Matthew White Ridley, 3rd Viscount Ridley (16 December 1902 – 25 February 1964) was a British

peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a ne ...

, landowner, public servant and race car driver. He was also the third Baron Wensleydale and seventh Baronet Ridley.

Biography

Early life and education

Ridley was the son and heir of Matthew White Ridley, 2nd Viscount Ridley and Rosamond Cornelia Gwladys Guest, daughter of

Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, 2nd Baronet, DL (29 August 1835 – 22 February 1914) was a British industrialist and a member of the prominent Guest family. Early life Ivor Bertie Guest was born at Dowlais, near Merthyr Tydfil, the so ...

. He succeeded to the family titles when he was just 13 years old, after his father's death on 14 February 1916. He attended

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

Racing

Ridley was a self-taught engineer and car racing enthusiast. At the family estate, Blagdon Hall, he designed and built his own car to challenge the

speed records A speed record is a world record for speed by a person, animal, or vehicle. The function of speed record is to record the speed of moving animate objects such as humans, animals or vehicles. Overall speed record Overall speed record is the recor ...

for Class H vehicles (501 – 750cc). In 1931, he set the record for the "flying kilometre and flying mile" in the International Class A at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields ...

, with mean speeds of 105.42 mph (kilometre) and 104.56 mph (mile). He was badly injured in an accident at Brooklands at the end of the 1931 season, when his car reportedly reached a speed of 112 mph.

Career

He inherited considerable estates in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

(10,000 acres) and devoted his life to public affairs. He was a member of the Northumberland County Council from 1928 to his death, and chairman of the North-East Development Association, the North-East Industrial and Development Association, the Northern Regional Board for Industry, and the Rock Building Society. In business, he also served as chairman of the Consett Iron Works, director of the Moor Line steamship company, and a member of the board of

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...

. Ridley served as an officer in the Northumberland Yeomanry, an honorary colonel of the Tyne Electrical Engineers and was active in the Territorial Army. Nationally he served as Director of Hydrogen Production for the Air Ministry, Director of Producer Gas Vehicles for Ministry of Transport and as North Regional Controller of the Ministry of Production. During the Second World War, he designed an auxiliary engine for Sunderland flying boats. In 1937, he became chairman of the council of King's College, Newcastle and had a significant role in the creation of the new

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

. Viscount Ridley was invested as a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the

1938 New Year Honours The 1938 New Year Honours were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 1 January 1938.United Kingdom and Britis ...

for "public services in Durham and Tyneside".

Family

Ridley married Ursula Lutyens, daughter of Sir

Edwin Landseer Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memoria ...

and Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (daughter of

Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton Edward Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, (8 November 183124 November 1891) was an English statesman, Conservative politician and poet who used the pseudonym Owen Meredith. He served as Viceroy of India between 1876 and 1880durin ...

), on 13 October 1924. They had three children together: *

Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley (29 July 1925 – 22 March 2012), was a British nobleman. He notably served as Lord Steward of the Household from 1989 to 2001. Background, education and military service Ridley was the son of Matthew W ...

(29 July 1925 – 22 March 2012) *

Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, (17 February 1929 – 4 March 1993), was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister. As President of the Selsdon Group, a free-market lobby within the Conservative Party, he was ...

(17 February 1929 – 4 March 1993) *

Hon Hon or HON may refer to: People * Han (surname) (Chinese: 韩/韓), also romanized Hon * Louis Hon (1924–2008), French footballer * Priscilla Hon (born 1998), Australian tennis player Other uses * Hon (Baltimore), a cultural stereotype of ...

. Laura Consuelo Ridley, who married Adrian Carrick.

References

External links

Blagdon Estate: Family History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Matthew White Ridley, 3rd Viscount Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom 1902 births 1964 deaths People from Marylebone Military personnel from London Northumberland Hussars officers

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

People educated at Eton College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford British motorsport designers English racing drivers English people of Welsh descent Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Lutyens family