Sir Lopes Massey Lopes, 3rd Baronet, PC (14 June 1818 – 20 January 1908), known as Massey Franco until 1831, of

Maristow Maristow House in the parish of Bickleigh (formerly Tamerton Foliot), Devon, England, is a large country house set in landscaped parkland, on the River Tavy to the north of Plymouth. It was built in about 1560, rebuilt in the mid-18th century an ...

in the parish of

Tamerton Foliot Tamerton Foliot is a village situated in the north of Plymouth, England, that also lends its name to the ecclesiastical parish of the same name. Situated near the confluence of the rivers Tamar and Tavy, the village is situated in a valley ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician and agriculturalist.

Life

Lopes was the eldest son of

Sir Ralph Lopes, 2nd Baronet Sir Ralph Lopes, 2nd Baronet (10 September 1788 – 23 January 1854), of Maristow in the parish of Tamerton Foliot, Devon, was a British Member of Parliament (MP). Lopes was born as Ralph Franco. His uncle, Manasseh Masseh Lopes, an MP and boro ...

, by his wife Susan Ludlow, daughter of Abraham Ludlow.

Henry Lopes, 1st Baron Ludlow Henry Charles Lopes, 1st Baron Ludlow, (3 October 1828 – 25 December 1899) was a British judge and Conservative Party politician. Background and education Ludlow was a younger son of Sir Ralph Lopes, 2nd Baronet, and the uncle of Henry Lopes, ...

, was his younger brother. His father, originally Ralph Franco, had succeeded to the estates and title of his uncle

Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, 1st Baronet Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, 1st Baronet (27 January 1755 – 26 March 1831), of Maristow in the parish of Tamerton Foliot, Devon, was a British Member of Parliament and borough-monger. Parliamentary career Born in Jamaica, Lopes was a member of ...

, in 1831, and assumed the same year the surname of Lopes in lieu of his patronymic. Both the Lopes and Franco families were of Sephardic-Jewish origins. Lopes was educated at Winchester and Oriel College, Oxford. He unsuccessfully contested Westbury in 1853, but was returned to Parliament for the same constituency in 1857. In 1868 he was elected for Devonshire South, defeating Lord Amberley. In Parliament he was the member of a group including Henry Chaplin,

Albert Pell Albert Pell (12 March 1820 – 7 April 1907) was an English solicitor and Conservative Party politician. Early life Pell was born in 1820, the eldest son of Sir Albert Pell, a judge of the Bankruptcy Courts and Margaret Letitia Matilda St John, ...

and

Clare Sewell Read Clare Sewell Read (6 November 1826 – 21 August 1905) was a British agriculturist and Conservative politician. Early life He was born in 1826 in Ketteringham, Norfolk, and was the eldest son of George Read of Barton Bendish Hall, and his wif ...

, that supported farming interests, and was chairman of the Agricultural Business Committee. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative ...

for 1857. In 1874 Lopes was appointed

Civil Lord of the Admiralty The Civil Lord of the Admiralty formally known as the Office of the Civil Lord of Admiralty also referred to as the Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty was a member of the Board of Admiralty who was responsible for managing the Royal N ...

in the second Conservative administration of Benjamin Disraeli, a post he held until the government fell in 1880. Bad health forced him to decline the post of

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...

in 1877. His health also forced him to leave Parliament in 1885. The same year he was sworn of the Privy Council but declined a peerage. He was later an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

of the Devon County Council from 1888 to 1904. He was also for many years a Director of the Great Western Railway. He was greatly interested in scientific farming, and completely rebuilt his Maristow estate. Lopes married firstly Bertha, daughter of

John Yarde-Buller, 1st Baron Churston John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

. They had one son and two daughters. After her death in 1872, he married secondly Louisa, daughter of Sir Robert Newman, 1st Baronet. There were no children from this marriage. Lady Lopes died in April 1903. Lopes survived her by five years and died in January 1908, aged 89. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his only son

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, who was created

Baron Roborough Baron Roborough, of Maristow in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 24 January 1938 for Sir Henry Lopes, 4th Baronet. He had earlier represented Grantham, Lincolnshire, in Parliament as a ...

in 1938.

Notes

References

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopes, Sir Massey, 3rd Baronet 1818 births 1908 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 High Sheriffs of Devon Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for South Devon English people of Portuguese-Jewish descent

Massey Massey may refer to: Places Canada * Massey, Ontario * Massey Island, Nunavut New Zealand * Massey, New Zealand, an Auckland suburb United States * Massey, Alabama * Massey, Iowa * Massey, Maryland People * Massey (surname) Educati ...

Jewish British politicians Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Lords of the Admiralty Jamaican people of Portuguese descent English people of Portuguese descent