Background
Ridley was the son of Matthew White Ridley, 3rd Viscount Ridley, and Ursula Lutyens, daughter of Sir Edwin Lutyens.
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Matthew White
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Matthew Ridley was educated at Eton College and spent several months studying agriculture at King’s College, University of Durham (now Newcastle University). He then studied at Oxford, graduating with a degree in Agriculture from Balliol College in 1948.
Career
He notably served as Lord Steward of the Household from 1989 to 2001. The Second World War interrupted his education and he joined the Coldstream Guards, serving in Normandy and Germany in 1944-1945. He then served as an aide-de-camp to Sir Evelyn Baring, then Governor of Kenya.
During this time he furthered his interest in nature and science.
In 1955, Ridley and zoologist Lord Richard Percy spent four months on an uninhabited island in the Seychelles studying the plight of the dwindling sooty tern. Later he joined the Territorial Army, reaching the rank of Brevet Colonel in the Northumberland Hussars: he became Honorary Colonel of that unit in 1979.
Ridley succeeded his father in the viscountcy in 1964. He was Chairman of Northumberland County Council from 1967 to 1979.
He chaired several companies and societies, before serving as Chancellor of the University of Newcastle from 1988 to 1999, as Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland from 1984 to 2000, and as Lord Steward of the Household from 1989 to 2001.
He was succeeded by the Duke of Abercorn as Lord Steward in 2001. He retired in 1999 and did not stand for election as a hereditary peer after the House of Lords Acting.
Achievements
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Born
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Died
March 22, 2012 (aged 86) -
Nationality
United Kingdom -
Political Party
Conservative Party
Education
Awards
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Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Order of the Garter; Royal Victorian Order; Grand Cross
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry and the third most prestigious honour (after the Victoria Cross and George Cross) in England and of the United Kingdom, and is dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England's patron saint.The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry and the third most prestigious honour (after the Victoria Cross and George Cross) in England and of the United Kingdom, and is dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England's patron saint.