Grant-Ferris grave Harvington Chaddesley Corbett Worcestershire 02

Robert Grant Grant-Ferris, Baron Harvington, AE PC (30 December 1907 – 1 January 1997) was a British

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. Born Robert Grant Ferris, he was educated at Douai School and served in the RAF during the War, receiving the Air Efficiency Award in 1942. He was the son of Mrs. Ellen Ryan Ferris (1870–1955), who is known to have purchased and given the

Harvington Hall Harvington Hall is a moated medieval and Elizabethan manor house in the hamlet of Harvington in the civil parish of Chaddesley Corbett, south-east of Kidderminster in the English county of Worcestershire. It is open to the public. History Har ...

to the

Archdiocese of Birmingham The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshir ...

in 1923. In 1930, he married Florence Brennan de Vine (d. 30 December 1996), with whom he had a daughter and a son. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for St Pancras North from 1937 to 1945, and for Nantwich from 1955 until his retirement at the February 1974 general election. He served as Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker from 1970 to 1974. Ferris's maiden speech to Parliament was in March 1937, in a debate on the Air Ministry estimates, in which he spoke as a member of the

Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...

. Grant-Ferris was a staunch supporter of fellow devout Roman Catholic

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

during the Spanish Civil War. His son Fr Piers Grant-Ferris (b. April 9, 1933) pleaded guilty at Leeds Crown Court to indecently assaulting 15 boys while teaching at Gilling Castle, North Yorkshire, the preparatory school for nearby Ampleforth College, between 1966 and 1975. He changed his name from Ferris to Grant-Ferris by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party (law), party. Et ...

in August 1942. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1969, and sworn to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1971. On 24 June 1974 he was given a life peerage as Baron Harvington, of Nantwich in the County of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

References

* 1907 births 1997 deaths Grant-Ferris Conservative Party (UK) life peers Grant-Ferris English Roman Catholics Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Douai School Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Grant-Ferris Grant-Ferris Grant-Ferris Grant-Ferris Grant-Ferris Grant-Ferris UK MPs who were granted peerages Life peers created by Elizabeth II {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1900s-stub