William May (politician)

William Morrison May (8 April 1909 – 2 March 1962) was a unionist politician in Northern Ireland.

May was born in Letterkenny, County Donegal, the son of William May JP, and educated at Methodist College, Belfast.[1] In 1934 he married Olive Muriel Dickinson and had one son and two daughters - Jennifer married, firstly, the 8th Earl of Strafford and, subsequently, Sir Christopher Bland, Chairman of British Telecom. He served in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force from 1936–39 and in the Royal Air Force from 1939-45 as a Wing Commander.[2]

May was a chartered accountant in the firm of Quin, Knox and Co. During the Second World War he served in the RAF and was a Member of Lloyd's from 1954.

At the 1949 Northern Ireland general election, he was elected as the Ulster Unionist Party MP for Ards. He was appointed Minister for Education in 1957, also being raised to the Privy Council (Northern Ireland).[3]

May died at his home, Mertoun Hall, Holywood, County Down in 1962.

References
  1. "Biographies of Members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  2. "MAY, Rt Hon. William Morrison". www.ukwhoswho.com.
  3. "MAY, Rt Hon. William Morrison". www.ukwhoswho.com.
Parliament of Northern Ireland
Preceded by
Robert Perceval-Maxwell		 Member of Parliament for Ards
1949–1962		 Succeeded by
William Long
Political offices
Preceded by
Harry Midgley		 Minister of Education
1957–1962		 Succeeded by
Ivan Neill
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.