Sir Richard Proby, 1st Baronet

Sir

Richard Proby

MC JP DL
1st Baronet
Coat of arms
Tenure1952-1979
Predecessor
none
Successor
Sir Peter Proby, 2nd Baronet
Full nameRichard George Proby
Born(1886-07-21)21 July 1886
London
Died15 January 1979(1979-01-15) (aged 92)
Elton, Cambridgeshire
ResidenceElton Hall
LocalityHuntingdonshire
Noble familyProby
Carysfort
Abercorn
Donoughmore
Spouses
  • Betty Monica Murray
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1911; died 1967)​
  • Eileen Yvonne, née Helps
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1972)​
Issue
6 children, including Peter and Patience
FatherDouglas Proby
MotherLady Margaret Hely-Hutchinson
President of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations
In office
1958
Preceded byFrederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton
Succeeded byHenry Brooke MP
Chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations
In office
1946
Preceded byRab Butler
Succeeded byHon. Mrs Henry Hornyold-Strickland
Personal details
PartyConservative and Unionist Party
EducationEton College
Alma materRoyal Military Academy, Woolwich
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service British Army
RankCaptain (1913)
Major (1919)
UnitRoyal Field Artillery (1906-1910)
CommandsEssex Yeomanry
Battles/wars
AwardsMilitary Cross (1918)

Sir Richard George Proby, 1st Baronet MC JP DL (21 July 1886 – 15 January 1979) was a British landowner, known for being the President of the Country Landowners Association and the Conservative Party (UK). He was created a Baronet in 1952.[1]

Early life and ancestry

Richard George Proby, also known as "Dick Proby",[2] was born on 21 July 1886 in the Belgravia district of London.[3] His father was the Conservative politician Colonel Douglas James Proby (1856-1931), who had been born Douglas James Hamilton but changed his surname to Proby by royal license in 1904.[1] His mother was Lady Margaret Frances Hely-Hutchinson, daughter of the 4th Earl of Donoughmore.[4] Colonel Douglas inherited the Proby estate, including Elton Hall, from his maternal uncle, William Proby, 5th Earl of Carysfort, who had died childless. The colonel also descended from the Earldom of Abercorn through his father, Lord Claud Hamilton (1813-1884), a grandson of John Hamilton, 1st Marquess and 7th Earl of Abercorn.[5]

Ancestry of Sir Richard Proby, 1st Baronet
John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn
James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton
Catherine Copley
Lord Claud Hamilton (1813–1884)
Harriet Douglas
Sir Douglas James Proby, née Hamilton
Granville Proby, 3rd Earl of Carysfort
Lady Elizabeth Emma Proby
Isabella Howard
Sir Richard George Proby, 1st Baronet
John Hely-Hutchinson, 3rd Earl of Donoughmore
Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 4th Earl of Donoughmore
Margaret Gardiner
Lady Margaret Frances Hely-Hutchinson
Thomasina Jocelyn Steele

Proby had two elder brothers, Granville (1883-1947) and Claud Richard (1885-1901), a younger sister, Betty Alice Adeline (1889-1978), and a younger brother, Jocelyn Patrick (1900-1993). All four of Colonel Douglas's sons except for Claud Richard were educated at Eton College.[1]

Military service

Proby attended Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and became a Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery from 1906 to 1910. He was made captain in the Essex Yeomanry in 1913 and served with this unit during World War I.[1] During the war, he was commended for his bravery in the capture of Monchy-le-Preux in the Battle of Arras (1917).[6] He was "invalided" and sent home in May 1917.[7] After the war, Proby was awarded the Military Cross in the 1918 New Year Honours[8] and promoted to Major in 1919.[3] He officially retired from the armed force on 4 December 1937.[9]

Political career and public offices

Proby was a member of the Conservative and Unionist Party. He stood as the party's candidate in the 1918 United Kingdom general election, contesting the seat of Sudbury in Suffolk. Despite receiving the Coalition Coupon, he came second with 5,746 votes, losing to the Liberal Party's Stephen Howard.[10] He held leadership positions within the national party, notably as chairman of the executive committee from 1943 to 1946, as well as chairman and president of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations in 1946 and 1958, respectively.[2]

A farmer by trade,[11] Proby was also known for his work in agriculture.[12] In 1918, he was private secretary to Lord Ailwyn, who chaired the Agricultural Wages Board. During the Second World War, he chaired Huntingdonshire's War agricultural executive committee in 1939 and worked as Liaison Officer to the Ministry of Agriculture from 1941 to 1944. He reprised the latter after the war, from 1952 to 1955.[1] Proby also presided over the Country Landowners Association from 1947 to 1951[2] and the Royal Forestry Society from 1956 to 1958.[1]

Proby was created a baronet in the 1952 New Year Honours for his "political and public services".[13] The family's seat is Elton Hall in Elton, Cambridgeshire.[14] He had inherited this estate after his elder brother Granville's death in 1947.[12]

Proby was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire in 1952[15] and Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire the following year.[16]

Elton Hall, the Proby Baronetcy's country estate in Cambridgeshire.

Marriage and children

Proby's first marriage was to Betty Monica Murray, daughter of Alexander Henry Hallam Murray and granddaughter of John Murray III.[17] They wedded on 7 February 1911 and had six children, the youngest of which were twins:[1]

  1. Eldest son Peter (1911-2002), who attended Trinity College, Oxford and served as a captain in the Irish Guards during World War II. He married Blanche Harrison Cripps, with whom he had 5 children, including William, the 3rd Baronet.[18]
  2. Eldest daughter Mary (1913-1982), who married William Fletcher-Vane, 1st Baron Inglewood. Their sons are the politician Richard, the 2nd Baron Inglewood and the barrister Christopher.[19]
  3. Son Claud (1917-1987), who attended Magdalene College, Cambridge and also served as a captain in the Irish Guards during World War II. He married Patricia Amelia Pearce, with whom he had 4 children.[20]
  4. Daughter Margaret (1920-2004), who married Jack Harry Harrison Cripps, with whom she had four children.[21]
  5. Son Richard (1923-1958), who attended Trinity College, Oxford and served as a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve during World War II. He died, unmarried, in 1958 in a motor accident.
  6. Daughter Patience (1923-2017), a medical doctor who trained at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and St George's, University of London. She married the British diplomat John Moberly and had three children.[20]

Many letters that Proby wrote to Betty Monica during his service in World War I survived and provided glimpses into the frontline of the conflict.[22][6] Following the death of his first wife in 1967, he remarried, in 1972, to Eileen Yvonne, who had previously been widowed. They had no children and remained married until Proby's death in 1979.[20] The Proby baronetcy was passed on to the eldest son, Peter Proby upon his death.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Townend, Peter, ed. (1970). "Proby". Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage (105th ed.). Burke's Peerage. pp. 2187–2188 – via Internet Archive.
  2. 1 2 3 Ball, Stuart, ed. (1999). "The Tide Begins to Turn: November 1942 to May 1943". Camden. Fifth Series. The Headlam Diaries, 1935–1951: 363. doi:10.1017/S0960116300002323. ISSN 0960-1163. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
  3. 1 2 "Richard George Proby". Lives of the First World War. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  4. ↑ Townend, Peter, ed. (1970). "Donoughmore". Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage (105th ed.). Burke's Peerage. pp. 819–821 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ↑ Townend, Peter, ed. (1970). "Abercorn". Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage (105th ed.). Burke's Peerage. pp. 2–5 – via Internet Archive.
  6. 1 2 Keoghane, Stephen (20 October 2023). "The horror of Monchy". Britain at War. Key Publishing.
  7. ↑ Whitmore, F. H. D. C. (1920). "Appendix D - Roll of Officers who Have Served with the Essex Yeomanry Overseas". The 10th (P. W. O.) Royal Hussars and the Essex Yeomanry during the European War, 1914-1918. Colchester: Benham and Company. p. 253.
  8. ↑ "No. 30450". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 28 December 1917. p. 44.
  9. ↑ "No. 34460". The London Gazette. 3 December 1937. p. 7580.
  10. ↑ "1918 General Election - Sudbury". api.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 7 May 2026. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  11. ↑ Eeles, Barbara (26 August 2019). "FEATURE: Appeal for help as Sudbury Festival of Performing Arts fights for survival". Suffolk News. Archived from the original on 6 February 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  12. 1 2 Goodall, John (27 June 2021). "Elton Hall: A 'house of many faces', with one of the greatest private art collections in Britain". Country Life. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "No. 39421". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 28 December 1951. p. 1.
  14. ↑ "No. 39453". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 1 February 1952. p. 642.
  15. ↑ "No. 39569". The London Gazette. 10 June 1952. p. 3188.
  16. ↑ "No. 39895". The London Gazette. 23 June 1953. p. 3474.
  17. ↑ Townend, Peter, ed. (1969). "Murray of Folla". Burke's Landed Gentry. Vol. 2 (18th ed.). Burke's Peerage Limited. p. 462 – via Internet Archive.
  18. 1 2 "Sir Peter Proby, Bt". The Telegraph. 26 April 2002. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  19. ↑ "Inglewood, Baron (Fletcher-Vane)". Debrett's peerage and baronetage (144th ed.). London: Debrett's and Pan MacMillan. 2003. pp. 853–854.
  20. 1 2 3 "Proby (UK) 1952, of Elton Hall, co Huntingdon". Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (144th ed.). London: Debrett's and Pan MacMillan. 2003. pp. 834–835.
  21. ↑ "DEATHS". Veterinary Record. 158 (5): 173–174. 2006. doi:10.1136/vr.158.5.173-a. ISSN 0042-4900. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
  22. ↑ "Death of Major Gold". Shalford Parish Council. April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
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