George Courthope, 1st Baron Courthope

George Loyd Courthope, 1st Baron Courthope PC, MC (12 June 1877-2 September 1955), known as Sir George Courthope, Bt, from 1925 to 1945, was a British Conservative Party politician.

Background and education

The member of a family that had been settled at Whiligh in Sussex for many centuries, Courthope was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel George John Courthope and his wife Elinor Sarah, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Loyd. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford and was later called to the Bar, Inner Temple.^[1]

Political career

He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rye in the 1906 general election, a seat he held until 1945.^[1][2] He never held ministerial office but was sworn of the Privy Council in 1937.^[3] He was also a Colonel in the 5th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment (Territorial Army) and fought in the First World War, where he was wounded, mentioned in despatches and awarded the Military Cross.^[1] Courthope was created a Baronet, of Whiligh in the County of Sussex, in 1925,^[4] and in 1945 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Courthope, of Whiligh in the County of Sussex.^[5]

Family

Lord Courthope married firstly Hilda Gertrude, daughter of Major-General Henry Pelham Close, in 1899. They had two daughters. After her death in 1940 he married secondly Margaret, daughter of Frederick Barry, in 1944. Lord Courthope died in September 1955, aged 78. As he had no male issue the baronetcy and barony became extinct.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} thepeerage.com George Loyd Courthope, 1st and last Baron Courthope
2. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Rochester to Ryedale
3. ^ London Gazette: no. 34407. p. 3731. 11 June 1937.
4. ^ London Gazette: no. 33063. p. 4449. 3 July 1925.
5. ^ London Gazette: no. 37166. p. 3517. 6 July 1945.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Charles Frederick Hutchinson	Member of Parliament for Rye 1906 – 1945	Succeeded by William Nicolson Cuthbert
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Courthope 1945 – 1955	Title extinct