Colonel Robert Frederick Ratcliff (1867 – 19 January 1943) was an English brewer, Territorial Army officer and politician who represented Burton from 1900 to 1918. Born in Burton-on-Trent, Ratcliff was the son of Robert Ratcliff and his wife Emily. His father was a brewer in the partnership of Bass Ratcliff and Gretton and lived at Newton Solney in south Derbyshire. He was educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College ...

and

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Ratcliff followed his father into the brewery and was also an active member of the territorial reserve. He was commissioned into the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the 5th Staffordshire

Rifle Volunteer Corps The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

on 19 March 1887, as a Second-Lieutenant serving with "B" Company at Burton. He was promoted to lieutenant on 27 July 1889, captain on 23 January 1892, and major 18 July 1900. In 1900, Ratcliff was elected as Liberal Unionist

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 ...

for Burton. With the reformation of the Territorial reserves he became honorary lieutenant-colonel of the 6th North Staffordshire Regiment on 21 September 1907 and succeeded

John Gretton John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, (1 September 1867 – 2 June 1947) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. Gretton won two gold medals in the 1900 Olympic Games. Life and career Gretton was the eldest son of John Gretton of St ...

as lieutenant-colonel in command of the 6th North Staffords on 18 November 1909. In 1912 he changed his parliamentary allegiance and became Conservative MP for Burton. On the outbreak

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the reserves were mobilised, and on 20 May 1915, he took command of the 1/6 North Staffordshires. The battalion saw heavy fighting in the Battle of Loos at the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Ratcliff was made a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

in the

1916 Birthday Honours The 1916 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

for his services in the war. Ratcliff gave up his parliamentary seat in 1918. He maintained his links with the Territorial Army and when it was reformed in 1921, Ratcliff was again in command of the 6th North Staffords until 1924. He was on the committee of the County Territorial Army Association from 1922 to 1925. He served as High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1929. Among his charitable activities, he built the village hall at Newton Solney.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliff, Robert Frederick 1867 births 1943 deaths English businesspeople English brewers Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 North Staffordshire Regiment officers People educated at Rossall School British Army personnel of World War I High Sheriffs of Derbyshire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George