Matthew Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley

Matthew White Ridley, Viscount Ridley (2006)

Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley KG , GCVO (born July 29, 1925 - † March 22, 2012 ) was a British peer and politician. From 1989 to 2001 he was Lord Steward of the Household .

Life

Family origin

Ridley was a great-grandson of Matthew White Ridley , who, with a brief interruption, was Member of the House of Commons for 32 years and, among other things, Secretary of the Interior from 1895 to 1900 , and on December 19, 1900 with the title Viscount Ridley and the subordinate title Baron Wensleydale , of Blagdon and Blyth in the County of Northumberland, was raised to hereditary nobility. His grandfather of the same name, Matthew White Ridley, was initially also a member of the House of Commons and became 2nd Viscount Ridley in 1904. His father of the same name, Matthew White Ridley, inherited the title of 3rd Viscount Ridley as early as 1916 at the age of fourteen following the early death of his father.

His younger brother was Nicholas Ridley , a Conservative Party politician , who for almost 33 years was a Member of the House of Commons, Treasury Secretary of the Treasury, Transport, Environment and, most recently, Trade and Industry Minister in the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher , and in 1992 as Life Peer , entitled Baron Ridley of Liddesdale , of Willimontswick in the County of Northumberland, himself became a member of the House of Lords.

Member of the House of Lords as Viscount Ridley

After attending Eton College, he began his military service with the Coldstream Guards and served during the Second World War, among others, between 1944 and 1945 in Normandy and Germany . After the war he served in the Territorial Army in the Northumberland Hussars and studied at Balliol College of Oxford University , where he graduated 1948th He was then aide-de-camp for the governor of Kenya .

After the death of his father on February 25, 1964 he became his heir as the 4th Viscount Ridley and as such a member of the House of Lords .

In the following years he was also chairman of the Northumberland Council between 1967 and 1979 and on January 3, 1984 succeeded Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland and held this office until his replacement by John Riddell on January 25, 2000. Furthermore, he was also Chancellor of Newcastle University in 1988 as the successor to the Duke of Northumberland and held this position until 1999 and was then replaced by Chris Patten . Moreover followed the Duke of Northumberland in 1989 as Lord Steward and held this post until his replacement by James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn 2001. For his many years of service, he was in 1992 as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter and 1994 as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order awarded.

With the entry into force of the House of Lords Act 1999 , he left the House of Lords . After his death, his son Matt Ridley followed him in 2012 as the 5th Viscount Ridley.

Web links

• Matthew Ridley at Hansard (English)
• Cracroft's Peerage
• Viscount Ridley dies aged 86 . In: Morpeth Herald of March 23, 2012 (accessed on December 2, 2012)

predecessor	Office	successor
Matthew Ridley	Viscount Ridley 1964-2012	Matthew Ridley
Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland	Lord Steward of the Household 1989-2001	James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn