Rodney Elton, 2nd Baron Elton

Rodney Elton, 2nd Baron Elton (2 March 1930 – 19 August 2023), was a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords.

The Lord Elton
Elton in 2020
Minister of State for Environment
In office
27 March 1985 – 10 September 1986
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byNew appointment
Succeeded byHon. William Waldegrave
Minister of State for Home Affairs
In office
11 September 1984 – 25 March 1985
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs
In office
6 April 1982 – 11 September 1984
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byThe Lord Belstead
Succeeded byThe Lord Glenarthur
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security
In office
15 September 1981 – 6 April 1982
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byGeoffrey Finsberg
Succeeded byThe Lord Trefgarne
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office
7 May 1979 – 15 September 1981
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byTom Pendry
Succeeded byDavid Mitchell
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
as a hereditary peer
13 May 1973 – 11 November 1999
Preceded byThe 1st Baron Elton
Succeeded bySeat abolished
as an elected hereditary peer
11 November 1999 – 29 October 2020 [1]
Preceded bySeat established
Succeeded byThe 7th Baron Harlech
Personal details
Born(1930-03-02)2 March 1930
Died19 August 2023(2023-08-19) (aged 93)
Political partyConservative

Biography

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Rodney Elton was the son of Godfrey Elton, 1st Baron Elton, and his wife Dedi (née Hartmann). He was educated at Eton College and New College, Oxford, and succeeded to the peerage on his father's death in 1973. Between 1964 and 1967, he was a master at Loughborough Grammar School. Between 1967 - 69 he was a master at Fairham Comprehensive School, Nottingham.

On the formation of a Conservative government after the 1979 general election, Elton was made a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office. In 1981 he was moved to the Department of Health and Social Security and in 1982 to the Home Office. In 1984 he was promoted to Minister of State within the Home Office. In 1985, Elton joined the Department of Environment, again as a Minister of State, but left the government the following year.

With the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, Elton along with other hereditary peers lost his automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. He was, however, elected as one of the ninety hereditary peers allowed to remain in the House pending completion of House of Lords reform.[2] Elton was a candidate to become Lord Speaker in the elections that took place at the end of June 2006, but he was defeated, Baroness Hayman ultimately winning. He retired from the House of Lords on 29 October 2020; a by-election to replace him was held 13–14 July 2021, in which Lord Harlech was elected to succeed him.[3]

Elton died on 19 August 2023, at the age of 93.[4]

Marriages and children

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Elton was married to Anne Frances Tilney, daughter of Brigadier Robert Tilney, on 18 September 1958. They had four children:

  • Hon. Annabel Elton (born 24 October 1960)
  • Hon. Jane Elton (born 15 January 1962)
  • Hon. Lucy Elton (born 19 December 1963)
  • Edward Paget Elton, 3rd Baron Elton (born 28 May 1966)

Following a divorce in 1979, on 24 August 1979 Elton married Susan Richenda Gurney (born 1937), daughter of Hugh Gurney and a granddaughter of Lancelot Carnegie. There are no children of this marriage. Richenda was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Elizabeth II until The Queen’s death in 2022.[5]

Styles

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  • 2 March 1930 – 16 January 1934: Rodney Elton
  • 16 January 1934 – 18 April 1973: The Honourable Rodney Elton
  • 18 April 1973 – 19 August 2023: The Right Honourable The Lord Elton

Coat of arms

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Coat of arms of Rodney Elton, 2nd Baron Elton
 
 
Notes
Coat of arms of the Elton family
Coronet
A coronet of a Baron
Crest
Between two pierced Mullets and out of a Wreath of Laurel fructed Or a Dexter Arm embowed in Mail proper tied about the elbow a Cord Or the Gauntlet grasping a Scimitar proper hilted and pommeled Or
Escutcheon
Paly Or and Gules a Bend and on a Chief Sable three pierced Mullets Or
Supporters
Dexter: a Knight in Mail and White Surcoat supporting with the exterior hand a Sword point downwards proper hilted and pommeled Or; Sinister: a Viking habited proper mantled Azure supporting with the exterior hand a Battleaxe head downwards and outwards proper
Motto
Fide Quam Fortuna (By faith rather than fortune)

References

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  1. ^ Retired under Section 1 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014.
  2. ^ Bedford, M. (2000) Dod's Parliamentary Companion (181 edn) Westminster: Vacher Dod Publishing, p. 360.
  3. ^ "Lord Elton". UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  4. ^ Lord Elton, Conservative politician who steered the bill to abolish the GLC through the House of Lords – obituary
  5. ^ "Ladies in Waiting and Equerries". Official website of the Royal Family.
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Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baron Elton
1973–2023
Member of the House of Lords
(1973–1999)
Succeeded by
Edward Elton
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New office
Elected hereditary peer to the House of Lords
under the House of Lords Act 1999
1999–2020
Succeeded by