Brigadier Christopher John Beckett, 4th Baron Grimthorpe OBE, DL (16 September 1915 – 6 July 2003), was a soldier, company director, landowner and peer of the realm.

Personal life

Christopher John Beckett was born 16 September 1915, eldest son of

Ralph Beckett, 3rd Baron Grimthorpe Ralph William Ernest Beckett, 3rd Baron Grimthorpe, Territorial Decoration, TD, Deputy Lieutenant, DL (1891–1963), was a banker and breeder of racehorses. Beckett was son of Ernest Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe. He was a partner in the Leeds firm ...

, TD, (1891–1963), a partner in the banking firm of Beckett and Co., of Leeds, Yorkshire, by his first wife, Mary Alice, daughter of Colonel Mervyn Archdale, 12th Lancers, and Mary Kate de Bathe, daughter of

Sir Henry de Bathe, 4th Baronet General Sir Henry Percival de Bathe, 4th Baronet, KCB (19 June 1823 – 5 January 1907) was a British Army officer who achieved high office in the 1870s. Early life Bathe was born in Valletta, Malta in 1823, the son of Sir William Plunkett de Ba ...

. He grew up at Easthorpe Hall, Malton, in North Yorkshire, where his father and his second wife, Angela, ran a stud where they bred Fragrant Mac, which won the

Scottish Grand National The Scottish Grand National is a Grade 3 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Ayr, Scotland, over a distance of about 4 miles (3 ...

in 1952. The best horse they owned, however, was Fortina, winner of the 1947

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...

. Christopher Beckett was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

. He succeeded his father as fourth Baron and eighth Baronet in 1963. On 17 February 1954, he married Lady Elizabeth Lumley, daughter of

Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarbrough Lawrence Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarbrough, (27 July 1896 – 29 June 1969) was a British Conservative politician and British Army general. Background Lumley was the son of Brigadier General Osbert Lumley (1857-1923), youngest child and so ...

, of

Lumley Castle Lumley Castle is a 14th-century quadrangular castle at Chester-le-Street in the North of England, near the city of Durham and a property of the Earl of Scarbrough. It is a Grade I listed building. It is currently a hotel. History It is named a ...

, Lord Chamberlain to the Queen. The wedding took place at the

Queen's Chapel The Queen's Chapel (officially, ''The Queen's Chapel St. James Palace'' and previously the German Chapel) is a chapel in central London, England, that was designed by Inigo Jones and built between 1623 and 1625 as an external adjunct to St. Jame ...

, Marlborough Gate, sometimes called the Marlborough House Chapel, by special permission of the sovereign, and the wedding reception took place at St James's Palace.

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

, and the Duchess of Gloucester attended. In 1973 Lady Grimthorpe joined the household of the Queen Mother as a Lady of the Bedchamber, and remained in that post at Clarence House until the death of Her Majesty. Lord Grimthorpe was a director of Thirsk Race Committee, and was a member of the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...

. He also served as a consultant and sales representative with Sir Alfred McAlpine and Son Ltd. In 1973 he joined the board of Yorkshire Post Newspapers, of which his uncle, the Hon Rupert Beckett, had been chairman for 30 years, 1920–1950. Lord Grimthorpe was appointed OBE (military) in 1958. A memorial service was held at York Minster on 16 July 2003. He is survived by Lady Grimthorpe, two sons,

Edward John Edward John (born July 8, 1949) is a prominent First Nations political leader in Canada. Early life The son of Louis and Amelia John, he was born in the Carrier village of Tachie, along the north shore of Stuart Lake, about 60 km from ...

and Ralph Daniel (Danny) Beckett, and a daughter, Harriet.

Military career

Lord Grimthorpe had a distinguished military career, retiring from the Army in 1968 as a Brigadier. He was Colonel Commanding the

9th Queen's Royal Lancers The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but w ...

from 1955 to 1958 and Brigadier

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the A ...

Western Command from 1961 to 1964. He was deputy commander of HQ Malta and Libya from 1964 to 1967 and served as an ADC to the Queen. In retirement he was a Deputy Lieutenant for North Yorkshire from 1969 and Colonel of the

9th/12th Lancers The 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1960 by the amalgamation of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers and the 12th Royal Lancers. In the later years of its existence, the regiment served ...

from 1973 to 1978.

Arms

References

External links

Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimthorpe, Christopher Beckett, 4th Baron Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom 1915 births 2003 deaths People educated at Eton College Officers of the Order of the British Empire 9th Queen's Royal Lancers officers 9th/12th Royal Lancers officers Deputy Lieutenants of the North Riding of Yorkshire British Army personnel of World War II Royal Armoured Corps officers

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

British Army brigadiers Grimthorpe