George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon
George Frederick Samuel Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, KG, GCSI, CIE, VD, PC (24 October 1827 – 9 July 1909), styled Viscount Goderich from 1833 to 1859 and known as the Earl of Ripon in 1859 and as the Earl de Grey and Ripon from 1859 to 1871, was a British politician and Viceroy and Governor General of India who served in every Liberal cabinet between 1861 and 1908.
"Lord Ripon" redirects here. For other holders of the title, see Marquess of Ripon.
The Marquess of Ripon
The Marquess of Lansdowne
(Leader of Lords)
The Marquess of Salisbury
(Lord Privy Seal)
24 October 1827
10 Downing Street, London
9 July 1909 (aged 81)
Studley Royal Park, North Yorkshire
British
- Oliver
- Mary
- F. J. Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon (father)
- Sarah Hobart (mother)
Background and education[edit]
Ripon was born at 10 Downing Street, London, the second son of Prime Minister F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich (who was created Earl of Ripon in 1833), by his wife Lady Sarah (née Hobart), daughter of the Earl of Buckinghamshire. He was educated privately, attending neither school nor college.[1]
He was awarded the honorary degree of DCL by the University of Oxford in 1870.[2]
Diplomatic and political career, 1852–1880[edit]
Ripon served on Sir Henry Ellis' British special mission to the Brussels Conference on the affairs of Italy in 1848–49.[1] Although his father had been a Tory, Ripon was first a Whig and later a Liberal. He entered the House of Commons as one of the two members for Hull in 1852.[3] Both he and his party colleague James Clay[4] were unseated in 1853 by petition over claims of widespread corruption in their election, of which they were exonerated of any knowledge.[4]: 49–53 He was returned for Huddersfield later in 1853[5] and for the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1857.[6]
In 1859 he succeeded his father as second Earl of Ripon, taking his seat in the House of Lords, and later that year succeeded his uncle in the more senior title of Earl de Grey, becoming known as the Earl de Grey and Ripon. He was Under-Secretary of State for War under Lord Palmerston between 1859 and 1861 and again from 1861 to 1863, and briefly Under-Secretary of State for India in 1861. In 1863 he was made a Privy Counsellor and Secretary of State for War under Palmerston,[7] with a seat in the Cabinet. He retained this office when Lord Russell became prime minister on Palmerston's death in 1865, and then served under Russell as Secretary of State for India between February and June 1866. In Gladstone's first administration he was Lord President of the Council (1868–1873). During this period he acted as chairman of the joint commission for drawing up the Treaty of Washington with the United States over the Alabama Claims. For this, in 1871 he was created Marquess of Ripon, in the County of York.[8] He had already been made a Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1869.[9] In 1878 he served as President of the first day of the Co-operative Congress.[10]
Political career, 1884–1908[edit]
Lord Ripon also became a supporter of Home Rule for Ireland.[17] In Gladstone's 1886 government he was First Lord of the Admiralty, and in the government of 1892 to 1895 he was Secretary of State for the Colonies.[17] When the Liberals again returned to power in 1905 under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, he took office, aged 78, as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords. In 1908, he declined to remain as Lords leader when H. H. Asquith became Prime Minister in April, and he resigned as Lord Privy Seal in October.[17]
As noted by Neil Smith, Ripon's liberalism had roots in the mid-nineteenth century, but his political views "shifted with the times". According to Smith, "he was greatly interested in labour questions, deeply sympathetic to labour aspirations and believed the state might interfere with wages and that the state had a duty to deal with unemployment".[18]
Lord Ripon married his cousin Henrietta Anne Theodosia Vyner, daughter of Henry Vyner and his wife Lady Mary Gertrude Robinson, daughter of Thomas Robinson, 2nd Earl de Grey, on 8 April 1851. They had one son and one daughter:[23]
Death[edit]
Lady Ripon died in February 1907, aged 73. Lord Ripon survived her by two years and died of heart failure at Studley Royal Park[19] in July 1909, aged 81. He was buried at St Mary's, Studley Royal[19] and was succeeded in the marquessate and other titles by his only son, Frederick Oliver.[19] His estate was assessed for probate with a value of £127,292. 15s. 8d. (equivalent to £14.1 million in 2021[24]).[25]
