Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Willis, 15 June 1916 Letters 1916-1923 Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery

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This is a copy of a letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery (1844-1924) to a Mr Willis. 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. The letter discusses the six county scheme i.e. the exclusion of six Ulster counties from Home Rule, and the possibility of negotiations ending if Herbert Henry Asquith (1852-1928), prime minister, stated the proposal is only provisional until the war is over. The exclusion of Protestants in the south of Ireland from the six counties is also discussed, of which Mongomery states it is better that the six counties help those who have been exuded rather than all of them are subject to an Irish parliament. Montgomery then contemplates a vote which may be taken by the Irish Unionist Alliance, which he believes is a stab in the back of Edward Carson (1854-1935), Unionist leader. Montgomery then states that he will be pleased to see the attempts of David Lloyd George MP (1863-1945) at finding common ground fail.

 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Montgomery of Blessingborn Papers; D/627/429/35 https://letters1916.ie/item/2238 English Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery 1916-06-15 Male 1924 Politics Politics

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 Copy 15th June, 1916. My dear Willis, Till we see whether Asquith's announcement that Lloyd George's proposal is a "provisional" one puts an end to negotiations or not, the position is hardly worth arguing about; but I write a line to say that I totally disagree with you as to our having "absolutely protected our own interests," as I think the suggested six County Province, though easier to defend than the whole Province, will be an exceedingly uncomfortable salient to live in; but if anything comes of the scheme, we shall be in a better position to help our friends standing, as it were, on dry land ourselves, than if we were all drowned together under an Irish Parliament. The question of the exclusion of Ulster was, I think, very thoroughly considered by Unionists, North and South, before the war, and I was under the impression that all Unionists whose opinions were worth anything, were agreed that Ulster Unionists were serving the interests of Southern Unionists as well as their own in insisting upon exclusion. I do not think the I.U.A. is at all likely to pass such a silly resolution as you suggest. It would strengthen the hands of the more selfish members of the Ulster community in devoting themselves altogether to the safeguarding of their own interests and neglecting those of Unionists outside their borders; a line the majority of us have never hitherto taken; but we should all bitterly resent such a stab in the back to Carson at a time when he is doing his best to get the best available terms for all Unionists North and South. We do not see what use we could be either to you or to ourselves in a permanent minority in a Dublin Parliament. I am altogether against schemes to strengthen one rebel faction against another; but for many reasons I should be well pleased to see Lloyd George's eirenicon rejected by a Nationalist Convention. Barring a few Belfast men of business, nobody likesthe position as we are now in; but I hold that we chose the least of the evil alternatives with which we were faced, in the interest of Southern Unionists as well as in our own. Yours very truly, Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to William Coote, 25 March 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenerg Montgomery to Edward Carson, 31 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Edward Carson, 9 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Willis, 10 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Edward Carson, 9 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to 'Canon', 10 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to W. G. Vance, 13 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Vernon, 15 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Willis, 15 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Hamilton, 10 June 1916Letter to Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery from Walter Long, 2 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to George Francis Stewart, 17 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to James Stronge, 3 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to John Edward Fowler Sclater, 3 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to James Stronge, 9 June 1916.Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Mr Glasgow, 18 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to George Francis Stewart, 18 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Hugo, 27 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Maurice Headlam, 19 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery, 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Charles Hubert Montgomery, 30 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to William Hovenden Ffolliott, 2 August 1916Letter from Charles Hubert Montgomery to Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery, 29 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to John Ross, 27 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to William Coote, 27 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to William Coote, 22 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Waldron, 26 June 1916Letter to Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery from Sir John Ross, 2 June 1916.Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Sir Richard Dawson Bates, 23 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to William Coote, 9 Spetember 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Walter Long, 31 May 1916Letter from M. E. Sinclair to Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery, 18 September 1916