Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl of Shaftesbury (31 August 1869 – 25 March 1961) was an English peer, soldier, and public servant. He was the son of the 8th Earl of Shaftesbury and Lady Harriet Augusta Anna Seymourina Chichester (1836 – 14 April 1898), the daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Donegall and Lady Harriet Anne Butler. He inherited the earldom at age 15.

Military career

Lord Shaftesbury was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

10th Hussars The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince ...

in 1890, promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1891, and to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1898. From 1895–1899 he served as an Aide-de-camp to the

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of Monarchy of Australia, the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the premier of V ...

. He retired from the regular army in 1899, but continued as a captain of the reserve in the Dorset Imperial Yeomanry. On 12 March 1902 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel commanding the North of Ireland Imperial Yeomanry. On 1 January 1913 he was promoted colonel in the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

and appointed to command the

1st South Western Mounted Brigade The 1st South Western Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. By 1915 its regiments had been posted away so it was broken up; it never saw active service as a brigade. The Headquarters ma ...

; he was granted the temporary rank of brigadier-general on the outbreak of war in 1914. Shaftesbury served through the First World War from 1914 to 1918, and relinquished his appointment as a brigade commander on 1 March 1919, when he was granted the honorary rank of brigadier-general.

Political, civic and court offices

Lord Shaftesbury was

Lord Lieutenant of Belfast The Lord Lieutenant of Belfast is the official representative of The King for the 'County Borough of Belfast', Northern Ireland. The current Lord Lieutenant is Dame Fionnuala Mary Jay-O'Boyle, who was appointed in July 2014. The position was fi ...

from 1904 to 1911,

Lord Lieutenant of Antrim A list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Antrim, located in Northern Ireland. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. G. E. C., ed. Vicary Gibbs, ''The Complete ...

from 1911 to 1916, and

Lord Lieutenant of Dorset The Lord Lieutenant is the monarch's representative in the English county of Dorset. The office of the Lord Lieutenant was created during the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547), taking over the military duties of the Sheriff of Dorset and contro ...

from 1916 to 1952. He was

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the city's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the U ...

1907, and Chancellor of Queen's University, Belfast 1909–1923. At the Court, Lord Shaftesbury served as Chamberlain to

Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 Janua ...

as Princess of Wales 1901–1910 and as Lord Chamberlain to her as Queen of the United Kingdom 1910–1922. That year he was appointed

Lord Steward The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household is one of the three Great Officers of the Household of the British monarch. He is, by tradition, the first great officer of the Court and he takes precedence over all other officers of the househ ...

of the Household, serving until 1936. Lord Shaftesbury served as President of the Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Ringers from 1919–1960, the year before his death.

Family life

On 15 July 1899, the 9th Earl of Shaftesbury married Lady Constance Sibell Grosvenor (22 August 1875 – 8 July 1957), the daughter of Victor Alexander Grosvenor, styled Earl Grosvenor (son and heir of

Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899), styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845, Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869, and known as The Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an ...

) and his wife, Lady Sibell Mary Lumley, daughter of Richard George Lumley, 9th Earl of Scarbrough. Lady Constance was invested as a Dame of Justice of Order of St. John of Jerusalem ( DJStJ) and served as a Lady and Extra Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Mary. The 9th Earl of Shaftesbury and his wife, Lady Constance had five children: * Major Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Ashley (4 October 1900 – 8 March 1947). * Lady Mary Sibell Ashley-Cooper (3 October 1902 – 2 August 1936), married Napier Sturt, 3rd Baron Alington of Crichel. * Lady Dorothea Louise Ashley-Cooper (29 April 1907 – 1987), married

Antony Head, 1st Viscount Head Antony Henry Head, 1st Viscount Head, (19 December 1906 – 29 March 1983) was a British soldier, Conservative politician and diplomat. Background and education Head was born in London on 19 December 1906, the son of Geoffrey Head and Ethel D ...

. * Lady Lettice Mildred Ashley-Cooper (12 February 1911 – 1990). * Major Anthony John Percy Hugh Michael Ashley-Cooper (5 October 1915 – 1986), married Julian Petherick, by whom he had four daughters. He was regarded by many to be one of the greatest salmon anglers of the 20th century and wrote four books on the subject. Lord Ashley was

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the earldom, scheduled to inherit upon the death of his father. However, at age 46, Ashley died unexpectedly of heart disease before

succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

. At that time, his son, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, became heir apparent, inheriting the earldom in 1961 upon the death of his grandfather.

Philanthropy and community service

Bryanston School

In 1928, Lord Shaftesbury provided a financial grant to help establish

Bryanston School Bryanston School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

independent boarding school in

Blandford Blandford Forum ( ) is a market town in Dorset, England, on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour, north-west of Poole. It had a population of 10,355 at the United Kingdom 2021 census, 2021 census. The town is notable for its Georgian archit ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, near the village of

Bryanston Bryanston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour west of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 925. The village is adjacent to the grounds of Bryanston School, an in ...

It was founded by

J. G. Jeffreys Jeffrey Graham Jeffreys (1893–1977) was an Australian schoolteacher who moved to England and founded Bryanston School in Dorset. Jeffreys was educated at the University of Melbourne and first taught at a number of schools in Australia. In 19 ...

who, with financial backing from the earl, paid £35,000 for Bryanston House and its of immediate grounds. The Earl served as the school's first Chairman of the Governors.

Belfast Castle

The 9th Earl of Shaftesbury presented

Belfast Castle Belfast Castle (Irish language, Irish: ''Caisleán Bhéal Feirste''Ireland Highlights: Belfast Castle. https://www.irelandhighlights.com/info/belfast-castle/ ) is a mansion located in Cavehill, Cave Hill Country Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland ...

to the City of Belfast in 1934. In 1978, Belfast City Council began a major refurbishment over a period of ten years at a cost of over two million pounds. The architect was the Hewitt and Haslam Partnership. The building officially re-opened to the public on 11 November 1988.

Honours

* 1901: Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Gand Lodge of Antrim (1901–1921)Freemasonry in Northern Ireland 1748–1918, Samuel Leighton 1938 * 1902: Provincial Grand Master of

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

in Dorset * 1906: Knight Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(KCVO) * 1911: Knight of the

Order of St Patrick The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is a dormant British order of chivalry associated with Ireland. The Order was created in 1783 by King George III at the request of the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, ...

(KP) (At his death, he was the last living non-royal member of the Order of St. Patrick.) * 1919: Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) * 1920: Younger Brother of the

Trinity House The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House (and formally as The Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity and of St Clement in the ...

* 1922:

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

* 1924: Knight Grand Cross of the

(GCVO)

Death and burial

The 9th Earl of Shaftesbury died in 1961 aged 91. He was buried in the Parish Church at Wimborne St Giles near the family estate. The earl's titles passed to his 22-year-old grandson, Anthony Ashley-Cooper. The 9th Earl had carefully arranged financial matters on the Shaftesbury Estate so that his heirs would avoid death duties. When the earl died in 1961, his grandson inherited the family's 17th-century home and large estate in Dorset, several other properties and a collection of art, antiques, and other valuables. By the 1990s the 10th Earl's wealth was said to be in the "low millions".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl Of 1869 births 1961 deaths 9 Knights of St Patrick Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Lord mayors of Belfast Lord-lieutenants of Dorset Lord-lieutenants of Antrim Lord-lieutenants of Belfast 10th Royal Hussars officers North Irish Horse officers Chancellors of Queen's University Belfast Members of the London School Board British Army cavalry generals of World War I Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry officers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of Trinity House Mary of Teck Volunteer Force officers Burials in Dorset 19th-century British Army personnel Territorial Force officers