John Francis Harcourt Baring, 7th Baron Ashburton (2 November 1928 – 6 October 2020), was a British merchant banker who served as chairman of British Petroleum from 1992 to 1995. Lord Ashburton also sat on the boards of

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the sports car and luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational corporation, multinational automaker, car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that ...

, Dunlop Rubber, and Royal Insurance.

Family

He was the oldest son of Alexander Baring, 6th Baron Ashburton, and Doris Harcourt. His maternal grandparents were Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, and Mary Ethel Burns, daughter of Walter Hayes Burns of New York City, granddaughter of Junius Spencer Morgan and niece of American banking magnate

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. As the head of the banking firm that ...

Marriages and children

First marriage

On 25 November 1955, Baring married Susan Mary Renwick (born 1930). She was a daughter of Robert Renwick, 1st Baron Renwick, and his first wife Dorothy Mary Parkes. They had four children: * Lucinda Mary Louise "Lucy" Baring (born 20 October 1956). Married Michael John Wilmot Malet Vaughan, second son of John David Malet Vaughan, 8th Earl of Lisburne. They have three children: Emma, Sophie and Edward. * Mark Francis Robert Baring, 8th Baron Ashburton (born 17 August 1958). Married Miranda Caroline Wright. They have four children: Aurea, Frederick, Patrick and Flora. * Rose Theresa Baring (born 7 December 1961). Married Barnaby Rogerson. They have two daughters: Molly and Hannah. * Alexander Nicholas John "Zam" Baring (born 15 February 1964). Married Lucy Caroline Fraser, daughter of General David Fraser and Julia Frances Oldridge de la Hey. They have four children: Olive, William, Anna and Alfred. Lord Ashburton and his first wife received a divorce in 1984.

Second marriage

Following his divorce, Lord Ashburton remained single for three years. In 1987, he married Sarah Cornelia Spencer-Churchill (born 1935), a daughter of John George Spencer-Churchill and Angela Mary Culme-Seymour. Her paternal grandparents were John Strange "Jack" Spencer-Churchill and Lady Gwendoline Theresa Mary Bertie. Jack Spencer-Churchill was a son of

Lord Randolph Churchill Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British aristocrat and politician. Churchill was a Tory radical who coined the term "One-nation conservatism, Tory democracy". He participated in the creation ...

and his wife Jennie Jerome, and a brother of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The second Lady Ashburton is a director of Borderline, a privately owned textile company, and has three children from a previous marriage. These are Peregrine Crewe, Emma Crewe (married to Nicholas Vester, they have two children, Cleo and Scarlet) and Bel Crewe (who has two children, Jack Badger and Molly Megan). Lord Ashburton had no children from his second marriage.

Career

Lord Ashburton received his education at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

. He served in the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of several companies. The following list may not be complete: * He was a director of

Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the metropolitan borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Until the la ...

Estates from 1964 to 1977. * He was a director of Royal Insurance from 1964 to 1982. * He was a director of Pye Holdings from 1967 to 1979. * He was chairman of the board of the

Barings Bank Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London. It was one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...

from 1974 to 1989. The bank had been founded by his ancestor Francis Baring in 1762. * He was invited several time

to the annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group. * He was a director of Dunlop Holdings from 1981 to 1984. * He was a director of BP from 1982 to 1992. * He was a director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

from 1983 to 1991. * He was a director of the Barings

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...

from 1985 to 1989. * He was chairman of the board of BP from 1992 to 1995.

Death

Lord Ashburton died at his home on 6 October 2020, aged 91. He was succeeded in the barony by his son Mark.

Honours and arms

John Baring was appointed a 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 ...

(CVO) in the 1980 Birthday Honours, knighted as

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 Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the 1983 New Year Honours and promoted to Knight Commander of the

(KCVO) in the 1990 New Year Honours. He succeeded to the Barony of Ashburton on 12 June 1991, and became a Knight Companion of the Garter in 1994 – one of the rare cases where both father and son were appointed to this order.

Arms

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashburton, John Baring, 7th Baron 1928 births 2020 deaths People educated at Eton College English bankers English people of American descent Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Knights of the Garter John BP people Fellows of Trinity College, Oxford 7 Ashburton