Colonel Sir John Archibald Ruggles-Brise, 2nd Baronet (13 June 1908 – 20 February 2007) was

Lord Lieutenant of Essex This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex. Since 1688, all the Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Essex. *John Petre, 1st Baron Petre *John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford 1558–? *Robert Dudley, 1st Earl ...

from 1958 to 1978, and was the first pro-chancellor of Essex University from 1964 to 1979. He was also a president of the Country Landowners' Association (now the Country Land and Business Association) from 1957 to 1959, and was a co-founder of the CLA's annual Game Fair in 1958. Ruggles-Brise was born at Brent Hall in

Finchingfield Finchingfield is a village in the Braintree district in north-west Essex, England, a primarily rural area. It is approximately from Thaxted, farther from the larger towns of Saffron Walden and Braintree. Nearby villages include Great Bardfield ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. His family have deep roots in Essex, having been based at

Spains Hall Spains Hall is an Elizabethan 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 manor at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. From th ...

in Finchingfield since the house was bought by Samuel Ruggles, a clothier, in 1760. His father,

Sir Edward Ruggles-Brise, 1st Baronet Colonel 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, London, in Se ...

, was MP for

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...

from 1922 to his death in 1942 (with a short intermission in 1923–4), and became 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 ...

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

's Silver Jubilee

honours list Crown Honours Lists are lists of honours conferred upon citizens of the Commonwealth realms. The awards are presented by or in the name of the reigning monarch, currently King Charles III, or his vice-regal representative. New Year Honours Ho ...

in 1935. Ruggles-Brise was educated at Wellesley House School,

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of ...

and

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, where he became captain of his house, and then worked on a family farm in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He worked at Employers Liability Assurance, rising to manage its branches in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

and the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

. He joined the Territorial Army (TA) in 1938 (his father commanded the 104th Essex Yeomanry Field Brigade R.A.). When the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke out, he enlisted as a gunner in the

54th Anti-Aircraft Regiment 54 may refer to: * 54 (number) * one of the years 54 BC, AD 54, 1954, 2054 * ''54'' (novel), a 2002 novel by Wu Ming * Studio 54, a New York City nightclub from 1977 until 1981 * ''54'' (film), a 1998 American drama film about the club * ''54'' ...

. He was commissioned, and commanded a

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 ...

anti-aircraft battery near

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. He inherited the baronetcy on his father's death in 1942. The same year, he took command of the

180th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the shor ...

in 1942, based in Scotland. He took his unit to join the air defences of Plymouth before

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

in 1944. He received a military OBE. He continued to serve with the Territorial Army after the war, being awarded the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the Te ...

and the rank of honorary colonel. He continued to work in insurance for a short period after the war, but then returned to manage the neglected family estates in Essex, which he had inherited in 1942. He was president of the Country Landowners' Association from 1957 to 1959, and was a co-founder of the CLA's annual Game Fair in 1958. He was Deputy Lieutenant of Essex from 1945, vice-lieutenant from 1945, and then

from 1958 to 1978. He became a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1958, and served as a

Church Commissioner The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

from 1959 to 1964, and as chairman of the Council of the Baronetage from 1958 to 1963. He was also a Knight of the Order of St John, and played a leading role in the foundation of Essex University at

Wivenhoe Park Wivenhoe Park is a landscaped green space of more than at the eastern edge of Colchester, England. It is the site of Wivenhoe House, a four-star hotel, based in an eighteenth-century Grade II listed house. Wivenhoe House is also home to the Edg ...

in 1961. He was the university's first pro-chancellor from 1964 to 1979. He was a governor of

Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...

and

Chigwell School Chigwell School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition located in Chigwell, in the Epping Forest (district), Epping Forest district of Essex. It consists of ...

from 1950 to 1975. He never married. He was succeeded by his nephew,

Sir Timothy Edward Ruggles-Brise, 3rd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English language, English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist i ...

Honours

Order of the British Empire (Military) Ribbon

UK Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon

Ribbon - Efficiency Decoration (South Africa)

* He was awarded the

Freedom of the Borough The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

in 1967. * He served as a deputy lieutenant of

from 1945. This gave him the

Post Nominal Letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

"DL" for life. * He served as the Vice Lord Lieutenant from 1948 to 1958. * He served as the

from 6 September 1958 – 1978. At which time he reverted to a DL on the retired list. * He served as 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 ...

in Essex. This gave him the

"JP" for Life.

References

Obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 24 March 2007
Obituary, ''The Times'', 25 June 2007

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruggles-Brise, Sir John 1908 births 2007 deaths British colonels Military personnel from Essex Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Companions of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Eton College Knights of the Order of St John Lord-Lieutenants of Essex Deputy Lieutenants of Essex People associated with the University of Essex People from Finchingfield