Sir Ralph Lopes, 2nd Baronet (10 September 1788 – 23 January 1854), 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 Member of Parliament (MP).

Biography

Lopes was born as Ralph Franco. His uncle,

Manasseh Masseh Lopes Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, 1st Baronet (27 January 1755 – 26 March 1831), of Maristow in the parish of Tamerton Foliot, Devon, was a British Member of Parliament and borough-monger. Early life Lopes was born in Jamaica on 27 January 1755 i ...

, an MP and borough owner, was created a baronet in 1805, with a special remainder to his nephew. Ralph entered Parliament in 1814 as member for Westbury, a

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act of 1832, which had a very small electo ...

controlled by his uncle, for which he initially sat until 1819. On his uncle's death in 1831 he inherited both the baronetcy and his estate, a condition of which was that he change his surname to Lopes. Included in the estate was the right to nominate the MPs at Westbury (though this did not survive the

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

of the following year), and he resumed his seat for the borough. Although he had originally sat as a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

like his uncle, he now expressed his support for the Reform Bill and sat with the Whigs. Having been three times elected unopposed, Ralph switched his loyalties during the 1835 Parliament from the Whigs back to the

Conservatives 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 civilizati ...

, and at the 1837 election a Whig candidate stood against him and defeated him, by the narrow margin of 98 votes to 96. However, at the next election, in 1841, Lopes was once again elected unopposed, this time as a Conservative. In 1847 he stood down in Westbury, not contesting the election, but two years later he returned to the Commons at a by-election for the Southern Devon county division. He held this seat until his death in 1854. His older son, Sir Massey Lopes, succeeded him as baronet; a younger son, Henry Lopes, 1st Baron Ludlow, served in Parliament and later as a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Just ...

before being granted a peerage in 1897.

Arms

Lopes adopted the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

granted to his uncle Manasseh Lopes,

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

ed ''Azure, a chevron or charged with three bars gemelles gules between three eagles rising of the second on a chief of the second five lozenges of the first''.Montague-Smith, P.W. (ed.), Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, Kelly's Directories Ltd, Kingston-upon-Thames, 1968, p. 942

References

* Michael Brock, ''The Great Reform Act'' (London: Hutchinson, 1973) *F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885'' (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
Victoria County History of the County of Wiltshire
* *

External links

* , - 1788 births 1854 deaths Lopes, Ralph, 2nd Baronet UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Tory MPs (pre-1834) English people of Portuguese-Jewish descent People from Plymouth (district)

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

Jewish British politicians Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for South Devon {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1780s-stub Jamaican people of Portuguese descent English people of Portuguese descent