This letter was written by Hugh de Fellenerg Montgomery (1844-1924). Montgomery was a landowner and politician. Originally a liberal and a strong supporter of Gladstone, Montgomery was also a firm unionist, but by 1916 he believed that Ulster unionists had no choice but to accept Lloyd George's proposal for a six-county Northern Ireland. This letter was written to Edward Carson (1854-1935). Carson was a lawyer and a politician. In 1916 he was at the peak of his parliamentary influence. It was in 1916 that he accepted the first lordship of the admiralty from Lloyd George (1863-1945). He held this, one of the most demanding of wartime offices, between December 1916 and July 1917. In addition to this, Carson was also a leading unionist figure in Irish politics. He sanctioned the formation of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in January 1913; and he helped to found the Ulster provisional government of September 1913. In this letter Montgomery states that he is enclosing a letter which he wrote 'for the sake of blowing off steam' . Montgomery writes that the enclosure should prove useful to show what Irish unionists at home are thinking and that he is considering sending it into the "Times" but he would not like to do anything to increase Carson's difficulties.