the Parliament of Northern Ireland." Most northern unionists wanted the territory of the Ulster government to be reduced to six counties, so that it would have a larger Protestant/Unionist majority. Long offered the Committee members a deal – "that the Six Counties ... should be theirs for good ... and no interference with
17515-434: The peoples of these two islands, but see no avenue by which it can be reached if you deny Ireland's essential unity and set aside the principle of national self-determination. Speaking in the House of Commons on the day the Act passed, Joe Devlin ( Nationalist Party ) representing west Belfast , summed up the feelings of many Nationalists concerning partition and the setting up of a Northern Ireland Parliament while Ireland
17670-406: The possibility of the partition of Ireland clear: "Whatever Ulster's right may be, she cannot stand in the way of the whole of the rest of Ireland. Half a province cannot impose a permanent veto on the nation. Half a province cannot obstruct forever the reconciliation between the British and Irish democracies." The 1911 census reported Catholic majorities in five of the nine counties of Ulster, two of
17825-484: The proposed status as a dominion (as represented by the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity) for Southern Ireland , rather than as an independent all-Ireland republic , but continuing partition was a significant matter for Ulstermen like Seán MacEntee , who spoke strongly against partition or re-partition of any kind. The pro-treaty side argued that the proposed Boundary Commission would give large swathes of Northern Ireland to
17980-505: The province of Ulster, whose inhabitants may now be unwilling to accept the national authority, we are prepared to grant to that portion of Ulster which is defined as Northern Ireland in the British Government of Ireland Act of 1920, privileges and safeguards not less substantial than those provided for in the 'Articles of Agreement for a Treaty' between Great Britain and Ireland signed in London on 6 December 1921. In early 1922
18135-505: The provisions of Section 12 of the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922. The treaty also allowed for a re-drawing of the border by a Boundary Commission . Sir James Craig, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland objected to aspects of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. In a letter to Austen Chamberlain dated 14 December 1921, he stated: We protest against the declared intention of your government to place Northern Ireland automatically in
18290-429: The rain which falls in those seasons in the south-west is from this source. Average annual rainfall is around 980 millimetres (39 in). November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west. Typically, the warmest day of the year (1971–2000) will achieve a temperature of 28.6 °C (83 °F), although in July 2022
18445-413: The reconstruction plan for London. This initially included plans to expand the city into south east Cornwall , but these were abandoned after opposition from Cornwall County Council . Between 1951 and 1957 over 1000 homes were completed every year, mostly using innovative prefabricated systems of just three main types. The Plan for Plymouth was, on the one hand, a template for the rapid reassembly of
18600-586: The representatives of the whole of Ireland, a claim which we cannot for a moment admit. [...] The principles of the 1920 Act have been completely violated, the Irish Free State being relieved of many of her responsibilities towards the Empire. [...] We are glad to think that our decision will obviate the necessity of mutilating the Union Jack . In March 1920 William Redmond a member of Parliament and combat veteran of World War I, addressed his fellow members of
18755-437: The republicans. In the December 1918 general election , Sinn Féin won the overwhelming majority of Irish seats. In line with their manifesto , Sinn Féin's elected members boycotted the British parliament and founded a separate Irish parliament ( Dáil Éireann ), declaring an independent Irish Republic covering the whole island. Unionists, however, won most seats in northeastern Ulster and affirmed their continuing loyalty to
18910-435: The rest of Ireland." In September 1919, British Prime Minister Lloyd George tasked a committee with planning Home Rule for Ireland within the UK. Headed by English Unionist politician Walter Long , it was known as the 'Long Committee'. The makeup of the committee was Unionist in outlook and had no Nationalist representatives as members. James Craig (the future 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland ) and his associates were
19065-628: The rules were changed to place officers on half pay if they entered parliament. He signed the Ulster Covenant when it was opened for signature in England. In 1913 he was allowed to retire from his army commission, refusing to resign with the rank of Captain and pension of £120 per year. A confidential inspection report of 1913 commented that Captain Spender had been led away by a 'too active conscience' and had been very injudicious, risking his prospects in life. While disputing being forced to leave
19220-515: The same time, he gave some support to moves to launch a national party in England — "to promote Reform, the Union and Defence" — and considered seeking nomination for parliament in a constituency in Devon or Cornwall . Following the war, he joined the Ministry of Pensions in London. In 1920 he was approached by Carson and Craig and asked to return to Belfast to help reorganize the UVF. They formed
19375-853: The second English colony in what is now the United States. In 1625, the town Mayor estimated that African slavers captured that summer about 1,000 villagers from the area, to be sold in Africa. During the English Civil War Plymouth sided with the Parliamentarians and was besieged for almost four years by the Royalists . The last major attack by the Royalists was by Sir Richard Grenville leading thousands of soldiers towards Plymouth, but they were defeated by
19530-688: The self-declared 32-county Irish Republic . On 6 December 1922 (a year after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty ), Ireland was partitioned. At that time, the territory of Southern Ireland left the UK and became the Irish Free State , now known as the Republic of Ireland . Ireland had a large Catholic, nationalist majority who wanted self-governance or independence. Prior to partition the Irish Home Rule movement compelled
19685-449: The spring and early summer of 1922, the IRA launched a failed "Northern Offensive" into border areas of Northern Ireland. The capital, Belfast , saw "savage and unprecedented" communal violence , mainly between Protestant and Catholic civilians. More than 500 were killed and more than 10,000 became refugees, most of them from the Catholic minority. The Irish War of Independence resulted in
19840-424: The suggestion of partition: "You can no more split Ireland into parts than you can split England or Scotland into parts...You have an essential unity of race and temperament, although I agree that unhappily dissensions have been rank, partially by religion, and partially, by the organisation of partisanship. The more Irishmen are encouraged and empowered to cooperate in the great works of governing their own country,
19995-589: The temperature reached 33.9 °C (93.0 °F), the site record. On average, 4.25 days of the year will report a maximum temperature of 25.1 °C (77 °F) or above. During the winter half of the year, the coldest night will typically fall to −4.1 °C (25 °F) although in January 1979 the temperature fell to −8.8 °C (16 °F). Typically, 18.6 nights of the year will register an air frost. Source 3: Time and Date (dewpoints, between 1985-2015) There are three universities based in Plymouth,
20150-519: The territory would not last if it included too many Catholics and Irish Nationalists but any reduction in size would make the state unviable. The six counties of Antrim , Down , Armagh , Londonderry , Tyrone and Fermanagh comprised the maximum area unionists believed they could dominate. The remaining three counties of Ulster had large Catholic majorities: Cavan 81.5%, Donegal 78.9% and Monaghan 74.7%. On 29 March 1920 Charles Craig (son of Sir James Craig and Unionist MP for County Antrim) made
20305-533: The time this village was called Sutton, meaning south town in Old English . The name Plym Mouth , meaning "mouth of the River Plym" was first mentioned in a Pipe Roll of 1211. Plympton Priory owned land at Sutton and secured a charter from Henry III in 1254 granting the priory the right to hold a weekly market and annual fair at Sutton, making it a market town . During the Hundred Years' War
20460-403: The time, and a new town, separate from Plymouth, grew up. In 1712 there were 318 men employed and by 1733 the population had grown to 3,000 people. Before the latter half of the 18th century, grain, timber and then coal were Plymouth's main imports. During this time the real source of wealth was from the neighbouring town of Plymouth Dock (renamed in 1824 to Devonport) and the major employer in
20615-560: The two communities. Article VII called for meetings before the Northern Ireland Government exercised its option to opt out of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The purpose of the meetings was to be "...whether means can be devised to secure the unity of Ireland or failing this whether agreement can be arrived at on the boundary question otherwise than by recourse to the Boundary Commission." Under the treaty it
20770-484: The two leaders of Northern and Southern Ireland agreed on two pacts that were referred to as the Craig-Collins Pacts. Both Pacts were designed to bring peace to Northern Ireland and deal with the issue of partition. Both Pacts fell apart and it was the last time for over 40 years that the leaders of government in the north and south were to meet. Among other issues, the first pact (21 January 1922) called for
20925-521: The west determines the principal form of the city centre, even following pedestrianisation of the shopping centre in the late 1980s, and continues to inform the present 'Vision for Plymouth' developed by a team led by Barcelona-based architect David MacKay in 2003 which calls for revivification of the city centre with mixed-use and residential. In suburban areas, post-War prefabs had already begun to appear by 1946, and over 1,000 permanent council houses were built each year from 1951 to 1957 according to
21080-451: The whole island of Ireland, but legally the terms of the treaty applied only to the 26 counties, and the government of the Free State never had any powers—even in principle—in Northern Ireland. On 7 December 1922 the Parliament of Northern Ireland approved an address to George V, requesting that its territory not be included in the Irish Free State. This was presented to the king the following day and then entered into effect, in accordance with
21235-422: Was assured by the British Prime Minister and the entire Cabinet that voters in all counties excluded from Home Rule would be permitted to vote on joining a Home Rule Ireland (a vote was never held). Redmond was also "guaranteed" that all excluded counties were to be returned to Home Rule Ireland after six years. On 20 July 1916 Redmond was removed from any further negotiations with the British government. He spoke on
21390-407: Was deployed and an Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) was formed to help the regular police. The USC was almost wholly Protestant and some of its members carried out reprisal attacks on Catholics. From 1920 to 1922, more than 500 were killed in Northern Ireland and more than 10,000 became refugees, most of them Catholics. See The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1920–1922) . In the first election to
21545-403: Was designed by John Rennie to protect the fleet moving in and out of Devonport; work started in 1812. Numerous technical difficulties and repeated storm damage meant that it was not completed until 1841, twenty years after Rennie's death. In the 1860s, a ring of Palmerston forts was constructed around the outskirts of Devonport, to protect the dockyard from attack from any direction. Some of
21700-529: Was elected the first-ever female member of parliament to take office in the British Houses of Parliament for the constituency of Plymouth Sutton . She was elected to the seat vacated by her husband Waldorf Astor on his elevation to the peerage. Lady Astor was a vibrantly active campaigner for her resident constituents. In 1945, Plymouth-born Michael Foot was elected Labour MP for the constituency of Plymouth Devonport which had been heavily damaged in
21855-471: Was enacted on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 . The Act intended both territories to remain within the United Kingdom and contained provisions for their eventual reunification . The smaller Northern Ireland was duly created with a devolved government (Home Rule) and remained part of the UK. The larger Southern Ireland was not recognised by most of its citizens, who instead recognised
22010-439: Was enforced by the IRA, who halted trains and lorries from Belfast and destroyed their goods. Conflict continued intermittently for two years, mostly in Belfast, which saw "savage and unprecedented" communal violence between Protestant and Catholic civilians. There was rioting, gun battles and bombings. Homes, business and churches were attacked and people were expelled from workplaces and from mixed neighbourhoods. The British Army
22165-607: Was formally re-named as Plymouth in 1439 when it was made a borough . The settlement has played a significant role in English history, notably in 1588 when an English fleet based here defeated the Spanish Armada , and in 1620 as the departure point for the Pilgrim Fathers to the New World . During the English Civil War , the town was held by the Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646. In 1690
22320-659: Was granted the dignity of Lord Mayor by King George V in 1935. The position is elected each year by a group of six councillors. It is traditional that the position of the Lord Mayor alternates between the Conservative Party and the Labour Party annually and that the Lord Mayor chooses the Deputy Lord Mayor. The Lord Mayor's official residence is 3 Elliot Terrace, located on the Hoe . Once
22475-407: Was in a deep state of unrest. Devlin stated: "I know beforehand what is going to be done with us, and therefore it is well that we should make our preparations for that long fight which, I suppose, we will have to wage in order to be allowed even to live." He accused the government of "...not inserting a single clause...to safeguard the interests of our people. This is not a scattered minority...it
22630-489: Was in the Domesday Book in 1086 as Sudtone (Sutton), Saxon for south farm, located at the present-day Barbican . From Saxon times, it was in the hundred of Roborough . Sutton became a market town in 1254 and a borough in 1439, when it was formally renamed Plymouth. Plymouth was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836, governed by a corporate body officially called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of
22785-476: Was largely due to Plymouth's status as a major port. Charles Church was hit by incendiary bombs and partially destroyed in 1941 during the Blitz, but has not been demolished. It has been designated as an official permanent monument to the bombing of Plymouth during World War II. The redevelopment of the city was planned by Sir Patrick Abercrombie in his 1943 Plan for Plymouth whilst simultaneously working on
22940-608: Was never a member of the Orange Order , despite claims to the contrary from certain quarters. Sir Wilfrid retired in 1944 and returned to England in 1955, he died of heart failure on 21 December 1960 at the East Hill Hotel, his home at Liss, Hampshire . He was survived by Lady Spender (died 1966), whom he married in 1913. They had one child, a daughter, Patricia, Mrs. Dingwall. Plymouth Plymouth ( / ˈ p l ɪ m ə θ / PLIH -məth )
23095-543: Was one of few principal trading ports of pre-Roman Britannia dominating continental trade with Armorica . An unidentified settlement named TAMARI OSTIA (mouth/estuaries of the Tamar) is listed in Ptolemy's Geographia and is presumed to be located in the area of the modern city. An ancient promontory fort was located at Rame Head at the mouth of Plymouth Sound with ancient hillforts located at Lyneham Warren to
23250-405: Was passed to further fortify Plymouth. The work included defensive walls at the entrance to Sutton Pool (across which a chain was extended in times of danger). Defences on St Nicholas Island also date from this time, and a string of six artillery blockhouses were built, including one on Fishers Nose at the south-eastern corner of the Hoe. This location was further strengthened by the building of
23405-448: Was provided that Northern Ireland would have a month – the "Ulster Month" – during which its Houses of Parliament could opt out of the Irish Free State. The Treaty was ambiguous on whether the month should run from the date the Anglo-Irish Treaty was ratified (in March 1922 via the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act) or the date that the Constitution of the Irish Free State was approved and the Free State established (6 December 1922). When
23560-493: Was the headquarters of Western Approaches Command until 1941, and Sunderland flying boats were operated by the Royal Australian Air Force . It was an important embarkation point for US troops for D-Day . The city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe , in a series of 59 raids known as the Plymouth Blitz . Although the dockyards were the principal targets, much of the city centre and over 3,700 houses were completely destroyed and more than 1,000 civilians lost their lives. This
23715-404: Was the intention of the Government to introduce a Bill containing these provisions practically whether we liked it or not. The Home Rule Crisis was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, and Ireland's involvement in it . Asquith abandoned his Amending Bill, and instead rushed through a new bill, the Suspensory Act 1914 , which received Royal Assent together with
23870-416: Was told that the Cabinet did not desire to consult me about them, and until they had come to a decision I would be told nothing...The next communication I received was on Saturday last, when the Minister for War and the Home Secretary requested me to call and see them at the War Office. They then informed me that another Cabinet Council had been held, and that it had been decided, mark you, decided, to insert in
24025-411: Was unacceptable to Éamon de Valera, who led the Irish Civil War to stop it. Collins was primarily responsible for drafting the constitution of the new Irish Free State, based on a commitment to democracy and rule by the majority. De Valera's minority refused to be bound by the result. Collins now became the dominant figure in Irish politics, leaving de Valera on the outside. The main dispute centred on
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