Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale (29 October 1854 – 21 October 1925) was a British Liberal politician.

Early life

Thomas Lister was born on 29 October 1854 in Fontainebleau, France, the eldest son of Thomas Lister, 3rd Baron Ribblesdale (1828–1876), and his wife Emma (née Mure) (1833–1911), daughter of William Mure. He succeeded his father in the barony in 1876.

Career

Lord Ribblesdale sat on the Liberal benches in the House of Lords and served as a Lord-in-waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) under William Ewart Gladstone from 1880 to 1885 and in 1886 and as Master of the Buckhounds under Gladstone and later Lord Rosebery from 1892 to 1895. Apart from his political career he was also a Captain in the Rifle Brigade and a Trustee of the National Gallery from 1909 to 1925. His portrait was painted by John Singer Sargent and is said to epitomise the British aristocrat.

Personal life

On 7 April 1877, Lord Ribblesdale married Charlotte Monkton Tennant (1858–1911), daughter of Sir Charles Tennant, 1st Baronet (1823–1906) and Emma Winsloe (1821–1895), and sister of Margot Tennant, at The Savoy Chapel, London. Lady Ribblesdale died on 2 May 1911. The couple had five children: On 3 June 1919, Lord Ribblesdale married secondly Ava Lowle Willing, daughter of Edward Shippen Willing and Alice Caroline Barton and former wife of John Jacob Astor IV, at St Mary's, Bryanston Square in London. He died on 21 October 1925, aged 70 at his townhouse in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London, and was buried in the Lister vault at St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Gisburn, Lancashire. With his death the barony became extinct. Lady Ribblesdale died on 9 June 1958 in her apartment at 720 Park Avenue in New York City and she was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery.

Descendants

Among his grandchildren were Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and 4th Baron Lovat (1911–1995), Sir Hugh Fraser (1918–1984), the Secretary of State for Air from 1962 to 1964, David Fane, 15th Earl of Westmorland (1924–1993), Julian Fane (1927–2009), the author. The actress Georgina Ward (1941-2010) was his great-granddaughter.

Arms