William Neill (politician)

{{Short description|Politician in Northern Ireland (1889–1960)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_date = {{birth date|1889|05|08|df=yes}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1960|01|03|1889|05|08|df=yes}} | party = Ulster Unionist Party | office = Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast | term = 1955 | term_start2 = 1946 | term_end2 = 1949 | office1 = High Sheriff of Belfast | term1 = 1954 | office2 = Lord Mayor of Belfast | term_end3 = 1949 | term_start3 = 1945 | predecessor2 = Sir Crawford McCullagh | successor2 = William E. G. Johnston | successor1 = Robert Kinahan | predecessor1 = Robert Pierce | office3 = Member of Parliament for Belfast North | term3 = | successor3 = | predecessor3 = | honorific_suffix = JP DL | name = Sir William Neill | title = | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | birth_place = Belfast, Ireland | death_place = SS Pretoria Castle }}

'''Sir William Frederick Neill''' (8 May 1889 – 3 January 1960) was a unionist politician in Northern Ireland.

Neill studied at Belfast Model School before becoming an estate agent. He was elected as an Ulster Unionist Party alderman on the Belfast Corporation in 1938, and served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1946 to 1949.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=5 January 1960 |title=Obituary: Sir William Neill Former Lord Mayor and MP |work=Belfast News-Letter |pages=4}}</ref> He was elected in the 1945 UK general election, for Belfast North, serving five years. He was knighted in 1948.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Harbinson |first=John F. |title=Ulster Unionist Party, 1882-1973: Its Development and Organization |publisher=Blackstaff Press |year=1974 |isbn=978-0856400766 |pages=181}}</ref> In 1954, he served as High Sheriff of Belfast, and then as Deputy Lord Mayor the following year.<ref>''Water and Water Engineering'', Vol.64, p.84</ref> Neill died on 3 January 1960 aboard the Union-Castle liner Pretoria Castle while returning home from overseas.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 January 1960 |title=Sir William Neill dies at sea |work=Northern Whig |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=4 January 1960 |title=Obituary: Sir William Neill |work=Belfast Telegraph |pages=2}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

==References== <references />

== External links == * {{Hansard-contribs | sir-william-neill | William Frederick Neill }}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for Belfast North | years = 1945–1950 | before = Thomas Somerset | after = H. Montgomery Hyde }} {{s-civ}} {{succession box | title = Lord Mayor of Belfast | before = Crawford McCullagh | after = W. E. G. Johnston | years = 1946–1949}} {{succession box | title=High Sheriff of Belfast | before=Robert Pierce | after=Robin Kinahan | years=1954–1955}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neill, William Frederick}} Category:1889 births Category:1960 deaths Category:High sheriffs of Belfast Category:Lord mayors of Belfast Category:Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1945–1949 Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (since 1922) Category:UK MPs 1945–1950 Category:Ulster Unionist Party MPs Category:Ulster Unionist Party members of the Senate of Northern Ireland Category:Knights Bachelor