Sir Edward Carson, Leader of the Ulster Unionist Council, speaking against the Home Rule Bill, Ireland, 1913 (c)

Photograph, Ireland, 1913 (c).

Sir Edward Carson was a prominent leader of the Ulster unionists. He was the first to sign the Ulster Covenant, by which signatories pledged to resist home rule by 'all means necessary' and backed this up through the establishment of a paramilitary unit known as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).