Charles Cunningham Connor was born in Belfast on 12 November 1841. He had an interest in chemistry and graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 1860.

Connor went on to patent a number of linen bleaching processes and was a Fellow of the Chemical Society. He became a partner in Messrs. Sadler, Fenton & Co. linen merchants, and had commercial interests in numerous other linen companies in the north of Ireland.

In 1882, Connor entered the Belfast Corporation (now Belfast City Council) as a Councillor for St George’s Ward and was elected an alderman in 1890. Connor was involved in negotiations which resulted in securing the grounds of the Old White Linen Hall as a site for the present City Hall.

In 1892, Connor was elected as a Conservative MP for North Antrim. He died aged seventy-three at his Belfast home.