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 Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. Th ...

, 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 Newton Solney is a small village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, England, located about two miles (3 km) from the East Staffordshire border, near to Burton upon Trent. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 659. I ...

in south Derbyshire. He was educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania ...

and

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. 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 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 The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a politic ...

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 o ...

for Burton. With the reformation of the Territorial reserves he became honorary lieutenant-colonel of the 6th

North Staffordshire Regiment The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battalio ...

on 21 September 1907 and succeeded John Gretton as lieutenant-colonel in command of the 6th North Staffords on 18 November 1909. In 1912 he changed his parliamentary allegiance and became

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 ...

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 The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

at the

Hohenzollern Redoubt The Hohenzollern Redoubt () was a strongpoint of the German 6th Army on the Western Front during the First World War, at Auchy-les-Mines near Loos-en-Gohelle in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. Named after the House of Hohenzollern, ...

. Ratcliff was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George 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 High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

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