Rupert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton
Encyclopedia
Joseph Rupert Eric Robert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton (1924–2003).
Rupert Watson was born on January 22, 1924, the son of George Miles Watson, 2nd Baron Manton
(1899–1968), and Alethea Langdale, 2nd. da. of Lt-Col. Philip Joseph Langdale OBE JP DL of Houghton Hall, Sancton, Yorks. He inherited the title 3rd Baron Manton on the death of his father in 1968. He married Mary Elizabeth Hallinan, da. of Maj. Thomas Dennehy Hallinan of Ashbourne, Glounthaune, co.Cork, on January 9, 1951. They lived initially near Melton Mowbray, Leics. and had 5 children, including triplets.
Rupert was educated at Eton and joined the Army in 1942. He was commissioned into the Life Guards in 1943 and saw service in Italy, Germany and Egypt. He retired from the Army in 1947 with the rank of captain but then rejoined and served again in the 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars from 1951 to 1956. He was appointed Adjutant to the Leicestershire Yeomanry (the 7th Hussars' sister regiment).
As a young amateur jockey he rode 130 winners including Gay Monarch in the 1955 Kim Muir chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Following the example of his father, who had established a stud at Plumpton Place in Sussex, he became himself a successful owner and breeder of racehorses. He was a director of Thirsk racecourse from 1970. From 1970 to 1975, Manton was a member of the Horserace Betting Levy Board, the organisation formed in 1961 to raise money from bookmakers to plough back into racing. In 1982 he was appointed Senior Steward of the Jockey Club, becoming effectively chief executive of the horse racing industry, which term ended in 1985. As Senior Steward he led the campaign to allow betting shops to show televised races. He was chairman of the York Race Committee (1985–91); a member of the Tattersalls Committee, which rules on betting disputes; and a steward at Beverley, York and Doncaster racecourses. Even from before his Melton Mowbray days he had been a passionate rider to hounds and retained a special affection for the Leicestershire country, serving there, albeit a long commute from Houghton Hall, as Field Master of both the Quorn and the Belvoir foxhounds.
He was given Houghton Hall, the ancient seat of the extinct barony of Langdale, by his aunt Joyce Elizabeth Mary, Countess Fitzwilliam, heiress of her father Lt.-Col. Philip Joseph Langdale, who had married as her 2nd. husband 10th. Earl Fitzwilliam of Wentwort Woodhouse, Rotherham, Yorks, and was childless. He moved to the East Riding of Yorkshire (now Humberside) to run Houghton Hall and its 5000 acres (20.2 km²) estate. In 1980 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Humberside.
On his death on August 8, 2003 the title passed to his eldest son Miles Ronald Marcus Watson, 4th Baron Manton
, an officer in the Life Guards, formerly a successful amateur jockey.
Rupert Watson was born on January 22, 1924, the son of George Miles Watson, 2nd Baron Manton
George Miles Watson, 2nd Baron Manton
George Miles Watson, 2nd Baron Manton .Miles Watson was born near Leeds, Yorks., on June 21, 1899, the eldest of 4 sons of Joseph Watson, 1st Baron Manton, the Leeds soap magnate, and Claire Nickols, da. of Harold Nickols of Sandford House, Kirkstall, Leeds...
(1899–1968), and Alethea Langdale, 2nd. da. of Lt-Col. Philip Joseph Langdale OBE JP DL of Houghton Hall, Sancton, Yorks. He inherited the title 3rd Baron Manton on the death of his father in 1968. He married Mary Elizabeth Hallinan, da. of Maj. Thomas Dennehy Hallinan of Ashbourne, Glounthaune, co.Cork, on January 9, 1951. They lived initially near Melton Mowbray, Leics. and had 5 children, including triplets.
Rupert was educated at Eton and joined the Army in 1942. He was commissioned into the Life Guards in 1943 and saw service in Italy, Germany and Egypt. He retired from the Army in 1947 with the rank of captain but then rejoined and served again in the 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars from 1951 to 1956. He was appointed Adjutant to the Leicestershire Yeomanry (the 7th Hussars' sister regiment).
As a young amateur jockey he rode 130 winners including Gay Monarch in the 1955 Kim Muir chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Following the example of his father, who had established a stud at Plumpton Place in Sussex, he became himself a successful owner and breeder of racehorses. He was a director of Thirsk racecourse from 1970. From 1970 to 1975, Manton was a member of the Horserace Betting Levy Board, the organisation formed in 1961 to raise money from bookmakers to plough back into racing. In 1982 he was appointed Senior Steward of the Jockey Club, becoming effectively chief executive of the horse racing industry, which term ended in 1985. As Senior Steward he led the campaign to allow betting shops to show televised races. He was chairman of the York Race Committee (1985–91); a member of the Tattersalls Committee, which rules on betting disputes; and a steward at Beverley, York and Doncaster racecourses. Even from before his Melton Mowbray days he had been a passionate rider to hounds and retained a special affection for the Leicestershire country, serving there, albeit a long commute from Houghton Hall, as Field Master of both the Quorn and the Belvoir foxhounds.
He was given Houghton Hall, the ancient seat of the extinct barony of Langdale, by his aunt Joyce Elizabeth Mary, Countess Fitzwilliam, heiress of her father Lt.-Col. Philip Joseph Langdale, who had married as her 2nd. husband 10th. Earl Fitzwilliam of Wentwort Woodhouse, Rotherham, Yorks, and was childless. He moved to the East Riding of Yorkshire (now Humberside) to run Houghton Hall and its 5000 acres (20.2 km²) estate. In 1980 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Humberside.
On his death on August 8, 2003 the title passed to his eldest son Miles Ronald Marcus Watson, 4th Baron Manton
Baron Manton
Baron Manton, of Compton Verney in the County of Warwick, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1922 in recognition of war services for the Leeds industrialist Joseph Watson...
, an officer in the Life Guards, formerly a successful amateur jockey.