Sir Leonard Ropner, 1st Baronet, MC, DL (26 February 1895 – 12 October 1977) was a

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 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Background

Ropner was the son of William Ropner, third son of

Sir Robert Ropner, 1st Baronet Sir (Emil Hugo Oscar) Robert Ropner, 1st Baronet (born Röpner; 16 December 1838 – 26 February 1924) was a German-British shipbuilder, shipowner, and Conservative Member of Parliament. Career Ropner was born in 1838 in Magdeburg, Province of ...

. Leonard's grandfather, Sir Robert, had come from Germany in 1857 and founded a fleet of merchant ships; as MP he represented

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

. He was educated at Oatlands, Harrogate and Harrow, obtaining a scholarship to

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

and took a degree in Political Economy. He was a director of the family business of Sir R. Ropner and Co., the shipping company.

Career

He enlisted in 1914 in the

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 ...

and commanded a battery in France, being awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1919. After the war he commanded the Durham Heavy Brigade of the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

in the Territorial Army in the rank of major, and was later appointed their honorary colonel. At the 1923 general election, he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, with a majority of only 6 votes over the sitting

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MP John Herriotts. Ropner held the seat at the 1924 general election with a more comfortable majority of 1,416, but lost to Herriotts at the 1929 general election. He returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at the 1931 general election, for the safe Conservative seat of

Barkston Ash Barkston Ash is a small village and civil parish close to Selby in North Yorkshire, England. It was formerly known as Barkston in the West Riding of Yorkshire. History The village dates back to at least 1090, when it was spelled Barcestone. No ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. He represented the constituency until he retired from

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1964 general election, although his majority was cut to only 116 votes at the 1945 election. In 1937, he served as

High Sheriff of Durham This is a list of the High Sheriffs of County Durham, England. In most counties the High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. In the Palatinate of Durham the officeholder was appointed by and was accountable to the Bishop of D ...

. In 1952, he was made a baronet of Thorp Perrow in the North Riding of the

County of York Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. The Thorp Perrow estate near

Bedale Bedale ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the district of Hambleton, North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is north of Leeds, south-west of Middlesbrough and south-west of the county town of ...

had been bought by his father in 1927. Sir Leonard planted the

Thorp Perrow Arboretum Thorp Perrow Arboretum is an woodland garden arboretum near Bedale in North Yorkshire, England. History Thorp is a common place-name of Old Norse origin meaning hamlet or small village. In the Domesday Book of 1086 Thorp was a possession of ...

References

Sources

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External links

* 1895 births 1977 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Recipients of the Military Cross Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy Lieutenants of Durham UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I High Sheriffs of Durham {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1890s-stub