R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross
The Right Honourable The Viscount Cross GCB GCSI PC FRS DL |
|
---|---|
![]() |
|
Home Secretary | |
In office 21 February 1874 – 23 April 1880 |
|
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | Benjamin Disraeli |
Preceded by | Robert Lowe |
Succeeded by | Sir William Vernon Harcourt |
In office 24 June 1885 – 1 February 1886 |
|
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
Preceded by | Sir William Vernon Harcourt |
Succeeded by | Hugh Childers |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
In office 29 June – 4 July 1895 |
|
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
Preceded by | The Lord Tweedmouth |
Succeeded by | The Lord James of Hereford |
Personal details | |
Born | 30 May 1823 Red Scar, Lancashire |
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Georgiana Lyon (d. 1907) |
Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross, GCB GCSI PC FRS DL (30 May 1823 – 8 January 1914), known before his elevation to the peerage as R. A. Cross, was a British statesman and Conservative politician. He notably served as Home Secretary between 1874 and 1880 and 1885 and 1886.
Background and education
Cross was born in Red Scar, near Preston, Lancashire, the son of William Cross (1771–1827) and his wife Ellen, daughter of Edward Chaffers. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1849.[1]
Political career
![](/w/images/thumb/c/c3/Richard_Assheton_Cross_Vanity_Fair_16_May_1874.jpg/300px-Richard_Assheton_Cross_Vanity_Fair_16_May_1874.jpg)
Cross entered Parliament as one of two representatives for Preston in 1857, a seat he held until 1862. He was out of Parliament for the next year, but in 1868 he was elected for South West Lancashire, and continued to represent this constituency until his elevation to the peerage in 1886. Cross first came to prominence as Home Secretary in Disraeli's second government (1874–1880), and retained this office in Lord Salisbury's first government (1885–1886). The latter year he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Cross, of Broughton-in-Furness in the County of Lancaster. He then moved over to the India Office (1886–1892). Lord Cross was very briefly Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in Salisbury's third government (1895–1902) before being elevated to the sinecure post Lord Privy Seal. In 1898 he chaired the Joint Select Committee on Electrical Energy (Generating Stations and Supply), which recommended granting compulsory purchase powers for the building of power stations. He retired in 1900.
In 1884, Cross was elected to the Board of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway,[2] and he remained a Director of that company, and of its successor the Great Central Railway (GCR), until his death.[3] During Board meetings, he would occasionally murmur "Where is the money to come from?"[4] In June 1909, when he was senior Director of the GCR, that railway named one of its class 8D express passenger locomotives The Rt. Hon. Viscount Cross G.C.B., G.C.S.I. in his honour.[5][6]
Family
Lord Cross married Georgiana, daughter of Thomas Lyon, in 1852. His eldest son, the Hon. William Cross, represented Liverpool West Derby in Parliament. Lady Cross died in January 1907. Lord Cross survived her by seven years and died in January 1914, aged 90. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his grandson, Richard Assheton Cross, the only son of the Honourable William Cross.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Dow 1965, p. 28
- ↑ Dow 1965, p. 133
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- BOPCRIS database entry on Cross Committee
- Archival material relating to R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross listed at the UK National Archives
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source][better source needed]
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs [self-published source][better source needed]
External links
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross. |
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Cross
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Preston 1857–1862 With: Charles Pascoe Grenfell |
Succeeded by Charles Pascoe Grenfell Thomas Fermor-Hesketh |
New constituency | Member of Parliament for South West Lancashire 1868–1885 With: Charles Turner 1868 –1875 John Ireland Blackburne 1875–1885 |
Constituency abolished |
New constituency | Member of Parliament for Newton 1885–1886 |
Succeeded by Thomas Wodehouse Legh |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by | Home Secretary 1874–1880 |
Succeeded by Sir William Vernon Harcourt |
Preceded by | Home Secretary 1885–1886 |
Succeeded by Hugh Childers |
Preceded by | Secretary of State for India 1886–1892 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Kimberley |
Preceded by | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1895 |
Succeeded by Sir Henry James |
Preceded by | Lord Privy Seal 1895–1900 |
Succeeded by The Marquess of Salisbury |
Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
New creation | Viscount Cross 1886–1914 |
Succeeded by Richard Assheton Cross |
- EngvarB from May 2015
- Use dmy dates from May 2015
- Birth-date transclusions with invalid parameters
- Accuracy disputes from February 2012
- Articles lacking reliable references from February 2012
- Wikipedia articles incorporating an LRPP template without an unnamed parameter
- Accuracy disputes from March 2012
- Articles lacking reliable references from March 2012
- Wikipedia articles incorporating an LRPP-MP template without an unnamed parameter
- Commons category link is locally defined
- 1823 births
- 1914 deaths
- People from Preston, Lancashire
- British Secretaries of State
- Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Lords Privy Seal
- Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- Presidents of the Cambridge Union Society
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs
- UK MPs 1857–59
- UK MPs 1859–65
- UK MPs 1868–74
- UK MPs 1874–80
- UK MPs 1880–85
- UK MPs 1885–86
- Deputy Lieutenants of Lancashire
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Directors of the Great Central Railway