Daniel Dixon, 2nd Baron Glentoran

The Rt Hon. Lord Glentoran, KBE

Daniel Stewart Thomas Bingham Dixon, 2nd Baron Glentoran, KBE (January 19, 1912 – July 22, 1995)[1][2] was a Northern Ireland 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 in 1935. He served with the Grenadier Guards in World War II, for which he was mentioned in dispatches, and in 1950 succeeded his father as second Baron Glentoran as well as Ulster Unionist member for Belfast Bloomfield in the Northern Ireland House of Commons (where peers could also hold a seat).

Appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance 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 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" demeanor that once, when visiting America, a Texas newspaper carried the headline "Irish royalty to visit Texas."[3]

Appointed Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1973, Lord Glentoran was also the Lord Lieutenant (and from 1950 to 1976 Lieutenant) for Belfast 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. He died in 1995.

See also

References

  1. Bradford, Roy (July 29, 1995). "Obituary: Lord Glentoran". The Independent. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
  2. Froggatt, Richard. "Daniel Stewart Thomas Bingham Dixon (1912–1995)". The Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
  3. guardian.co.uk
Parliament of Northern Ireland
Preceded by
Herbert Dixon, 1st Baron Glentoran
Member of Parliament for Belfast Bloomfield
1950–1961
Succeeded by
Walter Scott
Political offices
Preceded by
William McCleery
Minister of Commerce and Production
1953–1961
Succeeded by
Jack Andrews
Preceded by
Alexander Gordon
Speaker of the Senate of Northern Ireland
1964–1973
Senate abolished
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Sir Thomas Dixon, Bt
Lord Lieutenant of Belfast
1950–1985
Succeeded by
Sir Robin Kinahan
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Herbert Dixon
Baron Glentoran
1950–1995
Succeeded by
Thomas Robin Valerian Dixon
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