Rowland Blades, 1st Baron Ebbisham, GBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (15 April 1868–24 May 1953) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 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, printer, and Lord Mayor of London

Lord Mayor of London

The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...

 from 1926 to 1927.

Blades was born in Sydenham

Sydenham

Sydenham is an area and electoral ward in the London Borough of Lewisham; although some streets towards Crystal Palace Park, Forest Hill and Penge are outside the ward and in the London Borough of Bromley, and some streets off Sydenham Hill are in the London Borough of Southwark. Sydenham was in...

 and educated at King's College School

King's College School

King's College School, commonly referred to as KCS, King's, or KCS Wimbledon, is an independent school for day pupils in Wimbledon in south-west London. The school was founded as the junior department of King's College London and occupied part of its premises in Strand, before relocating to...

. In 1886 he joined the family printing

Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....

 business, Blades, East & Blades Ltd, which had been founded by his grandfather, rising to become its chairman.

In 1913 he was elected to the Corporation of London

Corporation of London

The City of London Corporation is the municipal governing body of the City of London. It exercises control only over the City , and not over Greater London...

. He served as Sheriff of London from 1917 to 1918 and during his term of office was knighted

Knight Bachelor

The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...

 when the King

George V of the United Kingdom

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....

 and Queen

Mary of Teck

Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....

 visited the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

 to celebrate their silver wedding.

On 23 April 1918 he was co-opted as a member of the London County Council

London County Council

London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...

 for the Municipal Reform party.

In 1918 he was elected to Parliament

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 for Epsom and held the seat until 1928, when he resigned by taking the Chiltern Hundreds

Chiltern Hundreds

Appointment to the office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham is a sinecure appointment which is used as a device allowing a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament to resign his or her seat...

. He was created a Baronet

Baronet

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

 in the 1922 New Year Honours and appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in September 1927. In 1928 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Ebbisham

Baron Ebbisham

Baron Ebbisham, of Cobham in the County of Surrey, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 5 July 1928 for the businessman and Conservative politician Sir Rowland Blades, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Cobham in the County of Surrey, in the...

, the old name of Epsom

Epsom

Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...

 (since the title of Baron Epsom was already held by the Earl of Rosebery

Earl of Rosebery

Earl of Rosebery is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1703 for Archibald Primrose, 1st Viscount of Rosebery, with remainder to his issue male and female successively...

).

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