Thomas Bailie (15 July 1885 – 22 November 1957) was an

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 ...

(UUP) Member of Parliament (1941–1953) in 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 ...

, based at Stormont, during which time he was Deputy Speaker.Biographies of members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons
accessed 1 December 2010 Bailie was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, United States, the son of William Bailie and Margaret Crooks – his family was from

Newtownards Newtownards (; ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtow ...

, County Down. Returning to Ireland, Bailie attended the Ward School, Bangor. He was married, in 1908, to Jean Fowler and had six children, Muriel, Winifred, Margaret, Mabel, Maureen and William. He served on Bangor Borough Council from 1913 to 1953. When the first

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland The prime minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the Government of Northern Ireland (1921–1972), Government of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920; however, the L ...

Lord Craigavon James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon PC PC (NI) DL (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940), was a leading Irish unionist and a key architect of Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom. During the Home Rule Crisis of 191 ...

, died in 1940, Bailie was elected as his replacement in the 1941 by-election in North Down.Northern Ireland parliament election results
accessed 1 December 2010 He won the seat as an independent Unionist defeating the UUP candidate. He held his seat in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

unopposed, was elected once more in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

as the UUP candidate (with a majority of 11,670 over the Labour Party candidate). By

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, Bailie was once more an independent; this time he was defeated by

Robert Samuel Nixon Robert Samuel Nixon (22 May 1909 – 21 September 1997) was a unionist politician in Northern Ireland. Bob Nixon studied at Mountjoy School in Dublin, then at Queen's University, Belfast, where he qualified as a doctor of medicine. At the 195 ...

, the UUP candidate, by 1,097 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailie, Thomas 1885 births 1957 deaths Independent politicians in Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1938–1945 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1945–1949 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1949–1953 Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Politicians from Boston Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for County Down constituencies American emigrants to Northern Ireland People from Bangor, County Down Councillors in County Down