John Dawson Eccles, 2nd Viscount Eccles, (born 20 April 1931), is a British Conservative peer and businessman. He is one of the ninety

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

s elected to remain in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

after the passing of 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 ...

Background and education

The son of the 1st Viscount Eccles and Sybil Dawson, he was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, politics and economics in 1954. He served in the 1st Battalion (60th Rifles),

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

, reaching the rank of

2nd Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

Political career

In 1985, he was appointed 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 o ...

(CBE); and since 1989 a DSc (Silsoe). On 24 February 1999, he entered his inheritance. Lord Eccles entered the

upon its reform; however, due to the House of Lords Act, he was soon obliged to vacate his position in the House. He was later invited to election as one of the 92 remaining hereditary peers in a by-election forced by the death of the 4th Baron Aberdare, and returned to the House in 2005.

Directorships and similar

The Nuclear Power Group ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

: director from 1968 to 1974 *

Head Wrightson Head Wrightson was a big heavy industrial firm based at Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It specialised in the manufacture of large industrial products such as fractional distillation columns, which sometimes needed special transpo ...

& Co Ltd: managing director from 1968 to 1977, chairman from 1976 to 1977 * Glynwed International plc: director from 1972 to 1996 * Investors in Industry plc: director from 1974 to 1988 *

Monopolies and Mergers Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under UK competition law, competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competiti ...

: member from 1976 to 1986, deputy chairman from 1981 to 1985 * Davy International Ltd: director from 1977 to 1981 * Chamberlin & Hill plc: chairman from 1982 to 2004 * Industrial Development Advisory Board: member from 1989 to 1993 * Acker Deboeck corporate psychologists: chairman from 1994 to 2004 *

Commonwealth Development Corporation British International Investment, (formerly CDC Group plc, Commonwealth Development Corporation, and Colonial Development Corporation) is the development finance institution of the UK government. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ...

: member from 1982 to 1985, general manager and chief executive from 1985 to 1994. *

Courtaulds Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds ...

Textiles plc: director from 1992 to 2000, chairman from 1995 to 2000 *

Bowes Museum The Bowes Museum is an art gallery in the town of Barnard Castle, in County Durham in northern England. It was built to designs by Jules Pellechet and John Edward Watson to house the art collection of John Bowes and his wife Joséphine Beno ...

Trust: chairman from 2000

Family

Lord Eccles married Diana Catherine Sturge 29 January 1955, in

Bletchingley Bletchingley (historically "Blechingley") is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill, Surrey, Redhill and to the west of Godstone, has a conservation area with Middle Ages, medieval buildings and is mostly on a ...

, Surrey. They have four children: * Hon. Alice Belinda Eccles (born 1958) * Hon. William David Eccles (born 1960) * Hon. Catherine Sara Eccles (born 1963) * Hon. Emily Frances Eccles (born 1970)"The Descendants of Walter Kep"
The Descendants of Walter Kep, Australia (2007), viewed 8 May 2008. Viscountess Eccles was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

in her own right in 1990 as Baroness Eccles of Moulton, and so also sits in the House of Lords. They are one of the few couples who both hold titles in their own right.

Arms

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eccles, John Eccles, 2nd Viscount 1931 births Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Living people Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford People educated at Winchester College People from Richmondshire (district) Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Spouses of life peers