Sir Leonard Ropner, 1st Baronet, (26 February 1895 – 12 October 1977) was a Conservative Party politician in the

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 mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Background

Ropner was the son of William Ropner, third son of

Sir Robert Ropner, 1st Baronet Sir (Emil Hugo Oscar) Robert Ropner, 1st Baronet (born Röpner; 16 December 1838 – 26 February 1924) was a German-United Kingdom, British shipbuilder, shipowner, and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Member of Parliament. Career Ropner wa ...

. Leonard's grandfather, Sir Robert, had come from Germany in 1857 and founded a fleet of merchant ships; as MP he represented

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

. He was educated at Oatlands, Harrogate and

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

, obtaining a scholarship to

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

and took a degree in Political Economy. He was a director of the family business of Sir R. Ropner and Co., the shipping company.

Career

He enlisted in 1914 in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and commanded a battery in France, being awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

in 1919. After the war he commanded the Durham Heavy Brigade of the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Artillery, Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse ...

in the Territorial Army in the rank of major, and was later appointed their honorary colonel. At the 1923 general election, he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 4,986 in the 2021 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. Etymology The name ''Sedgefield'' is of Old English origin. It ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, with a majority of only 6 votes over the sitting Labour MP John Herriotts. Ropner held the seat at the 1924 general election with a more comfortable majority of 1,416, but lost to Herriotts at the 1929 general election. He returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the 1931 general election, for the safe Conservative seat of

Barkston Ash Barkston Ash is a small village and civil parish close to Selby in North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of C ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. He represented the constituency until he retired from

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1964 general election, although his majority was cut to only 116 votes at the 1945 election. In 1937, he served as

High Sheriff of Durham This is a list of the high sheriffs of County Durham, England. In most counties the high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. In the Palatinate of Durham the officeholder was appointed by and was accountable to the Bishop of ...

. In 1952, he was made a baronet of Thorp Perrow in the North Riding of the

County of York Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the city of York. The so ...

. The

Thorp Perrow Snape is a large village in the civil parish of Snape with Thorp in the county of North Yorkshire, England, located about south of Bedale and west of the A1(M) motorway, it has a population of 350. Nearby is Thorp Perrow Arboretum. The nam ...

estate near

Bedale Bedale ( ), is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Bedale Beck is a tributary of the River Swale, which forms one of the Yorkshire Dales. The dale has a predominant agriculture sector and its related small traditional t ...

had been bought by his father in 1927. Sir Leonard planted the

Thorp Perrow Arboretum Thorp Perrow Arboretum is an woodland garden arboretum near Bedale in North Yorkshire, England. History Thorp is a common place-name of Old Norse origin meaning hamlet or small village. In the Domesday Book of 1086 Thorp was a possession of C ...

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* 1895 births 1977 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Recipients of the Military Cross Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy lieutenants of Durham UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I High sheriffs of Durham {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1890s-stub