Page:EB1911 - Volume 23.djvu/381

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364
RIPON

seal (1833-34), president of the Board of Trade'(1841-43), and president of the-India -board (1843»46). ' I

His son, the future marquess, began his 'political' life -as attathé to a special mission to' 'Brussels in 1849. In 1851 he married Henrietta. Vyner (d. 1907), and their eldest son, afterwards known as Earl de Grey, 'was born in 1852. Under his courtesy title of Viscount Goderich he was returned to the House of Commons for Hull in 118 52 as an advanced Liberal. In .18 5 3 he was elected for Huddersfield, and in 1857 for, the. West Riding of Yorkshire. In January'1'859 he succeeded =to' his father's title, and in November of the same year to that of his uncle, Earl de Grey. A few months after entering the Upper House he was appointed under-secretary for war, and in February 1861 under-secretary for India. Upon the death of Sir: George Cornewall Lewis in April 1863 he became secretary for war, with a seat in the cabinet. In 1866 he was .appointed secretary of state for India. On the formation of the Gladstone administration in December 1868, Lord Riponwas appointed lord president of the council, and held that office until' within a 'few'months of the fall of the government.in 1873, when he resigned on purely private grounds.1 In 1869 he was created a Knight of the Garter. In 1871 Lord Ripon was appointed chairman of the High Joint-Commission on the Alabama'claims, which arranged the treaty. of Washington. In recognition of his services herwas elevated to a marques sate (1871). In 1874 he became a convert .to Roman Catholicism, and this involved his resignation of theoiiice of grandmaster of the English Freemasons. On the return of Gladstone to power in 1880 Lord Ripon was appointed Viceroy of India, the appointment exciting a storm of controversy, the marquess being the first » Roman Catholic to hold the Vviceregal office. He went out to reverse the Afghan policy of Lord Lytton, and Kandahar was givenup, the whole of Afghanistan being secured to Abdur Rahman. The new Viceroy was also called upon to decide grave questions between the nativelpopulation and the resident British, and he resolved upon a liberal policy towards the former, among his measures being the repeal of the Vernacular Press Act, the 'extension of local government and the appointment of an Education Commission. tHe extended the rights of the natives, .and inf certain directions curtailed the privileges of Europeans. Several of ithe viceroy's measures, notably the Ilbert Bill of 1883-*SO named after its author 'Sir Courtenay Ilbert-irritated' the Anglo-Indian population, and it was fiercely assailed. 'The purpose of this bill was disclosed in the statement that “the -government of India had decided to settle the question of jurisdiction over European 'British -subjects in such a way as to remove from the code, at once and completely, every judicial disqualification which is based merely on race distinctions, ” in tfact to subject Europeans in certain cases to trial by native magistrates; This announcement raised a storm of indignation among the European community in India, and 'the government were obliged virtually, though not avowedly, to abandon their measure. Act III. of: 1884 was a compromise, which, while subjecting Europeans to the jurisdiction of native district magis# trates or sessions judges, reserved to them the right to demand trial by a jury of which at least half»should be Europeans. There probably never was a 'Viceroy so unpopular among Anglo-Indians or so popularf with the natives. On Lord Ripon»'s departure from India in November 1884. there were extraordinary manifestations in his favour on the part of. the Hindu population of ' Bengal and Bombay, and more than a thousand addresses were presented to him. On his arrival in England the marquess delivered a number of vigorous speeches in defence of his administration. In 1886 he became first lord of the admiralty in the- third Gladstone ministry; and on the return of the Liberals to power in 1892 he was appointed colonial secretary, which post he continued to hold until the resignation of the government in 1895.' He was included in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerrnan's cabinet at the close of 1905 as lord privy seal, an office which he retained in 1908 when Mr Asquith formed his new ministry, but which he resigned later in the same year. He died at his seat, Studley Royal, near Ripon, on the 9th of ]rly 1909, when his only son, Earl de Grey, who has been treasurer of the queen's household since 1901, became the 2nd marquess. For many years Lord Ripon 'was president of the Yorkshire College of Science at Leeds, »and chairman of the West Riding County Council.


RIPON, a cathedral city and municipal borough in the Ripon parliamentary division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, V214 1n.'N.N.W¢ from London, on the North-Eastern railway. Pop. (1901) 8230. It is pleasantly -situated at the confidence-of. the streams Laver and Skell with the river Ure, which-is crossed. by a» fine bridge of nine arches. The streets are for the most part narrow and irregular, and, although most of the houses are comparatively modern, some of them retain the picturesque gables characteristic of earlier times. The cathedral, although not ranking among 'those of the first class, is celebrated for its fine proportions, and is of great interest from the various styles of architecture which it includes. Its entire length from E. to-W. is 266 ft., the length of the transepts 130 ft., and the width of:the nave and aisles 87 ft. Besides a large square central tower, there are two western towers. The cathedral was founded on the ruins of' St Wilfrid's abbey about 680, but of this Saxon building nothing now Iemains except the crypt, called St Wilfrid's Needle. The present building was- begun by Archbishop Roger (1154-81), ='and to this Transition-period belong the transepts and portions of the choir. The western front and towers, fine specimens -of Early English, were probably the work of Walter de Grey, archbishop of York (d. 12 55), and about the close of the century the eastern portion of the. choir- was rebuilt in the-Decorated' style. The nave, portions of the central tower, and two' bays of the choir are Perpendicular, fhaving been rebuilt towards the close of -the 1 5th century. Earlier than the rest of the fabric (except the crypt) is part of the chapter-house and the vestry, adjoining' the south side of the choir, and terminating eastward in an apse. This is pure Norman work, and there is a crypt of that period beneath, which -was formerly .filled-with unburied bones. There are a number of monuments of historical and antiquarian interest. The diocese. includes 'rather less than one-third of the parishes of Yorkshire, and also a small part of Lancashire. The 'bish0p's palace, a modern building in Tudor style, is situated in extensive grounds aboutarnile from the town. In the vicinity is the domain of Studley Royal, the seat of the marquess: off Ripon, which contains the celebrated ruins of Fountains Abbey (q. v.). The principal secular buildings are the town hallythei public rooms, and the mechanics' institution (1894) where technical and other classes are held. There are several old charities, including the hospital of St John the Baptist, founded in . 1109 'but modernized; the hospital of St Anne, founded probably in the reign of Henry VI. by can unknown benefactor; and the hospital of St 'Mary Magdalene forwomen. This last was founded by Thurstan, archbishop of York <(11r4-41), as a secular community, one of the special duties of which-was to minister to lepers. In the 13th century a master and chaplain took the place of the lay brethren, and in 1334'.a chantry was founded. The chapel remains, with its interesting Norinan work, its low side-windows, said to have allowed the lepers to follow the services, and its pre-Reformation altar of stone, at rare example. There is 'a considerable trade in varnish, and the saddles trees and other leather goods produced here are in high repute. "The borough is under a mayor, 4if3.ld€1'ID.€I1, and 12 councillors. Area, 1809 acres.

Ripon (In .Rhypum, . Ada Ripam) owed its origin to the monastery founded in the 7th century. A certain king, Alchfrith, is said to have given the site of the town to Eata, abbot' of Melrose, to found a monastery, but before it was completed Eata was deposed for refusing to celebrate Easter according to therRoman usage, and St Wilfrid was appointed the first abbot. Another version of the story, however, says that the land was given to St Wilfrid, who himself built the monastery. Ripon is said to have been made a royal borough by Alfred the- Great, iand King /Ethelstan, after -his victory at Brlmanburh