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Coleraine Historical Society is to stage a talk on Primer Minister Andrew Bonar Law and his links with Coleraine.

Bonar Law’s father, James Law, emigrated from Coleraine, and became a Free Church of Scotland minister in New Brunswick.

When his father eventually retired, he came home to the North Coast where Bonar’s brother was a doctor in Portrush. Bonar became a regular visitor, and he installed a window in memory of his parents at Ballywillan Presbyterian Church in Portrush.

The speaker for the evening on Tuesday, October 18, will be Professor Graham Walker, Emeritus Professor of Political History at Queen’s University Belfast.

He has published extensively in the subject areas of British and Irish history and politics. He is the author of political biographies and studies of political parties including a history of the Ulster Unionist Party. He is the joint author of a forthcoming work on Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Union.

The talk will assess the political career of Andrew Bonar Law who became Prime Minister one hundred years ago in 1922. It will also be concerned with his family connection to Ulster and his passionate interventions in the Irish Home Rule controversies of the years preceding the First World War.

The Andrew Bonar Law Memorial Project to mark the 100th anniversary of Bonar Law becoming Prime Minister is fundraising to have a bust of Law placed in Coleraine Town Hall, to be unveiled in October 2022.

The talk is from 8-9pm at The Sandel Centre 6 Knocklynn Road Coleraine, BT52 1WT and via Zoom. Coleraine Historical Society members will receive an e-mail Zoom invitation from Chair Geoff Warke. Please check the Facebook page – Coleraine Historical Society NI | Facebook for any updates.

The talk is free to all Coleraine Historical Society members and £3 to non-members attending at The Sandel Centre – all very welcome. Full details of the Coleraine Historical Society and how to become a member are available on the website Coleraine Historical Society (colerainehistory.org) where it is also possible to order The Bann Disc Journal.

The programme of talks will continue on November 15 with the annual Robert Anderson Memorial Talk.

A Prime Minister and his links to the north coast