Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe

{{Short description|British Conservative politician (1901–1984)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = The Lord Clitheroe

| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCVO|KStJ|PC|JP|DL}}

| birth_name = Ralph Assheton

| image = The Lord Clitheroe in 1956.jpg

| caption = The Lord Clitheroe in 1956

| office1 = Member of the House of Lords

| status1 = Lord Temporal

| term_start1 = 21 June 1955

| predecessor1 = Peerage created

| term_end1 = 18 September 1984

| successor1 = The 2nd Baron Clitheroe

| constituency_MP2 = Blackburn West

| term_start2 = 23 February 1950

| term_end2 = 6 May 1955

| predecessor2 = Constituency established

| successor2 = Constituency abolished

| constituency_MP3 = City of London

| term_start3 = 31 October 1945

| term_end3 = 3 February 1950

| predecessor3 = {{unbulleted list|George Broadbridge|Andrew Duncan}}

| successor3 = Constituency abolished

| constituency_MP4 = Rushcliffe

| term_start4 = 26 July 1934

| term_end4 = 15 June 1945

| predecessor4 = Henry Betterton

| successor4 = Florence Paton

| birth_date = {{birth date|1901|2|24|df=y}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1984|9|18|1901|2|24|df=y}}

| spouses = {{marriage|Sylvia Benita Frances Hotham|1923}}

| children = 4

}}

Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|commas=on|KCVO|KStJ|PC|JP|DL}} (24 February 1901 – 18 September 1984), was an English aristocrat and politician.

Biography

Assheton was born on 24 February 1901.[http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp78092/ralph-assheton-1st-baron-clitheroe National Portrait Gallery] His father was Sir Ralph Assheton, 1st Baronet (1860–1955), and his mother, Mildred Estelle Sybella Master (1884–1949).{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} He was educated at Summer Fields School and Eton College.{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Usborne |title=A Century of Summer Fields |publisher=Methuen |year=1964 |page=105}}

Assheton was Member of Parliament (MP) for Rushcliffe from 1934 to 1945, for the City of London from 1945 to 1950, and for Blackburn West from 1950 to 1955. In the wartime government under Winston Churchill, he was Minister of Supply in 1942, and Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1942 to 1944. He was sworn of the Privy Council in the 1944 New Year Honours,{{London Gazette |issue=36309 |date=31 December 1943 |page=1 |supp=y}} and served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1944 to 1946.

After retiring from the House of Commons at the 1955 general election, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Clitheroe, of Downham in the County Palatine of Lancaster, on 21 June 1955.{{London Gazette |issue=40517 |date=21 June 1955 |page=3593}} He succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet three months later.

He was appointed to be a deputy lieutenant of Lancashire on 16 November 1955,{{London Gazette |issue=40638 |date=22 November 1955 |page=6584}} and later served as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, from 1971 to 1976. He was appointed a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (KStJ) in February 1972,{{London Gazette |issue=45601 |date=17 February 1972 |page=2005 }} and appointed to the Royal Victorian Order as a Knight Commander in 1977 on his retirement from the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster.{{London Gazette |issue=47221 |date=24 May 1977 |page=6421}}

Family

He married Hon. Sylvia Benita Frances Hotham, daughter of Frederick Hotham, 6th Baron Hotham (1863–1923), on 24 January 1924.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} They had four children:{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Anne Assheton (born & died 22 December 1924)
Hon. Bridget Assheton (born 20 August 1926, died 22 May 2004). Married Sir Marcus Worsley, Bt, brother of Katharine, Duchess of Kent.{{cite web |title=Obituary: Lady Worsley |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1463883/Lady-Worsley.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=20 December 2012 |date=8 June 2004}}
Ralph John Assheton, 2nd Baron Clitheroe (born 3 November 1929)
Hon. Nicholas Assheton, CVO (born 23 May 1934, died 27 November 2012); Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1998 to her death in 2002.{{cite news|title=Obituaries: Nicholas Assheton|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9783727/Nicholas-Assheton.html|newspaper=Daily Telegraph}}