Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Sir Edward Archibald Ruggles-Brise, 1st Baronet (19 September 1882 – 12 May 1942) was a British Conservative Party politician.

Early life

The son of Archibald Weyland Ruggles Brise (1857-1939), he was born at

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, London, in September 1882 and was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. At Eton, he was the captain of the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

XI; in November 1871, he was selected to represent England in the fourth of the unofficial international matches against Scotland, but withdrew because of illness.

Career

Public service

He was

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

and a Deputy Lieutenant for Essex from 1920.Deputy Lieutenancy announced: In 1939 he was appointed as a Vice Lieutenant of Essex.Vice Lieutenancy announced:

Political career

He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Maldon constituency in Essex from

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

until his death in 1942, with a brief interruption from 1923 to 1924 when he narrowly lost the seat to his Labour opponent Valentine Crittall. Ruggles-Brise was greatly interested in agricultural matters, serving on the Smallholdings Committee of

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock which ...

and as Chairman of the Parliamentary Agricultural Committee.

Military career

Ruggles-Brise was appointed a second lieutenant in the

Essex Yeomanry The Essex Yeomanry was a Reserve unit of the British Army that originated in 1797 as local Yeomanry Cavalry Troops in Essex. Reformed after the experience gained in the Second Boer War, it saw active service as cavalry in World War I and as a ...

on 24 January 1903. From 1927, he commanded the 104th Essex

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units and sub-units in the British Army Reserve which are descended from volunteer cavalry regiments that now serve in a variety of different roles. History Origins In the 1790s, following the ...

Field Brigade,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

of the Territorial Army.

Sport

Ruggles-Brise was a cricketer below first-class play level. He made one appearance making 27 runs at county level for

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

in 1904, while playing at club level for Ellesmere.''Shropshire Cricketers 1844-1998, pages 24,50.

Personal life

Ruggles-Brise was a landowner and was the owner of

Spains Hall Spains Hall is an Elizabethan era, Elizabethan English country house, country house near Finchingfield in Essex, England. The building has been Grade I listed since 1953. The hall is named after Hervey de Ispania, who held the manorialism, mano ...

Finchingfield Finchingfield is a village in the Braintree district of North Essex, England, a primarily rural area. It is approximately from Thaxted, with the nearest larger towns being Saffron Walden and Braintree. Nearby villages include Great Bardfie ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, which had been inherited by his father, Archibald Weyland Ruggles-Brise, on the death of his own father, the politician Samuel Ruggles-Brise. He married twice. Firstly, in 1906, to Agatha Gurney (1881–1937), daughter of John Henry Gurney Jr., a member of the

Gurney family A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or cart) is often ...

of Keswick Hall, Norfolk. Secondly, in 1939, to Lucy Barbara Pym MBE (1895–1979), daughter of Walter Ruthven Pym, Bishop of Bombay. Following his death in May 1942 aged 59, he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Colonel Sir John Archibald Ruggles-Brise, 2nd Baronet.

Honours and decorations

In the 1935

Jubilee A jubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...

Honours List, he was made a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Spains Hall, in Essex.Baronetcy announced: Letters patent granted:

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* 1882 births 1942 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Military personnel from Westminster People from Westminster British recipients of the Legion of Honour Essex Yeomanry officers Royal Artillery officers Recipients of the Military Cross Deputy lieutenants of Essex Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 British Army personnel of World War I People educated at Eton College People from Finchingfield Members of Parliament for Maldon {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1880s-stub