Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale

Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale (29 October 1854 – 21 October 1925) was a British Liberal politician.[1]

The Right Honourable The Lord Ribblesdale
Lord Ribblesdale by John Singer Sargent, 1902
Baron Ribblesdale
In office 1876–1925
Preceded by	Thomas Lister, 3rd Baron Ribblesdale
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	29 October 1854 Fontainebleau, France
Died	21 October 1925 (aged 70) Mayfair, London
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Charlotte Monkton Tennant ​ ​ (m. 1877; died 1911)​ Ava Lowle Willing ​ ​ (m. 1919)​
Children	5
Parents	Thomas Lister Emma Mure
Relatives	William Mure (grandfather)
Residence	Gisburne Park

Early life

Thomas Lister was born on 29 October 1854 in Fontainebleau, France, the eldest son of Thomas Lister, 3rd Baron Ribblesdale (1828–1876), and his wife Emma (née Mure) (1833–1911), daughter of William Mure.[2] He succeeded his father in the barony in 1876.[1]

Career

Lord Ribblesdale sat on the Liberal benches in the House of Lords and served as a Lord-in-waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) under William Ewart Gladstone from 1880 to 1885 and in 1886 and as Master of the Buckhounds under Gladstone and later Lord Rosebery from 1892 to 1895. Apart from his political career he was also a Captain in the Rifle Brigade and a Trustee of the National Gallery from 1909 to 1925.[1]

His portrait was painted by John Singer Sargent and is said to epitomise the British aristocrat.[3]

Personal life

On 7 April 1877, Lord Ribblesdale married Charlotte Monkton Tennant (1858–1911), daughter of Sir Charles Tennant, 1st Baronet (1823–1906) and Emma Winsloe (1849–1895), and sister of Margot Tennant, at Savoy Chapel in London. Before Lady Ribblesdale died on 2 May 1911, they had:[4]

• Hon. Thomas Lister (1878–1904), a captain who was killed in action during the Somaliland campaign of 1903–04
• Hon. Barbara Lister (1880–1943), who married Sir Mathew Wilson, 4th Baronet (1875–1958), and had three sons
• Hon. Charles Alfred Lister (1887–1915), a second lieutenant who died from wounds received at the Battle of Gallipoli during the First World War[1]
• Hon. Laura Lister (1892–1965), who married Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat (1871–1933)
• Hon. Diana Lister (1893–1983), who first married Captain Percy Lyulph Wyndham, then Captain Arthur "Boy" Capel (1881–1919), and thirdly Vere Fane, 14th Earl of Westmorland (1893–1948)

On 3 June 1919, Lord Ribblesdale married secondly Ava Lowle Willing, daughter of Edward Shippen Willing and Alice Bell Barton and former wife of John Jacob Astor IV, at St Mary's, Bryanston Square in London.

He died on 21 October 1925, aged 70 at his townhouse in Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, London and he was buried in the Lister vault at St Mary the Virgin Churchyard in Gisburn, Lancashire. With his death the barony became extinct.[1][5] Lady Ribblesdale died on 9 June 1958 in her apartment at 720 Park Avenue in New York City and she was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery.[6]

Descendants

Among his grandchildren were Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and 4th Baron Lovat (1911–1995), Sir Hugh Fraser (1918–1984), the Secretary of State for Air from 1962 to 1964, David Fane, 15th Earl of Westmorland (1924–1993), Julian Fane (1927–2009), the author.

Arms

Coat of arms of Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale

Crest A stag’s head erased per fess Proper and Gules attired Or differenced with a crescent. Escutcheon Ermine on a fess Sable three mullets Or. Supporters Dexter a stag regardant Sable attired and hoofed Or charged on the body with an eagle displayed of the last gorged with a collar of SS and portcullises Gold; sinister a bay horse bridled saddled and supporting a staff Proper headed Or with a banner Vert fringed and charged with the letters Y. L. D. Gold meaning York light-dragoons.[7]

References

1. "Lord Ribblesdale Dead". New York Times. 22 October 1925. Retrieved 11 August 2008. Lord Ribblesdale, who wed in 1919 the late John Jacob Astor's first wife, the former Miss Ava L. Willing, known as Mrs. John Astor after she had divorced the New Yorker, died this morning at his mansion in Grosvener Square at the age of 71. His two sons had been killed in wars, and the barony is now extinct. He gave to the National Gallery as a memorial to his sons a portrait of himself in hunter's costume, done by Sargent.
2. L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 230.
3. Weyer, Martin Vander (12 December 2007). "The lord on the board and the gilded rogue | The Spectator". The Spectator. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
4. "Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblestone". thepeerage.com. The Peerage. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
5. "Ribblesdale". Time. 2 November 1925. Retrieved 11 August 2008. He was 65 when he married Mr. Astor's wife (Ava Willing, Philadelphia). No children were born. One of the two fine sons of his earlier marriage was killed in Somaliland, one in Gallipoli. His title dies with him.
6. "Lady Ribblesdale Dead. First Wife of John Jacob Astor IV. Mother of Vincent Astor". New York Times. 11 June 1958. Retrieved 11 August 2008. Ava Willing Ribblesdale, she took up residence here. She continued to be listed in the telephone directory as Lady Ribblesdale. ...
7. Burke's Peerage. 1909.

Further reading

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.
• History of the Lister family