Joshua Cardwell, JP (1910–1982) was a Unionist

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Early life and career

Born in Belfast and educated locally, Cardwell worked as the manager of a coal importing firm. In 1952 he was elected to

Belfast Corporation Belfast City Council () is the local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of (), the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while bein ...

for Victoria Ward and later became an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

. During the 1960s Cardwell chaired the committee which was responsible for children's homes in the city. In 1969 he was elected to the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

for Belfast Pottinger as an 'O'Neill Unionist' supporting the reform proposals of the then Prime Minister. He remained a member until the Parliament was prorogued in 1972. In 1973 he was elected to the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

for Belfast East, as a Unionist pledged to support the former Prime Minister

Brian Faulkner Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, (18 February 1921 – 3 March 1977), was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972. He was also the Chief Executive ...

. When the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

split in 1974, Cardwell became a founder member of the

Unionist Party of Northern Ireland The Unionist Party of Northern Ireland was a political party founded by Brian Faulkner in September 1974. Formation The party emerged following splits in the Ulster Unionist Party in 1973 and 1974 over the British government's white paper ''Nor ...

and was returned for Belfast East in the 1975 Constitutional Convention election. He remained a member of Belfast City Council until his death, representing 'Area B' equivalent to the current Victoria area. He was unmarried.

Kincora Boys' Home abuse scandal

In March 1982, Cardwell was questioned by police in relation to his visits to Kincora Boys' Home, which had seen a

child sex abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

scandal. The Hughes report into the scandal noted that Cardwell told the police of one conversation with the Belfast

Town Clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

, who had mentioned an imprecise allegation of homosexual conduct (which at that time would have been illegal in Northern Ireland), but he said that no formal complaint had ever come his way. Shortly after the police interview Cardwell's body was found in a car in the garage of his home in Belfast, and he was found to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning; the coroner stated that the death was "inexplicable". Others regarded it as suicide. The Hughes report concluded "There is no evidence that Councillor Cardwell took steps to prevent an investigation or suppress the matter." It mentioned that, as a member (and chairman) of the Welfare Committee, Cardwell had statutory visiting responsibilities in relation to homes. The Joss Cardwell Centre, providing rehabilitation services in East Belfast, was named in his honour but closed in 2007. It burned down in a fire on 9 May 2017.
BBC Northern Ireland

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardwell, Joshua 1910 births 1982 deaths Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Unionist Party of Northern Ireland politicians Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1969–1973 Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1973–1974 Members of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Independent politicians in Northern Ireland Members of Belfast City Council Suicides in Belfast British politicians who died by suicide Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies Ulster Unionist Party councillors