William Frederick Neill (8 May 1889–3 January 1960) was a unionist politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

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Neill studied at Belfast Model School before becoming an estate agent. He was elected as an Ulster Unionist Party

Ulster Unionist Party

The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

 alderman on the Belfast Corporation in 1938, and served as Lord Mayor of Belfast

Lord Mayor of Belfast

The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairman of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 51 councillors.The Lord Mayor is Niall Ó Donnghaile of Sinn Féin, while the Deputy Lord Mayor is Ruth Patterson of the Democratic Unionist Party, who were elected in May 2011.The...

  from 1946 to 1949. He was elected in the UK general election, 1945, for North Belfast, serving five years. He was knighted in 1948. In 1954, he served as High Sheriff of Belfast

High Sheriff of Belfast

The High Sheriff of Belfast is a High Sheriff title and position which was created in 1900 under the Local Government Act 1898, with Sir James Henderson the first holder. It is a largely ceremonial position currently held by Ian Adamson, who took office in January 2011...

, and then as Deputy Lord Mayor the following year.