Brian Maginess

William Brian Maginness
Minister for Labour of Northern Ireland
In office 2 August 1945 – 12 April 1949
Minister of Home Affairs for Northern Ireland
In office 4 November 1949 – 26 October 1953
Minister of Finance for Northern Ireland
In office 13 February 1953 – 20 April 1956
Attorney General of Northern Ireland
In office 14 April 1956 – 20 March 1964
Member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons
In office 1938–1964
Constituency	Iveagh
Personal details
Born	10 July 1901 Hillsborough, Ireland
Died	16 April 1967 (aged 65) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party
Alma mater	Trinity College, Dublin
Profession	Barrister
Religion	Anglican

William Brian Maginess, QC (10 July 1901 – 16 April 1967) was a member of the Government of Northern Ireland, who was widely seen as a possible successor to Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

Born in 1901, the son of a Lisburn solicitor, he was educated at The Wallace High School and Trinity College Dublin from where he graduated with a Law degree (LLD), and was called to the Northern Ireland bar in 1923.

Having served in the Royal Corps of Artillery during the Second World War he entered the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1938 when he won the Lisburn-centered seat of Iveagh. He entered the Cabinet of Basil Brooke in 1945 when he became Minister of Labour. His stints as the Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance (de facto Deputy Prime Minister) left him favorite to succeed Brooke as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

In the early 1950s however, Maginess became a hate figure for the Orange Order when he banned marches through Catholic areas in Counties Down and Londonderry. Brooke demoted him to the non-Cabinet post of Attorney General in April 1956.

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