Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale

Lord Ribblesdale, 1890

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

Background

Born in Fontainebleau, France, Ribblesdale was the eldest son of Thomas Lister, 3rd Baron Ribblesdale, and his wife Emma (née Mure) daughter of William Mure, and succeeded his father in the barony in 1876.^[1]

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

Family

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, on 7 April 1877 at Savoy Chapel in London. His eldest son, Captain the Hon. Thomas Lister, was killed in action during the Somaliland campaign of 1903 to 1904 while his youngest son the Hon. Charles Alfred Lister died from wounds received at the Battle of Gallipoli during the First World War.^[1] His first daughter the Hon. Barbara married Sir Matthew Wilson, 4th Baronet, and had three sons. His second daughter the Hon. Laura married Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat, and was the mother of Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, and Sir Hugh Fraser. His third daughter the Hon. Diana married firstly Captain Percy Lyulph Wyndham, secondly Boy Capel and thirdly Vere Fane, 14th Earl of Westmorland. Lady Ribblesdale died on 2 May 1911. Lord Ribblesdale married secondly Ava Lowle Willing, daughter of Edward Shippen Willing and Alice B. Barton and former wife of John Jacob Astor IV, on 3 June 1919 at St Mary's, Bryanston Square in London. He died on 21 October 1925, aged 70 at his townhouse on 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][2] Lady Ava Ribblesdale died on June 9, 1958 in her apartment at 720 Park Avenue in New York City and she was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery.^[3]

References

1. "Lord Ribblesdale Dead". New York Times. 22 October 1925. Retrieved 2008-08-11. 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. "Ribblesdale". Time (magazine). 1925-11-02. Retrieved 2008-08-11. 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.
3. "Lady Ribblesdale Dead. First Wife of John Jacob Astor IV. Mother of Vincent Astor.". New York Times. 11 June 1958. Retrieved 2008-08-11. Ava Willing Ribblesdale, she took up residence here. She continued to be listed in the telephone directory as Lady Ribblesdale. ...

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. External link in |publisher= (help)
• History of the Lister family

External links

• Portrait of Lord Ribbesdale by John Singer Sargent at the National Gallery
• Portraits of Lord Ribbesdale by John Singer Sargent at jssgallery.org