Baron Clitheroe of Downham

Downham, Lancashire

Downham is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England. It is in the Ribble Valley district and as of the United Kingdom 2001 census has a population of 156. The village is on the north side of Pendle Hill off the A59 road about from Clitheroe....

 in the County of Lancaster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Peerage of the United Kingdom

The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...

. It was created in 1955 for the Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 politician Ralph Assheton

Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe

Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe PC was a British Conservative Party politician.He was Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe from 1934 to 1945, for the City of London from 1945 to 1950, and for Blackburn West from 1950 to 1955.In the wartime government under Winston Churchill, he was Minister of...

, who had previously served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury

Financial Secretary to the Treasury

Financial Secretary to the Treasury is a junior Ministerial post in the British Treasury. It is the 4th most significant Ministerial role within the Treasury after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and the Paymaster General...

. He was the son of Ralph Assheton, for many years a member of the Lancashire County Council

Lancashire County Council

Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It currently consists of 84 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, who won control of the council in the local council elections in June 2009, ending 28 years of...

, who had been created Baronet

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

 of Downham

Downham

Downham is a district located in south-east London, occupying much of the boundary between the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Bromley; it is the name of an electoral ward covering much of the area on the Lewisham side...

 in the County of Lancaster, on 4 September 1945. Three months after being raised to the peerage, Lord Clitheroe succeeded his father in the baronetcy. , the titles are held by the first Baron's son, the second Baron, who succeeded in 1984.

In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Ralph Assheton

Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe

Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe PC was a British Conservative Party politician.He was Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe from 1934 to 1945, for the City of London from 1945 to 1950, and for Blackburn West from 1950 to 1955.In the wartime government under Winston Churchill, he was Minister of...

 also acquired title to manorial and mineral rights as well as land holdings within the former Honor of Clitheroe

Clitheroe

Clitheroe is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is 1½ miles from the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists in the area. It has a population of 14,697...

. These were purchased out of the Clitheroe Estate Company following its administration in 1945. They included the Lordship of the Forest of Pendle

Pendle

Pendle is a local government district and borough of Lancashire, England. It adjoins the Lancashire boroughs of Burnley and Ribble Valley, the North Yorkshire district of Craven and the West Yorkshire districts of Calderdale and the City of Bradford...

. The Clitheroes' land agent, Michael Parkinson of Ingham & Yorke, continues to style himself "Steward of the Honor of Clitheroe

Honor of Clitheroe

The Honour of Clitheroe is an ancient grouping of manors and royal forests centred on Clitheroe Castle in Lancashire, England; an honour traditionally being the grant of a large landholding complex, not all of whose parts are contiguous...

".

Assheton Baronets of Downham (1945)

• Sir Ralph Cockayne Assheton, 1st Baronet (1860–1955)
• Sir Ralph Assheton, 2nd Baronet
  Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe
  Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe PC was a British Conservative Party politician.He was Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe from 1934 to 1945, for the City of London from 1945 to 1950, and for Blackburn West from 1950 to 1955.In the wartime government under Winston Churchill, he was Minister of...
  
   (1901–1984) (had been created Baron Clitheroe in 1955)

Barons Clitheroe (1955)

• Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe
  Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe
  Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe PC was a British Conservative Party politician.He was Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe from 1934 to 1945, for the City of London from 1945 to 1950, and for Blackburn West from 1950 to 1955.In the wartime government under Winston Churchill, he was Minister of...
  
   (1901–1984)
• Ralph John Assheton, 2nd Baron Clitheroe (b. 1929)

The heir apparent

Heir apparent

An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....

is the present holder's son Hon. Ralph Christopher Assheton (b. 1962)