The Lord Ritchie of Dundee | |
|---|---|
 Ritchie, 1902–1903 | |
| President of the Board of Trade | |
| In office 29 June 1895 – 7 November 1900 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | James Bryce |
| Succeeded by | Gerald Balfour |
| Home Secretary | |
| In office 12 November 1900 – 12 July 1902 | |
| Monarchs | |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bt |
| Succeeded by | Aretas Akers-Douglas |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
| In office 11 August 1902 – 9 October 1903 | |
| Monarch | Edward VII |
| Prime Minister | Arthur Balfour |
| Preceded by | Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt |
| Succeeded by | Austen Chamberlain |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1838-11-19)19 November 1838 Dundee, Scotland |
| Died | 9 January 1906(1906-01-09) (aged 67) Biarritz, France |
| Resting place | Kensal Green Cemetery, London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
Charles Thomson Ritchie, 1st Baron Ritchie of Dundee,PC (19 November 1838 – 9 January 1906) was a Scottish businessman andConservative politician who sat in theHouse of Commons from 1874 until 1905 when he was raised to thepeerage. He served asHome Secretary from 1900 to 1902 and asChancellor of the Exchequer from 1902 to 1903.
Ritchie was born atDundee, Scotland, the third son of Elizabeth (née Thomson), daughter of James Thomson, and William Ritchie, of Rockhill nearBroughty Ferry,Forfarshire.[1] His father was head of the firm of William Ritchie & Sons, of London and Dundee, East India merchants, jute spinners and manufacturers. The Ritchie family had long been connected with the town of Dundee. His elder brotherJames Thomson Ritchie wasLord Mayor of London from 1903 to 1904 and was created a Baronet in 1903 (a title which became extinct on his death). Ritchie was educated at theCity of London School, after which he went into the family business.
On 7 December 1858, he married Margaret Ower, daughter of Thomas Ower of Perth with whom he had three sons and seven daughters.
In 1874, he was returned to parliament asConservative member for theTower Hamlets. In 1885, he was made secretary to theAdmiralty, and from 1886 to 1892 wasPresident of the Local Government Board inLord Salisbury's second administration, sitting as member forSt George in the East. He was responsible for theLocal Government Act 1888, instituting county councils; and a large section of the Conservative party always owed him a grudge for having originated theLondon County Council.[2]
In Lord Salisbury's later ministries, as member forCroydon (1895–1906), he wasPresident of the Board of Trade (1895–1900) andHome Secretary (1900–1902); and whenSir Michael Hicks-Beach retired in August 1902, he becameChancellor of the Exchequer inBalfour's cabinet.[3] In his earlier years he had been a fair-trader and he was strongly opposed toColonial SecretaryJoseph Chamberlain's movement for a preferential tariff, leading to his sacking by Balfour in September 1903.[2]Ritchie's son in law, the Scottish architectMervyn Macartney, built a country house for Ritchie,Welders House, in the Buckinghamshire village ofJordans.[4]
On 22 December 1905, he was created a peer asBaron Ritchie of Dundee, of Welders in the Parish of Chalfont St Giles in the County of Buckingham.[5] However, he was in ill-health, and died atBiarritz, France in January 1906. He is buried atKensal Green Cemetery, London.[6] He was succeeded in the title by his second son, Charles.
Ritchie was elected asRector of the University of Aberdeen in late October 1902,[7] taking up the position the following month, serving for three years until November 1905.
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Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ritchie, Charles Thomson Ritchie, 1st Baron".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 367.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forTower Hamlets 1874–1885 With:Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda (1874–1880) James Bryce (1880–1885) | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forTower Hamlets, St George 1885–1892 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCroydon 1895–1905 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty 1885–1886 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Local Government Board 1886–1892 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Board of Trade 1895–1900 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Home Secretary 1900–1902 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Exchequer 1902–1903 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Rector of the University of Aberdeen 1902–1905 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Ritchie of Dundee 1905–1906 | Succeeded by |
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