Peter Kerr Kerr-Smiley (22 February 1879 – 23 June 1943) was a Northern Irish Member of Parliament.

Family background and early life

He was born at

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

as Peter Kerr Smiley, the second son of Sir Hugh Smiley, 1st Baronet. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

. He commissioned a second lieutenant in the

21st Lancers The 21st Lancers (Empress of India's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1858 and amalgamated with the 17th Lancers in 1922 to form the 17th/21st Lancers. Perhaps its most famous engagement was the Battle of Omdurman, wher ...

on 5 May 1900, promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 15 December 1900, and from 1901 to 1902 served on the staff during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. After the end of hostilities in May 1902, he left

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

the following month. He resigned his commission in 1905, but later reached the rank of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the 14th Battalion

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an light infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal ...

Brother-in-law to Ernest Simpson

In 1905 he adopted the surname of Kerr-Smiley, and the same year married Maud Simpson, daughter of Ernest L. Simpson, a British shipbroker, and sister of

Ernest Aldrich Simpson Ernest Aldrich Simpson (6 May 1897 – 30 November 1958) was an American-born British shipbroker, who was the second husband of Wallis Simpson, later the wife of the former King Edward VIII. Simpson served as an officer in the Coldstream Gua ...

, a significant figure in the 1936

Abdication Crisis In early December 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was in the process of divorcing her second. T ...

. They had two children: *Cyril Hugh Kerr-Smiley (1906–1980; married Agnes Sorell-Cameron) *Elizabeth Maud Kerr-Smiley (1907–2006; married architectural historian Christopher Hussey)

Political career

Kerr-Smiley was a Unionist in politics, and Chairman of the

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

newspaper '' The Northern Whig''. He unsuccessfully stood for South Down at the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting e ...

Member of Parliament for North Antrim

He was elected for North Antrim in January 1910 and represented the constituency until

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, in its 1950 recreation a constituency much later achieving significant prominence for decades by its MP the Rev. Dr.

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader from Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and ...

. Kerr-Smiley's London house was at 31

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for ...

, and he was a member of the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in the St James's area of London, England. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and elect ...

, the Marlborough Club and the Cavalry Club.

References

* Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees (eds), ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament Volume III 1919–1945'', Brighton 1979, p. 196-197

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr-Smiley, Peter 1879 births 1943 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Antrim constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge 21st Lancers officers Royal Ulster Rifles officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Irish Unionist Party MPs Ulster Unionist Party MPs British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from County Antrim