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Member of the House of Lords | |
as a hereditary peer 10 August 1989 –11 November 1999 | |
Preceded by | The 5th Baron Wrottesley |
Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
as an elected hereditary peer 11 July 2022 | |
By-election | 11 July 2022 |
Preceded by | The 3rd Baron Swinfen |
Personal details | |
Born | Clifton Hugh Lancelot de Verdon Wrottesley 10 August 1968 Dublin,Ireland |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse | Sascha Schwarzenbach |
Children | 4 |
Parent(s) | Hon. Richard Francis Gerard Wrottesley Georgina Clifton |
Relatives | Urs Schwarzenbach (father-in-law) |
Education | Eton College |
Clifton Hugh Lancelot de Verdon Wrottesley,6th Baron Wrottesley (born 10 August 1968 [1] ),is an Irish sportsman and British peer and Conservative member of the House of Lords.
Wrottesley was born at Hatch Street,Dublin,in 1968 [2] to Richard Francis Gerard Wrottesley and Georgina Anne,daughter of lieutenant-colonel Peter Thomas Clifton,late Grenadier Guards,of Dummer House,Hampshire,and Patricia Mary Adela,sister of David Gibson-Watt,Baron Gibson-Watt. [3] [4]
His first two years were spent in Abbyknockmoy,County Galway. After his father's death,he moved to Spain with his mother. [5]
He was educated at Eton College,the University of Edinburgh and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before serving in the Grenadier Guards. [6]
Through his paternal grandmother he is a descendant of the Stratford family,and through his maternal grandfather the Bruce baronets of Downhill. [7] He inherited the Wrottesley titles in 1977 on the death of his grandfather,his father having died when he was two. He became eligible to sit in the House of Lords on his 21st birthday.
Wrottesley works in property and fine wine. [8]
Wrottesley was Chair of British Skeleton from 2012 to 2017,was a board member of the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA) from 2012 to 2019,and Chair from 2012 to 2014. He continues to be involved in overseeing the British Skeleton World Class Programme,and Chairs the Selection Committee. [9]
In March 2021,Wrottesley was appointed Chair of Ice Hockey UK (IHUK), [10] and in January 2022 was appointed to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Finance Committee for a period of five years. [11]
Wrottesley competed as an Irish skeleton racer on the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT,now the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation or IBSF) Skeleton Continental circuits in the 2000–01 season and the FIBT World Cup circuit in the 2001–02 season. He finished fourth in the men's skeleton at the 2002 Winter Olympics. As of 2022,this remains the best result of any Irish athlete at the Olympic Winter Games. [12]
Wrottesley and his father both competed in bobsleigh for Great Britain before competing for Ireland. [5]
During the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin,he served as Chef de Mission for the Irish team. [12]
Wrottesley is also a rider of the Cresta Run,St Moritz,Switzerland. He has ridden on the Run since the 1988–89 season,won his Cresta colours in 1996,and has won many of the Open races since his first victory in 1997 (although he did not compete on the Run in the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons,due to commitments on the IBSF Skeleton circuits).
Of the four Classic Races on the Cresta Run,Wrottesley has won The Curzon Cup (the Blue Riband event of the season from Junction) a record 14 times (beating Nino Bibbia's record of 8),The Morgan Cup a record 17 times (beating Franco Gansser's record of 10),The Brabazon Trophy a record 16 times and the Grand National (the Blue Riband event of the season from Top) a record 17 times (beating Nino Bibbia and Franco Gansser's record of 8).
Wrottesley has also won The Grand Slam a record six times (all 4 Classic races in the one season),in 2003,2005,2006,2010,2012 and 2023.
Wrottesley holds the record for the number of Classic races won with a total of 64 to date,was the first person ever to break the 50 second barrier (on 1 February 2015) and in doing so holds the World Record from Top (49.92 seconds). Wrottesley also holds the Flying Junction Record (31.44 seconds). [13]
He lives in St Moritz,Switzerland,and Henley-on-Thames,England. He is married to Sascha Wrottesley (née Schwarzenbach),the daughter of Urs Schwarzenbach,the Swiss billionaire financier. The couple have four children:three sons and a daughter. [14]
After voluntary declarations by Wrottesley to HM Revenue and Customs,HMRC issued tax demands for 2000 to 2008 on the basis that Wrottesley was domiciled in the UK. Wrottesley has appealed,contending that his domicile of origin is in the Republic of Ireland. The first-tier tribunal issued a preliminary ruling but as of 2014 [update] had not issued a final decision in the case,so the matter is effectively in abeyance. [15]
Removed from the House of Lords in 1999 under the provisions of the House of Lords Act which abolished hereditary peers' automatic memberships,Baron Wrottesley won a by-election to the House of Lords in 2022,taking the place of Roger Swinfen Eady,3rd Baron Swinfen. [16]
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed runs down narrow,twisting,banked,iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation.
Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled,known as a skeleton bobsled,down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first. The sport and the sled may have been named from the bony appearance of the sled.
The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland,or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisions of Peerages in the United Kingdom. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are duke,marquess,earl,viscount and baron. As of 2016,there were 135 titles in the Peerage of Ireland extant:two dukedoms,ten marquessates,43 earldoms,28 viscountcies,and 52 baronies. However,these titles have no official recognition in the Republic of Ireland,with Article 40.2 of the Constitution of Ireland forbidding the state conferring titles of nobility and stating that an Irish citizen may not accept titles of nobility or honour except with the prior approval of the Irish government.
Marquess of Donegall is a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the head of the Chichester family,originally from Devon,England. Sir John Chichester sat as a Member of Parliament and was High Sheriff of Devon in 1557. One of his sons,Sir Arthur Chichester,was Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1605 to 1616. In 1613,he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Chichester,of Belfast in County Antrim. When he died childless in 1625 the barony became extinct.
Earl Erne,of Crom Castle in the County of Fermanagh,is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1789 for John Creighton,2nd Baron Erne,who had earlier represented Lifford in the Irish House of Commons. He had already been made Viscount Erne,of Crom Castle in the County of Fermanagh,in 1781,also in the Peerage of Ireland,and sat from 1800 to 1828 as an Irish representative peer in the British House of Lords. The title of Baron Erne,of Crom Castle in the County of Fermanagh,was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1768 for his father Abraham Creighton. The Earl was succeeded by his eldest son,the second Earl. On his death the titles passed to his nephew,the third Earl. He was an Irish Representative Peer from 1845 to 1885 and also served as Lord Lieutenant of County Fermanagh during the same period. In 1876 he was created Baron Fermanagh,of Lisnaskea in the County of Fermanagh,in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. This was to allow the Earls to sit in the House of Lords by right,rather than having to stand for election as Representative Peers. An earlier title of Baroness Fermanagh in the Peerage of Ireland was created for Mary Verney on 13 June 1792,but became extinct on her death on 15 November 1810.
Sledding,sledging or sleighing is a winter sport typically carried out in a prone or seated position on a vehicle generically known as a sled,a sledge (British),or a sleigh. It is the basis of three Olympic sports:luge,skeleton and bobsledding. When practised on sand,it is known as a form of sandboarding. In Russia sledges are used for maritime activities including fishing and commuting from island to island on ice.
Earl of Darnley is a hereditary title that has been created three times,twice in the Peerage of Scotland and once in the Peerage of Ireland.
Baron Wrottesley,of Wrottesley in the County of Stafford,is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 July 1838 for Sir John Wrottesley,9th Baronet. He was a Major-General in the Army and also represented Lichfield,Staffordshire and Staffordshire South in House of Commons. The Wrottesley family's original patronymic was 'de Verdun',which meant that the creation of the title Baron Wrottesley represented the third barony created by a branch of the de Verdun family in England. The other two were established by Theobald de Verdun,1st Baron Verdun of Alton Castle and Sir John de Verdon,1st Baron Verdon,lord of Brixworth in Northamptonshire and Bressingham in Norfolk.
The Cresta Run is a natural ice skeleton racing toboggan track in eastern Switzerland. Located in the winter sports town of St. Moritz,the 1.2125 km (0.753 mi) run is one of the few in the world dedicated entirely to skeleton. It was built in 1884 near the hamlet of Cresta in the municipality of Celerina/Schlarigna by the Outdoor Amusement Committee of the Kulm Hotel and the people of St. Moritz. The committee members were Major William Henry Bulpett,George Robertson,Charles Digby Jones,C. Metcalfe,and J. Biddulph. It has continued as a partnership to this day between the SMTC,founded in 1887,and the people of St. Moritz.
Christopher Hiley Ludlow Bathurst,3rd Viscount Bledisloe,QC,was a British barrister and politician.
Ice Hockey UK (IHUK) is the national governing body of ice hockey in the United Kingdom. Affiliated to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF),IHUK is the internationally recognised umbrella body in the United Kingdom. IHUK was created to replace the British Ice Hockey Association (BIHA). The organisation is responsible to the IIHF for the good order of the sport in the UK. The IHUK is charged with ensuring that all overseas players are properly cleared to play and that the rules and by-laws of the IIHF are upheld. Ice Hockey UK runs the national team,Great Britain men's national ice hockey team. Ice Hockey UK founded a youth development league in 2014,with the aim to grow future national team players.
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Major Thomas "Robin" Valerian Dixon,3rd Baron Glentoran,,is a former British bobsledder and Northern Irish politician,known as Robin Dixon. He is a former Conservative Party Shadow Minister for the Olympics.
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Abbeyknockmoy is a village and parish in County Galway,Ireland. It is known for the nearby ruins of the 12th century Cistercian abbey,established with the Kings of Connacht as its benefactors. The abbey was the burial site of King Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair and contains several examples of medieval wall paintings and sculpture. It was formerly part of the kingdom of the Soghain of Connacht.
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Sir Walter Wrottesley,was a Captain of Calais.
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