Ralph William Ernest Beckett, 3rd Baron Grimthorpe, (3 May 1891 – 22 February 1963), was a banker and breeder of racehorses. Beckett was son of Ernest Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe. He was a partner in the Leeds firm of Beckett & Co., which later became part of the Westminster Bank, and in the aeronautical firm Airspeed Ltd. His racehorses included Fortina, which won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1947, and Fragrant Mac, which won the Scottish Grand National in 1952.
Biography
Beckett was educated in 1903 at Eton College. He was a member of Eton's contingent of the Junior Division, Officers Training Corps, and reached the rank of cadet corporal. He went on to study at University College, Oxford.
On 13 February 1913, Beckett was commissioned as a supernumerary second lieutenant in the Yorkshire Hussars Yeomanry, Territorial Force, British Army. He was made an adjutant on 15 January 1917, with the temporary rank of lieutenant. Having been promoted to temporary captain, he relinquished the rank on 21 August 1917 and reverted back to the substantive rank of lieutenant. He vacated the appointment of adjutant on 17 September 1917. He was appointed to an infantry service battalion on 12 September 1917, and he promoted to captain on 16 October 1917. On 16 May 1918, he was given a temporary commission in the Administrative Branch of the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a lieutenant (honorary captain). Having been awarded his pilot wings, he transferred to the Flying Branch, back dated to 6 November 1918. He was a parliamentary private secretary to the Under-Secretary of State for War (Viscount Peel) in 1919. He was a lieutenant-colonel of the Yorkshire Hussars between 1936 and 1940. Beckett fought in World War II, where he was mentioned in despatches. using several aircraft produced by Airspeed, until it was grounded by World War II, He was also president of Yorkshire Aero Club.
Lord Grimthorpe died on 22 February 1963, at age 71.
Family
Beckett married, firstly, Mary Alice Archdale, daughter of Colonel Mervyn Henry Archdale and Mary de Bathe, on 3 September 1914.