Colonel Sir John Archibald Ruggles-Brise, 2nd Baronet,
CB,
OBE,
DL TD (13 June 1908 – 20 February 2007) was
Lord Lieutenant of Essex from 1958 to 1978, and was the first Pro-Chancellor of
Essex University from 1964 to 1979. He was also a president of the
Country Landowners' Association (now the Country Land and Business Association) from 1957 to 1959, and was a co-founder of the CLA's annual Game Fair in 1958.
Ruggles-Brise was born at Brent Hall in
Finchingfield in
Essex. His family have deep roots in Essex, having been based at
Spains Hall in Finchingfield since the house was bought by Samuel Ruggles, a clothier, in 1760. His father,
Sir Edward Ruggles-Brise, 1st Baronet, was
MP for
Maldon from 1922 to his death in 1942 (with a short intermission in 1923-4), and became a
baronet in
George V's
Silver Jubilee honours list in 1935.
Ruggles-Brise was educated at
Wellesley House and then
Eton, where he became captain of his house, and then worked on a family farm in
Alberta in
Canada. He worked at
Employers Liability Assurance, rising to manage its branches in the
City of London and the
West End of London.
He joined the
Territorial Army in 1938 (his father commanded the 104th Essex Yeomanry Field Brigade R.A.). When the
Second World War broke out, he enlisted as a gunner in the
54th Anti-Aircraft Regiment. He was commissioned, and commanded a
Royal Artillery anti-aircraft battery near
London during
the Blitz. He inherited the baronetcy on his father's death in 1942. The same year, he took command of the
180th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment in 1942, based in Scotland. He took his unit to join the air defences of Plymouth before
D-Day in 1944. He received a military OBE. He continued to serve with the Territorial Army after the war, being awarded the
Territorial Decoration and the rank of honorary colonel.
He continued to work in insurance for a short period after the War, but then returned to managed the neglected family estates in Essex, which he had inherited in 1942. He was president of the
Country Landowners' Association from 1957 to 1959, and was a co-founder of the CLA's annual Game Fair in 1958.
He was
Deputy Lieutenant of Essex from 1945, Vice-Lieutenant from 1945, and then
Lord Lieutenant of Essex from 1958 to 1978. He became a Companion of the
Order of the Bath in 1958, and served as a
Church Commissioner from 1959 to 1964, and as chairman of the
Council of the Baronetage from 1958 to 1963. He was also a Knight of the
Order of St John, and played a leading role in the foundation of
Essex University at
Wivenhoe Park in 1961. He was the university's first Pro-Chancellor from 1964 to 1979. He was a governor of
Felsted School and
Chigwell School from 1950 to 1975.
He never married. He was succeeded by his nephew,
Sir Timothy Edward Ruggles-Brise, 3rd Baronet.