Emma Clare Roebuck Ingilby, Lady Ingilby ('' née''; Thompson) is a British aristocrat and businesswoman. Upon her marriage to Sir Thomas Colvin William Ingilby, 6th Baronet in 1984, she became the

châtelain Châtelain (from la, castellanus, derived from ''castellum''; pertaining to a castle, fortress. Middle English: ''castellan'' from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman: ''castellain'' and Old French: ''castelain'') was originally the French title ...

e of

Ripley Castle Ripley Castle is a Grade I listed 14th-century country house in Ripley, North Yorkshire, England, north of Harrogate. The house is built of coursed squared gritstone and ashlar with grey slate and stone slate roofs. A central two-storey block ...

, the seat of the

Ingilby baronets There have been three baronetcies created for members of the Ingilby/Ingleby family, one in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. The latter title is extant while the o ...

. She co-owns and co-runs the estate alongside her husband, and opened the castle up to the public in the late 1980s.

Early life

Lady Ingilby is the daughter of Major Richard A. Thompson, a military officer, and Pamela Margaret Baker, a school teacher. Her parents met in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, where her father was serving in the British Armed Forces, shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Her father's family are an old Quaker family of merchants from

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 her grandparents were friends with the

Terry Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albrit ...

and Rowntree families. She is a descendant of John Spicer, a Protestant martyr who was burnt at the stake in 1556 during the

Marian persecutions Protestants were executed in England under heresy laws during the reigns of Henry VIII (1509–1547) and Mary I (1553–1558). Radical Christians also were executed, though in much smaller numbers, during the reigns of Edward VI (1547–155 ...

and was listed in ''

Foxe's Book of Martyrs The ''Actes and Monuments'' (full title: ''Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church''), popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by Protestant Engli ...

''. She studied business at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

. After finishing university, she worked as a

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties ...

for a finance director.

Ripley Castle

Lady Ingilby co-owns and co-manages

, a 14th-century estate, with her husband. The castle, the Ingilby family home for over seven-hundred years, is in

Ripley, North Yorkshire Ripley is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire in England, a few miles north of Harrogate on the A61 road towards Ripon. The village name derives from Old English and is believed to mean wood of the ''Hrype'' or Ripon people. Ripley w ...

, near

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa w ...

. Shortly after they married, she and Sir Thomas decided to commercialize Ripley. The Harrogate Convention Centre had been built a few years before, and the Ingilbys opened up the castle for dinners and teas, and turned some of the estate's stables and outbuildings into shops, in order to pull in tourism from the convention centre. They gave commercial leases to an art gallery, a pub, cafés, a gin-tasting room, a small clothing boutique, and a florist in Ripley. Lady Ingilby originally cooked the meals for formal dinners and events at the castle, for sometimes up to a hundred guests. She once hosted

Sophie, Countess of Wessex Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Forfar, (born Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones, 20 January 1965) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, the youngest brother of King Charles III. She grew u ...

at the castle. She hosts weddings and other formal events at the castle, and opened a 25-room hotel, called the Boar's Head, in one of the estate's listed buildings. She also opened up the east wing of the castle as a conference and banqueting facility. When she began managing the estate, she employed seventeen staff personnel and, by the 2000s, employed over one-hundred and twenty. Lady Ingilby grows coffee, palms, bananas, oranges, cacti, and orchids in Ripley's gardens. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, she had to dismiss her gardening staff, and had to manage the 15 acres of gardens, and the village flowers, on her own. In February 2021, she was interviewed by Emma Manners, Duchess of Rutland for the podcast ''Duchess'', where she talked about her role at Ripley Castle.

Personal life

She met Sir Thomas Colvin William Ingilby, 6th Baronet of

, at a dinner party when she was eighteen years old. They married on 25 December 1984. Upon her marriage to Sir Thomas, she gained the title Lady Ingilby. She and her husband have five children: *James William Francis Ingilby (born 15 June 1985) *Joslan Richard Ryland Ingilby (born 7 October 1986) *Eleanor Jane Pamela Ingilby (born 14 February 1989) *Jack Henry Thomas Ingilby (born 10 February 1990) *Richard Joseph Frederick Ingilby (born 9 December 1994) Lady Ingilby is a member at

York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It attracts around 350 ...

. She serves as patron of Candlelighters, a foundation in Yorkshire that supports families with children battling cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingilby, Emma Living people 20th-century English businesswomen 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesswomen 21st-century English businesspeople Alumni of the University of Bristol Businesspeople from Yorkshire English Quakers Emma Wives of baronets Year of birth missing (living people)