Edmund Ironside, 2nd Baron Ironside
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Edmund Oslac Ironside, 2nd Baron Ironside (21 September 1924 – 13 January 2020) was a British
hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...
, who sat in the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
from 1959 to 1999. Prior to entering the Lords, he served in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
and worked for Marconi. Upon the death of his father,
Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...
Lord Ironside, in 1959, he succeeded to the title.


Education and career

Ironside was the son of Mariot Ysobel (Cheyne) and William Edmund Ironside. Educated at
Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...
, Ironside joined the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
in 1943. He served until 1952, when he retired with the rank of Lieutenant, and joined
Marconi Company The Marconi Company was a British telecommunications and engineering company founded by Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 which was a pioneer of wireless long distance communication and mass media broadcasting, eventually becoming on ...
. He left Marconi in 1959, joining English Electric Leo Computers, moving to Cryosystems Ltd. in 1964. In 1968 he joined the International Research and Development Company, where he spent sixteen years, before moving to manage defence sales at Northern Engineering Industries in 1984. When they were acquired by
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
in 1989, he was kept on as a defence consultant, and finally retired from industrial work in 1995.''Who's Who'' He was President of the Electric Vehicle Association and the European Electric Road Vehicle Association, the vice-president of the
Institute of Patentees and Inventors The Institute of Patentees and Inventors is a United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mai ...
, and the chairman of the advisory committee of the Science Reference Library. He also sat on the organising committee for the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
at the time of its foundation in 1973, and was a member of the Court and the Council for City University and the
University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...
. He edited the second volume of his father's diaries, ''High Road to Command'', published in 1972.


Marriage and children

Ironside married Audrey Marigold Morgan-Grenville (15 February 1931- 3 December 2015) on 29 April 1950. She was the daughter of Lt Col Hon Thomas George Breadalbane Morgan-Grenville, granddaughter of Mary Morgan-Grenville, 11th Lady Kinloss and great-granddaughter of Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. The couple had two children: * Hon Fiona Georgina Ironside (born 12 September 1954) * Charles Edmund Grenville Ironside, 3rd Baron Ironside (born 1 July 1956) The family lived at Priory House,
Boxted, Essex Boxted is a village and civil parish in the City of Colchester district of Essex, England. It is located approximately north of Colchester and northeast of the county city of Chelmsford. The village is in the parliamentary constituency of N ...
.


Politics

He inherited the peerage on his father's death in 1959, the day after his thirty-fifth birthday. However, he did not make his maiden speech until 1965, some six years later.Speech
by Lord Ironside; ''Hansard'', 3 November 1965
From this point on, unlike his father, who had not spoken in the almost twenty years he held a peerage, Ironside took an increasingly active part in the House of Lords. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a member of the European Community Select Committee, the
Parliamentary and Scientific Committee The UK Parliamentary and Scientific Committee (P&SC) is a United Kingdom parliamentary organization established in 1939. It is an all-party parliamentary group. Overview The P&SC provides a forum for scientific and technological issues in the UK. ...
, the All-Party Energy Studies Group, and, in the 1990s, the All-Party Defence Study Group. His contributions were mainly focused on scientific issues, though in later years he took an increased interest in defence procurement. Under the
House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given royal assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...
, all but ninety-two hereditary peers lost their right to sit in the Lords. These ninety-two were selected by ballot, both from the whole House and by party groups; in the election of Conservative peers, Ironside received fifty-six votes, ranking him sixty-eighth out of 113 candidates. As only forty-two Conservatives were selected, Ironside ceased to have a seat in the Lords, and he declined to participate in any subsequent by-election to the Lords.


Arms


Notes


References

* "IRONSIDE, Edmund". (2009). In ''Who's Who 2010''
Online edition
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ironside, Edmund Ironside, 2nd Baron 1924 births 2020 deaths People educated at Tonbridge School Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Royal Navy officers of World War II People from Boxted, Essex Royal Navy officers Ironside