Sir Lopes Massey Lopes, 3rd Baronet, PC (14 June 1818 – 20 January 1908), known as Massey Franco until 1831, of

Maristow Maristow House in the parish of Bickleigh (formerly Tamerton Foliot), Devon, England, is a large country house set in landscaped parkland, on the River Tavy to the north of Plymouth. It was built in about 1560, rebuilt in the mid-18th century a ...

in the parish of

Tamerton Foliot Tamerton Foliot is a village and former civil parish situated in the north of Plymouth, in the Plymouth district, in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It also lends its name to the ecclesiastical parish of the same name. Situated near t ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician and agriculturalist.

Life

Lopes was the eldest son of Sir Ralph Lopes, 2nd Baronet, by his wife Susan Ludlow, daughter of Abraham Ludlow. Henry Lopes, 1st Baron Ludlow, was his younger brother. His father, originally Ralph Franco, had succeeded to the estates and title of his uncle Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, 1st Baronet, in 1831, and assumed the same year the surname of Lopes in lieu of his patronymic. Both the Lopes and Franco families were of Sephardic-Jewish origins. Lopes was educated at

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

. He unsuccessfully contested Westbury in 1853, but was returned to Parliament for the same constituency in 1857. In 1868, he was elected for Devonshire South, defeating

Lord Amberley John Russell, Viscount Amberley (10 December 1842 – 9 January 1876), was a British politician and writer. He was the eldest son of John Russell, who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and father of the philosopher Bertrand ...

. In Parliament he was the member of a group including

Henry Chaplin Henry Chaplin, 1st Viscount Chaplin (22 December 1840 – 29 May 1923) was a British landowner, racehorse owner and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 until 1916 when he was raised to the peerage. Backgrou ...

Albert Pell Albert Pell (12 March 1820 – 7 April 1907) was an English solicitor and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. Early life Pell was born in 1820, the eldest son of Sir Albert Pell, a judge of the Bankruptcy Courts and Margaret ...

and

Clare Sewell Read Clare Sewell Read (6 November 1826 – 21 August 1905) was a British agriculturist and Conservative politician. Early life He was born in 1826 in Ketteringham, Norfolk, and was the eldest son of George Read of Barton Bendish Hall, and his wif ...

, that supported farming interests, and was chairman of the Agricultural Business Committee. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Kings's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

for 1857. In 1874, Lopes was appointed

Civil Lord of the Admiralty The Civil Lord of the Admiralty formally known as the Office of the Civil Lord of Admiralty also referred to as the Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty was a member of the Board of Admiralty who was responsible for managing the Royal N ...

in the second Conservative administration of

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

, a post he held until the government fell in 1880. Bad health forced him to decline the post of

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The Financial Secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Exchequer, the ch ...

in 1877. His health also forced him to leave Parliament in 1885. The same year he was sworn of the Privy Council but declined a peerage. He was later an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the

Devon County Council Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. The council is based at Devon County Hall in the city of Exeter. The area administered by the county council is termed the non-metropolitan county, which is ...

from 1888 to 1904. He was also for many years a director of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

. He was greatly interested in scientific farming, and completely rebuilt his Maristow estate. Lopes married firstly Bertha, daughter of

John Yarde-Buller, 1st Baron Churston John Yarde-Buller, 1st Baron Churston (12 April 1799 – 4 September 1871) was a Conservative Party (UK), British Conservative politician. Origins Born John Buller-Yarde-Buller, he was the eldest son of Francis Buller-Yarde-Buller, Sir Francis ...

. They had one son and two daughters. After her death in 1872, he married secondly Louisa, daughter of Sir Robert Newman, 1st Baronet. There were no children from this marriage. Lady Lopes died in April 1903. Lopes survived her by five years and died in January 1908, aged 89. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his only son

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, who was created Baron Roborough in 1938.

Notes

References

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopes, Sir Massey, 3rd Baronet 1818 births 1908 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 High sheriffs of Devon Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for South Devon English people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Massey Jewish British politicians Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Lords of the Admiralty Jamaican people of Portuguese descent English people of Portuguese descent