Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

Sir John Alexander Dunnington-Jefferson, 1st Baronet, DSO, DL, JP (10 April 1884 – 12 April 1979) was an English soldier, landowner and local politician.

Biography

John Alexander Dunnington-Jefferson was born on 10 April 1884, the eldest son of Captain Mervyn Dunnington-Jefferson (1850–1912), JP, of Thicket Priory and

Middlethorpe Hall Middlethorpe Hall is a 17th-century English country house standing in of grounds in Middlethorpe, York, North Yorkshire. It is a perfectly symmetrical red brick and stone house built in 1699 and since 2008 has been owned by The National Trus ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, and his wife Louisa Dorothy (died 1951), daughter of the Rev. John Barry.Charles Moseley, ''Burke's Peerage'', vol. 1 (2003), p. 1237. The Dunnington family had been landowners in the East Riding from the 17th century and had an estate centred on Thorganby and West Cottingwith. John Dunnington-Jefferson inherited the family estates from his childless uncle in 1928; in 1955, he sold Thicket Priory to Carmelite nuns and moved to Thorganby Hall but then sold his lands in Thorganby and West Cottingwith in 1964."Papers of the Dunnington-Jefferson family of Thicket Priory and Thorganby"
''Archives Hub''. Retrieved 12 January 2018. After schooling at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

, Dunnington-Jefferson attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

, and then joined the Royal Fusiliers in 1904. He served in Europe during the

First World War 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 ...

, earning the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

(DSO) in 1917 and being mentioned in dispatches six times; he also received the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, the Belgian War Cross and the Italian Order of St Maurice and St Lazarus. He ended the war a

Brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

Major and retired in 1919 as a

."Dunnington-Jefferson, Lt-Col Sir John Alexander"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2007). Retrieved 12 January 2018. With the war over, Dunnington-Jefferson pursued a career in local politics. He was elected onto the East Riding of Yorkshire's County Council in 1922 and served on it until the council was abolished as a result of the local government reforms of 1974. He became its chairman in 1936, a position he retained for 32 years, until 1968. In the meantime he had been a Justice of the Peace since 1921 and Deputy Lieutenant since 1936. He was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

in 1944 and created a

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 14t ...

in 1958, "for public services in Yorkshire". He also received an honorary

doctor of laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

(LLD) degree from the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

and an honorary

doctor of the university An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

(DUniv) degree from the University of York. He married, in 1938, Isobel, daughter of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

H. A. Cape, DSO; together they had one daughter and one son: Rosemary Nicolette (born 1941) and Mervyn Stewart (1943–2014), who succeeded his father in the baronetcy."Dunnington-Jefferson"
''The Telegraph Announcements'' (''The Telegraph''; online ref. 122477). Sir John died on 12 April 1979, aged 95. He deposited his family's papers at Hull University Archives in 1974 (reference GB 50 U DDJ).

Likenesses

''Sir John Alexander Dunnington-Jefferson, 1st Bt''
by Walter Stoneman (bromide print, 5¹/2 in. x 3 ³/4 in. (141 mm x 95 mm)), commissioned 1948; National Portrait Gallery, London (Photographs Collection, NPG x167318),

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunnington-Jefferson, John 1884 births 1979 deaths English justices of the peace Members of East Riding County Council Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Fusiliers officers Knights Bachelor Deputy Lieutenants of the East Riding of Yorkshire