James Laurence Carew
Encyclopedia
James Laurence Carew was an Irish nationalist
politician and Member of Parliament
(MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
. A member of the Irish Parliamentary Party
and later a Parnellite, he was MP for North Kildare
from 1885 to 1892, for Dublin College Green
1896-1900 and for South Meath
from 1900 until his death in 1903.
Youngest son of Laurence Carew of Kildangan, Kinnegad
, (then Co. Meath), Co Westmeath and Anne, older daughter of Garrett Robinson of Kilrainy, Co. Kildare, he was educated at the Jesuit St Stanislaus
' and Clongowes Wood College
s and at Trinity College, Dublin
, where he graduated in 1873. He was called to the Bar
at Lincoln’s Inn, London
, in July 1874, and then practised as an equity draftsman and conveyancer
.
He was elected to Parliament for North Kildare in the Irish Parliamentary Party landslide in the 1885 general election
by a large majority over the Conservative
candidate, and returned unopposed in the election of the following year
. He assisted J. J. Clancy
in running the Irish Press Agency in London. During the Land War
, in February 1889, he was prosecuted for a speech calling for the boycott of the Earl of Drogheda
. Following his arrest, in Perthshire
, Scotland
, while campaigning in support of a Liberal
by-election candidate, he was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment and confined in Kilkenny, and later Kilmainham Gaol
s.
When the Irish Parliamentary Party split in December 1890 over the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell
, Carew supported the latter. He then acted as one of the whips of the Parnellite parliamentary party. In the subsequent bitter general election of 1892
, he was defeated by an Anti-Parnellite by 56 to 44 per cent. He contested North Kildare again in 1895
and was defeated by the slightly smaller margin of 53 to 47 percent. The following year the opportunity to return to the House of Commons arose when his fellow Parnellite Dr J. E. Kenny
resigned the strongly Parnellite seat of Dublin College Green. Carew was selected and returned unopposed.
In 1896, he married Helen, widow of Hugh Coleridge Kennard of the Grenadier Guards
. Later in this parliamentary term, Carew came under attack in the Irish Nationalist movement for attending royal functions. He also became associated with the Healyite faction in the House of Commons
. Consequently, in 1900, he was opposed in Dublin College Green by a new Nationalist candidate, Joseph Patrick Nannetti
. Although the exact circumstances appear to be disputed, he was additionally nominated for his native seat of South Meath, and elected unopposed because the sitting member John Howard Parnell
, expecting no opposition, omitted to submit the fees necessary for nomination in a contested election. Carew subsequently stated in a letter to the press that his return at South Meath was secured without his knowledge or consent, and offered to resign in favour of Parnell or any other candidate nominated by the constituency. However he was defeated at College Green and did not resign South Meath.
At the subsequent National Convention of the United Irish League
, Carew was excluded from the Irish Parliamentary Party, along with Timothy Healy
. Whereas Healy was later reconciled, temporarily, with the IPP, Carew did not live long enough for this to occur. He died suddenly three years later, relatively young, while on holiday at St Moritz.
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
politician and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. A member of the Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
and later a Parnellite, he was MP for North Kildare
North Kildare (UK Parliament constituency)
North Kildare was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Kildare constituency. From 1922 it was not represented in the UK Parliament....
from 1885 to 1892, for Dublin College Green
Dublin College Green (UK Parliament constituency)
College Green, a division of Dublin, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1922.-Boundaries and boundary changes:...
1896-1900 and for South Meath
South Meath (UK Parliament constituency)
South Meath was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the 1885 general election the area was part of the Meath . From 1922 it was not represented in the UK Parliament....
from 1900 until his death in 1903.
Youngest son of Laurence Carew of Kildangan, Kinnegad
Kinnegad
Kinnegad or Kinagad is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is near the border with County Meath, at the junction of the N6 and the N4 - two of Ireland's main east-west roads...
, (then Co. Meath), Co Westmeath and Anne, older daughter of Garrett Robinson of Kilrainy, Co. Kildare, he was educated at the Jesuit St Stanislaus
St Stanislaus College
St Stanislaus College was a school in Tullabeg, County Offaly, Ireland. It was founded as a school for boys under the age of thirteen in 1818. It was endowed by the O'Briens, a local gentry family, and was intended to cater for upper middle class Catholics, as was the sister college at Clongowes...
' and Clongowes Wood College
Clongowes Wood College
Clongowes Wood College is a voluntary secondary boarding school for boys, located near Clane in County Kildare, Ireland. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1814, it is one of Ireland's oldest Catholic schools, and featured prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the...
s and at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, where he graduated in 1873. He was called to the Bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
at Lincoln’s Inn, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, in July 1874, and then practised as an equity draftsman and conveyancer
Conveyancer
In Commonwealth countries, a conveyancer is a specialist lawyer who specialises in the legal aspects of buying and selling real property, or conveyancing. A conveyancer can also be a solicitor, licensed conveyancer, or a fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives.In the United Kingdom,...
.
He was elected to Parliament for North Kildare in the Irish Parliamentary Party landslide in the 1885 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
by a large majority over the Conservative
Irish Conservative Party
The Irish Conservative Party, often called the Irish Tories, was one of the dominant Irish political parties in Ireland in the 19th century...
candidate, and returned unopposed in the election of the following year
United Kingdom general election, 1886
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
. He assisted J. J. Clancy
J. J. Clancy (MP)
John Joseph Clancy , usually known as J. J. Clancy, was an Irish nationalist politician and Member of Parliament for North County Dublin from 1885 to 1918, one of the leaders of the later Irish Home Rule movement and promoter of the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1908, known as the Clancy Act...
in running the Irish Press Agency in London. During the Land War
Land War
The Land War in Irish history was a period of agrarian agitation in rural Ireland in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. The agitation was led by the Irish National Land League and was dedicated to bettering the position of tenant farmers and ultimately to a redistribution of land to tenants from...
, in February 1889, he was prosecuted for a speech calling for the boycott of the Earl of Drogheda
Earl of Drogheda
The title Earl of Drogheda was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1661 for the 3rd Viscount Moore, and is extant.Lord Drogheda also holds the titles Viscount Moore, of Drogheda , and Baron Moore, of Mellefont in the County of Louth in the Peerage of Ireland and Baron Moore, of Cobham in the...
. Following his arrest, in Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, while campaigning in support of a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
by-election candidate, he was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment and confined in Kilkenny, and later Kilmainham Gaol
Kilmainham Gaol
Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison, located in Kilmainham in Dublin, which is now a museum. It has been run since the mid-1980s by the Office of Public Works , an Irish Government agency...
s.
When the Irish Parliamentary Party split in December 1890 over the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
, Carew supported the latter. He then acted as one of the whips of the Parnellite parliamentary party. In the subsequent bitter general election of 1892
United Kingdom general election, 1892
The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...
, he was defeated by an Anti-Parnellite by 56 to 44 per cent. He contested North Kildare again in 1895
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
and was defeated by the slightly smaller margin of 53 to 47 percent. The following year the opportunity to return to the House of Commons arose when his fellow Parnellite Dr J. E. Kenny
J. E. Kenny
Joseph Edward Kenny was an Irish physician, Coroner of the City of Dublin, nationalist politician and Member of Parliament...
resigned the strongly Parnellite seat of Dublin College Green. Carew was selected and returned unopposed.
In 1896, he married Helen, widow of Hugh Coleridge Kennard of the Grenadier Guards
Grenadier Guards
The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
. Later in this parliamentary term, Carew came under attack in the Irish Nationalist movement for attending royal functions. He also became associated with the Healyite faction in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
. Consequently, in 1900, he was opposed in Dublin College Green by a new Nationalist candidate, Joseph Patrick Nannetti
Joseph Patrick Nannetti
Joseph Patrick Nannetti , was an Irish nationalist Home rule politician, trade union leader, and as Irish Parliamentary Party member and Member of Parliament represented the constituency of College Green, Dublin in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. Although the exact circumstances appear to be disputed, he was additionally nominated for his native seat of South Meath, and elected unopposed because the sitting member John Howard Parnell
John Howard Parnell
John Howard Parnell was an older brother of the Irish Nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell and after his brother’s death was himself a Parnellite Nationalist Member of Parliament, for South Meath from 1895 to 1900...
, expecting no opposition, omitted to submit the fees necessary for nomination in a contested election. Carew subsequently stated in a letter to the press that his return at South Meath was secured without his knowledge or consent, and offered to resign in favour of Parnell or any other candidate nominated by the constituency. However he was defeated at College Green and did not resign South Meath.
At the subsequent National Convention of the United Irish League
United Irish League
The United Irish League was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto "The Land for the People" . Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazier farmers to surrender their lands for redistribution amongst...
, Carew was excluded from the Irish Parliamentary Party, along with Timothy Healy
Timothy Michael Healy
Timothy Michael Healy, KC , also known as Tim Healy, was an Irish nationalist politician, journalist, author, barrister and one of the most controversial Irish Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. Whereas Healy was later reconciled, temporarily, with the IPP, Carew did not live long enough for this to occur. He died suddenly three years later, relatively young, while on holiday at St Moritz.
Sources
- Freeman’s Journal, 2 October 1886, 12 December 1900, 1 September 1903
- The Times (London), 27 November 1885, 22 February and 5 March 1889, 5 July 1892, 14 July and 4 October 1900
- Brian M. Walker (ed.), Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 1978
- Who Was Who, 1897-1916