John Brocklehurst, 1st Baron Ranksborough

The Right Honourable
 The Lord Ranksborough
CB, CVO
Personal details
Born John Fielden Brocklehurst
13 May 1852(1852-05-13)
Died 28 February 1921(1921-02-28) (aged 68)
Nationality British
Political party Liberal
Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge
Occupation Soldier, courtier, politician

Major-General John Fielden Brocklehurst, 1st Baron Ranksborough CB, CVO (13 May 1852 – 28 February 1921), was a British soldier, courtier and Liberal politician.

Contents

Background and education

Brocklehurst was the son of Henry Brocklehurst, of Foden Bank, Macclesfield, and the grandson of John Brocklehurst, for many years Member of Parliament for Macclesfield. His mother was Anne, daughter of 'Honest' John Fielden, Member of Parliament for Oldham. He was educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1]

Career

Brocklehurst was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards in 1874. He served in the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882 including the Battle of Kassasin, in the Sudan campaign of 1884 to 1885 and in the Second Boer War, achieving the rank of Major-General. In South Africa he commanded the 2nd Cavalry Brigade of the Natal Field Force and was in Ladysmith throughout the siege. He retired from the army in 1908.

Brocklehurst was also an Equerry to Queen Victoria from 1899 to 1901 and to Queen Alexandra from 1901 to 1910 and an Extra Equerry to Alexandra from 1910 to 1921 and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland between 1906 and 1921. In 1914 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Ranksborough, of Ranksborough in the County of Rutland.[2] The title derived from his seat of Ranksborough Hall at Langham, Rutland, which he constructed in 1893 and which was often visited by members of the Royal family. Ranksborough took his seat on the Liberal benches in the House of Lords and served under H. H. Asquith and later David Lloyd George as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from 1915[3] to 1921.[4] He was made a MVO in 1897,[5] a CB in 1900[6] and a CVO in 1901.[7]

Personal life

Lord Ranksborough married Louisa Alice, daughter of the Hon. Laurence Parsons, in 1878. The marriage was childless. He died in February 1921, aged 68, when the barony became extinct. Lady Ranksborough died in 1937.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Brocklehurst, John Fielden in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
  2. ^ London Gazette: no. 28848. p. 5362. 10 July 1914. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  3. ^ London Gazette: no. 29070. p. 1547. 16 February 1915. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  4. ^ London Gazette: no. 32292. p. 2990. 15 April 1921. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  5. ^ London Gazette: no. 26871. p. 3820. 9 July 1897. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  6. ^ London Gazette: no. 27306. p. 2696. 19 April 1901. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  7. ^ London Gazette: no. 27390. p. 9061. 24 December 1901. Retrieved 31 March 2010.

References

Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Dysart		 Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland
1906–1921		 Succeeded by
The Earl of Ancaster
Political offices
Preceded by
The Lord Wimborne		 Lord-in-Waiting
1915–1921		 Succeeded by
The Earl of Clarendon
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Ranksborough
1914–1921		 Extinct