Sir Edward Ruggles-Brise, 1st Baronet

Colonel Sir Edward Archibald Ruggles-Brise, 1st Baronet (19 September 1882 – 12 May 1942) was a British Conservative Party politician.

Early life The son of Archibald Weyland Ruggles Brise (1857-1939), he was born at Westminster, London, in September 1882 and was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Eton, he was the captain of the football XI; in November 1871, he was selected to represent England in the fourth of the unofficial international matches against Scotland, but withdrew because of illness.

Career

Public service He was magistrate and a Deputy Lieutenant for Essex from 1920. In 1939 he was appointed as a Vice Lieutenant of Essex.

Political career He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Maldon constituency in Essex from 1922 until his death in 1942, with a brief interruption from 1923 to 1924 when he narrowly lost the seat to his Labour opponent Valentine Crittall.

Ruggles-Brise was greatly interested in agricultural matters, serving on the Smallholdings Committee of Essex County Council and as Chairman of the Parliamentary Agricultural Committee.

Military career Ruggles-Brise was appointed a second lieutenant in the Essex Yeomanry on 24 January 1903. From 1927, he commanded the 104th Essex Yeomanry Field Brigade, Royal Artillery of the Territorial Army.

Sport Ruggles-Brise was a cricketer below first-class play level. He made one appearance making 27 runs at county level for Shropshire in 1904, while playing at club level for Ellesmere.

Personal life Ruggles-Brise was a landowner and was the owner of Spains Hall in Finchingfield, Essex, which had been inherited by his father, Archibald Weyland Ruggles-Brise, on the death of his own father, the politician Samuel Ruggles-Brise.

He married twice. Firstly, in 1906, to Agatha Gurney (1881–1937), daughter of John Henry Gurney Jr., a member of the Gurney family of Keswick Hall, Norfolk. Secondly, in 1939, to Lucy Barbara Pym MBE (1895–1979), daughter of Walter Ruthven Pym, Bishop of Bombay.

Following his death in May 1942 aged 59, he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Colonel Sir John Archibald Ruggles-Brise, 2nd Baronet.

Honours and decorations In the 1935 Jubilee Honours List, he was made a Baronet, of Spains Hall, in Essex.