Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe

Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe PC, DL (24 February 1901 – 18 September 1984) was a British Conservative Party politician.

Marriage and children

In 1924, he married Sylvia, daughter of Baron Hotham; they had two daughters (one of whom died in infancy) and two sons. His daughter, Bridget, married Marcus Worsley, brother of Katharine, Duchess of Kent. The older son, Ralph (b. 1929), was Chairman of Rio Tinto Zinc, and succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Clitheroe in 1984. The younger son, Nicholas (1934-2012) was a banker who served as Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

Political career

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 became a Privy Counsellor in 1944, and served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1944 to 1946.

After retiring from the House of Commons at the 1955 general election, Assheton was elevated to the peerage as Baron Clitheroe on 20 June 1955. Three months after being raised to the peerage he succeeded his father Sir Ralph Cokayne Assheton as 2nd Baronet, of Downham, Lancashire. He later served as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, from 1971 to 1976.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Ralph Assheton

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir Henry Bucknall Betterton	Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe 1934–1945	Succeeded by Florence Paton
Preceded by George Thomas Broadbridge Sir Andrew Rae Duncan	Member of Parliament for City of London 1945–1950 With: Sir Andrew Rae Duncan	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Blackburn West 1950–1955	Constituency abolished
Political offices
Preceded by Harry Crookshank	Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1942–1944	Succeeded by Osbert Peake
Party political offices
Preceded by Thomas Dugdale	Chairman of the Conservative Party 1944–1946	Succeeded by Lord Woolton
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Lord Rhodes of Saddleworth	Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire 1971–1976	Succeeded by Sir Simon Towneley
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Clitheroe 1955–1984	Succeeded by Ralph Assheton
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Ralph Assheton	Baronet (of Downham, Lancashire) 1955–1984	Succeeded by Ralph Assheton