Norman Craig

Lieutenant-Commander Norman Carlyle Craig KC (15 November 1868 – 14 October 1919), was the Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for the Isle of Thanet from 1910 until his death in 1919.^[1]

Born on 15 November 1868, the son of William Simpson Craig, a doctor from Ham Common. He was brother of the prominent psychiatrist Sir Maurice Craig.

Craig was educated at Bedford School and as a classical scholar at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1892, appointed King's Counsel in 1909, and as a Bencher of the Inner Temple in 1919.^[2]

In January 1910, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Isle of Thanet, and was re-elected in 1918.

In 1912, he booked a passage to America on board the RMS Titanic. However, he cancelled his trip and was not on board when the vessel sank on 15 April.^[3] He cancelled his trip at such short notice that his name still appeared on the printed list of the Titanic's first-class passengers.^[4] This led to early newspaper reports that he was among the victims of the sinking.

During the First World War he became a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

In 1918, Craig married Dorothy Stone of Hoylake. He died on 14 October 1919 after failing to recover from an unspecified operation.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Norman Craig