RIPPON, Cuthbert (1797-1867), of Stanhope Castle, co. Durham.

Born at Battersea, Rippon was the only son of Cuthbert Rippon, an eminent broker on the stock exchange, who in 1797 purchased extensive estates in county Durham, and built the family seat of Stanhope Castle the following year. On coming of age, Rippon inherited the family estates, which included limestone quarries, and entered the north-eastern coal and lead trades, though with little success.1N. McCord, ‘Gateshead politics in the age of reform’, Northern History, iv (1969), 174. In September 1830 he published a handbill in opposition to Henry Phillpotts, who wished to retain the Stanhope rectorship to augment his episcopal salary upon being appointed bishop of Exeter, Thereafter he became an almost obsessive opponent of clerical pluralism.2Copy of the celebrated letter on the immediate necessity of church reform. And clearly pointing out the humbug of extracting tythes in payment of spiritual assistance. Written by Cuthbert Rippon, Esq. And addressed to Sir Robert Peel, on Doctor Phillpott’s being appointed Bishop of Exeter, and still holding the Rectorship of Stanhope, which is a living of itself worth £4000 per annum (1830).

At the 1832 general election Rippon was brought forward by the supporters of Lord Durham for the newly-created single-member borough of Gateshead, where he had played a prominent part in the recent reform struggle.3McCord, ‘Gateshead politics’, 174-5. Standing on a radical platform, he argued that the established church needed immediate reform and called for the removal of all bishops from the House of Lords.4Newcastle Courant, 15 Dec. 1832. Backed by a highly-organised election committee, he was returned unopposed and was re-elected without a contest in 1835.

A frequent attender in his first two parliaments, Rippon’s loathing of the power of bishops dominated the few speeches he made. He moved for the removal of bishops from the House of Lords, 13 Mar. 1834, arguing that ‘the tendency of all church establishments connected with the state has been, and must be, to oppose political improvements’, but his motion was defeated, 125-58. He raised the issue again two years later, claiming in a lengthy speech that ‘the church, as a spiritual community, has no concern with secular government’, but his resolution that ‘the attendance of the Bishops in Parliament is prejudicial to the cause of religion’ fared little better, 26 Apr. 1836.

Rippon’s voting record in the Commons reflected his radical sympathies. He divided for the ballot, 25 Apr. 1833, and shorter parliaments, 23 July 1833, and consistently voted against the operation of the corn laws. He opposed the Grey ministry’s attempts to reform Irish church temporalities, stating that their bill was ‘a fraud upon the common sense of the nation’ as it was merely a ‘wily attempt’ to continue ‘compelling the majority of a nation to support the Church establishment of a small minority’, 20 May 1833, and divided against Lord Althorp’s motion to replace church rates with a land tax, 21 Apr. 1834. He was, however, implacably opposed to the Conservatives, and called for ‘their extinction for ever as a party’.5Parliamentary Test Book (1835), 136. After voting for Abercromby as speaker, 19 Feb. 1835, he backed Lord John Russell’s motion on the Irish church, 2 Apr. 1835, and supported Melbourne’s second administration on Irish matters thereafter. He dismissed petitions from Gateshead electors against the appropriation of Irish church revenues as ‘religious bigotry and political rancour’ brought forward by ‘the pious and political brotherhood known as the dean and chapter of Durham’, 17 June 1835.

On the eve of the 1837 general election, Rippon’s standing in Gateshead was damaged by revelations that he was on the brink of bankruptcy, due to unwise speculation in the coal trade. His private life also came under scrutiny when it became known that his mistress, whom he kept openly in Stanhope, was a cousin, as was his wife.6T.J. Nossiter, Influence, opinion and political idioms in reformed England: case studies from the North-east, 1832-74 (1975), 110-11. With a rival Liberal and Conservative candidate in the field, the local Liberal party canvassed Gateshead to make sure Rippon’s seat was safe before backing him. He declined to canvass in person, and his subsequent re-election was only made possible by the organisational strength of his election committee.7F.W.D. Manders, A history of Gateshead (1973), 271-2.

In 1838 Rippon sold off most of his farms and stock at Stanhope to avoid bankruptcy and a series of legal executions for debt were issued against him.8Ibid.; McCord, ‘Gateshead politics’, 175. Beset with financial problems, his final four years in Parliament were utterly undistinguished, his only known contribution being an outspoken attack on benefices in plurality, a ‘vile stain which defiles and disgraces our national Church Establishment’, 4 May 1838. By March 1839, Gateshead’s Liberals were seeking a potential new member, and Rippon barely attended the Commons in the next two years.9McCord, ‘Gateshead politics’, 175. There was little surprise when he retired at the 1841 general election. His successor, William Hutt, commented: ‘Poor Rippon, what havoc he seems to have made of the best opportunities of distinction and of private enjoyment that could be open to any man’.10William Hutt to William Henry Brockett, July 1838, quoted in Manders, History of Gateshead, 272.

An abortive attempt to establish the Stanhope Ironworks followed in 1844, and Rippon, with debts of £156,000, was finally declared bankrupt in March 1849. At a hearing at the Newcastle bankruptcy court later that year, the judge concluded that Rippon ‘was open to the accusation of culpable extravagance and reckless proceedings’.11The Standard, 7 Nov. 1849. He died suddenly at Sands End, Kensington, in August 1867 and was succeeded by his eldest son, also Cuthbert. His correspondence relating to Gateshead politics is located in the Brockett collection at Gateshead Central Library.