Lieutenant-Colonel John Aldridge (4 January 1832 – 23 February 1888) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

soldier,

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician, and landowner in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

Family

Aldridge was the son of Robert Aldridge and Caroline Anne, daughter of Charles George Beauclerk. He was married in 1863 to Mary Alethea, daughter of Samuel Matthews, and together they had five children: * Emily Marian (1864–1897) * Robert Beauclerk (1865–1892) * Charles Powlett (1866–1941) * Herbert Henry (1869–1922) * John Barttelot (1871–1909)

Military career

Aldridge served in the

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Mar ...

, rising to the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the regiment on 29 December 1854 and

Brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the army on 6 June 1856. After his brief political career he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the part-time

Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia The Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia, later the 3rd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, was an auxiliary regiment raised in Sussex on the South Coast of England. From its formal creation in 1778 the regiment served in home defence in all of Brita ...

(later the 3rd and 4th battalions of

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot ...

) on 27 October 1875.''Army List'', various dates.

Political career

He was elected MP for

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

alongside Robert Henry Hurst. This was unusual as the seat was only eligible to send one member. Although both candidates were declared elected, petitions were lodged against them both, and on 3 May 1869 Aldridge withdrew his claim to entitlement to the seat, leaving Hurst as the sole MP.

St Leonard's House

Aldridge inherited the

St Leonard's Forest St Leonard's Forest is at the western end of the Wealden Forest Ridge which runs from Horsham to Tonbridge, and is part of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It lies on the ridge to the south of the A264 between Horsham and Crawle ...

estate, near Horsham, from his father, Robert Aldridge, in 1871. After 1878, he began selling land from the estate, perhaps due to the agricultural recession. Upon his death in 1888, the estate passed to his son, Robert Beauclerk Aldridge.

Other activities

He was also a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and a Deputy Lieutenant for Sussex.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, John Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy Lieutenants of Sussex Royal Scots Fusiliers officers Sussex Militia officers UK MPs 1868–1874 1832 births 1888 deaths