Ralph William Ernest Beckett, 3rd Baron Grimthorpe, (3 May 1891 – 22 February 1963), was a banker and breeder of racehorses. Beckett was son of Ernest Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe. He was a partner in the

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

firm of Beckett & Co., which later became part of the

Westminster Bank Westminster Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales. It was created in 1834 as the London and Westminster Bank. It merged with the London and County Bank in 1909, after which it renamed itself the London County and W ...

, and in the aeronautical firm Airspeed Ltd. His racehorses included Fortina, which won the

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 furlon ...

in 1947, and Fragrant Mac, which won the

Scottish Grand National The Scottish Grand National is a Premier Handicap 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 ab ...

in 1952.

Biography

Beckett was educated in 1903 at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. He was a member of Eton's contingent of the Junior Division,

Officers Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

, and reached the rank of cadet corporal. He went on to study at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

. On 9 May 1917, following the death of his father, Becket inherited the family titles: he became the 3rd Baron Grimthorpe and the 7th

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 ...

. As a peer, he had an automatic seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, and first sat in the Lords on 27 February 1919. On 13 February 1913, Beckett was commissioned as a supernumerary second lieutenant in the Yorkshire Hussars Yeomanry,

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. He fought in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, serving in France from 1915 to 1917. He was made an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

on 15 January 1917, with the

temporary rank Military ranks is a system of hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of La ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. Having been promoted to temporary

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, he relinquished the rank on 21 August 1917 and reverted back to the

substantive rank Military ranks is a system of hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies, paramilitary groups, and other institutions organized along military lines, such as youth groups, chivalric orders, religious orders, ...

of lieutenant. He vacated the appointment of adjutant on 17 September 1917. He was appointed to an infantry service battalion on 12 September 1917, and he promoted to captain on 16 October 1917. On 16 May 1918, he was given a temporary commission in the Administrative Branch of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) as a lieutenant (honorary captain). Having been awarded his pilot wings, he transferred to the Flying Branch, back dated to 6 November 1918. He was a parliamentary private secretary to the Under-Secretary of State for War ( Viscount Peel) in 1919. He was demobilised by March 1921. Beckett maintained his involvement with the military in the interwar period. In 1926, he was confirmed as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the Yorkshire Hussars, backdated to 7 May 1924. He was a lieutenant-colonel of the Yorkshire Hussars between 1936 and 1940. Beckett fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, where he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. Beckett frequently took part in the

Cresta Run The Cresta Run is a natural ice track in eastern-Switzerland used for skeleton-toboggan racing. Located in the winter sports town of St. Moritz, the run is one of the few in the world dedicated entirely to skeleton. It was built in 1884 nea ...

, St Moritz, Switzerland. His interest in aviation included ownership of two light aircraft. As a major investor in Airspeed Ltd, he became chairman of the company. He founded an airline, North Eastern Airways in 1935, using several aircraft produced by Airspeed, until it was grounded by

, He was also president of Yorkshire Aero Club. Lord Grimthorpe died on 22 February 1963, at age 71.

Family

Beckett married, firstly, Mary Alice Archdale, daughter of Colonel Mervyn Henry Archdale and Mary de Bathe, on 3 September 1914. Together, they had two sons and one daughter; his heir,

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 ...

, was born in 1915. He and Mary were divorced in 1945, and she died in 1962. He married, secondly, Angela Courage, daughter of Edward Hubert Courage and Beatrice Mary Awdry, on 25 March 1945.

Arms

References

Book source

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grimthorpe, Ralph Beckett, 3rd Baron Grimthorpe, 3rd Baron 1891 births 1963 deaths Deputy lieutenants of the West Riding of Yorkshire British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II Yorkshire Hussars officers

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

People educated at Eton College Alumni of University College, Oxford Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force officers