View source for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Ashley

{{Short description|British Army officer (1900–1947)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox peer
|honorific_prefix =
|name        = Lord Ashley
|honorific_suffix = [[OStJ]] [[Efficiency Decoration|TD]] [[Deputy Lieutenant|DL]]
|image       = Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Ashley and Sylvia Ashley.jpg
|caption     = Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Ashley, and Sylvia Ashley
|birth_date  = {{Birth date|1900|10|4|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Wimborne St Giles]], Dorset, England
|death_date  = {{Death date and age|1947|3|8|1900|10|4|df=y}}
|death_place = Wimborne St Giles, Dorset, England
|title       =
|tenure      = 1900–1947
|other_names = Lord Ashley
|known_for   = Son of 9th Earl of Shaftesbury
|nationality = English
|locality    = Dorset
|spouse      = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Sylvia Ashley]]|1927|1934|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Françoise Soulier<br>|1937}}
}}
|issue       = [[Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 10th Earl of Shaftesbury]]
}}
'''Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Ashley''', [[OStJ]], [[Efficiency Decoration|TD]], [[Deputy Lieutenant|DL]] (4 October 1900&nbsp;–&nbsp;8 March 1947), was a British Army officer. As the eldest son of [[Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl of Shaftesbury]] (his mother was Shaftesbury's wife Lady Constance Sibell Grosvenor), he used the [[courtesy title]] "Lord Ashley".<ref>Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes'', Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, vol. 3, p. 3576.</ref>
==Family life==
Ashley was married first to [[Sylvia Ashley|Sylvia Hawkes]]. They were married on 3 February 1927 and divorced on 28 November 1934.<ref>Kidd, Charles. ''Debrett Goes to Hollywood'', New York, U.S.A.: St. Martin's Press, 1986, page 43.</ref> Lord Ashley shocked London society by marrying Hawkes, an English model and actress from the [[chorus line]]. They were divorced after she began an affair with the American actor [[Douglas Fairbanks|Douglas Fairbanks Sr.]] who was named as co-respondent in the petition for divorce.
Lord Ashley's second wife was the French-born Françoise Soulier (1914–1999), the daughter of Georges Soulier of [[Caudebec-en-Caux]], France. Lord Ashley and Soulier were married on 31 March 1937 and remained married until his death in 1947. Their two children were:
* [[Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 10th Earl of Shaftesbury]] (22 May 1938&nbsp;–&nbsp;c. 5 November 2004)
* Lady Frances Mary Elizabeth Ashley-Cooper (born 9 April 1940).
Lord Ashley was [[heir apparent]] to the earldom of Shaftesbury throughout his life. On 8 November 1943, his father appointed him a [[deputy lieutenant]] of Dorset.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=36260 |page=5147 | date=23 November 1943}}</ref> However, at age 46, Ashley died unexpectedly of heart disease before his father, making his son, also named Anthony Ashley-Cooper, heir apparent, inheriting the earldom in 1961 upon the death of his grandfather, the 9th Earl of Shaftesbury.
==Military service==
Lord Ashley was a cadet in the Eton College contingent of the [[Officers' Training Corps]]. He was commissioned a [[second lieutenant]] in the 94th (Dorset & Somersetshire Yeomanry) Field Brigade, Royal Artillery, on 26 June 1925.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=33069 |page=4954 | date=24 July 1925}}</ref> On 1 May 1926, he transferred to the [[Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry]] with the same rank.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=33156 |page=2937 | date=30 April 1926}}</ref> Lord Ashley was promoted to lieutenant on 12 March 1929.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=33509 |page=4194 | date=25 June 1929}}</ref> Soon after, on 25 May 1929, he was seconded away from the regiment<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=33520 |page=4927 | date=26 July 1929}}</ref> to serve, from 19 August, as an [[aide-de-camp]] to [[Frederick Sykes|Sir Frederick Sykes]], [[Governor of Bombay]],<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=33661 |page=7256 | date=14 November 1930}}</ref> and restored to the establishment on 19 April 1930.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=33617 |page=3880 | date=20 June 1930}}</ref> He was restored to his unit on 2 May 1931.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=33724 |page=3764 | date=9 June 1931}}</ref> Lord Ashley was promoted to captain on 26 June 1937,<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=34442 |page=6212 | date=8 October 1937}}</ref> and to major on 5 March 1938.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=34515 |page=3500 | date=31 May 1938}}</ref> On 5 January 1940, he was removed from the Wiltshire Yeomanry and placed on the general list of Yeomanry officers.<ref>{{London Gazette | supp=y | issue=34777 |page=459 | date=19 January 1940}}</ref>
Major Lord Ashley was transferred to the [[Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)|Intelligence Corps]] on 22 July 1940,<ref>{{London Gazette | supp=y | issue=34975 |page=6125 | date=18 October 1940}}</ref> having requested to serve as a captain during World War II.<ref>{{London Gazette | supp=y | issue=34965 |page=5954 | date=8 October 1940}}</ref> He served with the [[Auxiliary Units]], which were highly covert [[Resistance movement|Resistance groups]] trained to engage and counteract the expected invasion of the United Kingdom by [[Nazi Germany]]. Members of the Auxiliary Unit were stationed in covert hidden bunkers scattered throughout Great Britain. While Major Lord Ashley was trained at [[Coleshill House]] near [[Highworth]], Wiltshire, specific details regarding his assignments and operational base remain classified.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/secret/auxiliaryunits.html |title=The Wartime Memories Project - Auxiliary Units |access-date=16 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006134746/http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/secret/auxiliaryunits.html |archive-date=6 October 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Lampe, David. ''The Last Ditch: Britain's Secret Resistance and the Nazi Invasion Plan'', London: Greenhill Books, 2007, p. 92.</ref>
On 18 December 1941, he was transferred to the Territorial Army reserve of officers for the [[Royal Armoured Corps]],<ref>{{London Gazette | supp=y | issue=35442 |page=551 | date=30 January 1942}}</ref> [[Royal Tank Regiment]]. He was posthumously awarded the [[Efficiency Decoration]] in 1947.<ref>{{London Gazette | supp=y | issue=37967 |page=2423 | date=27 May 1947}}</ref>
==Order of St John==
On 24 December 1943, Lord Ashley was appointed an [[Officer of the Order of St John]] (OStJ).<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=36315 |page=115 | date=4 January 1944}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley-Cooper, Anthony}}
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Dorset]]
[[Category:People educated at West Downs School]]
[[Category:10th Royal Hussars officers]]
[[Category:Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry officers]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British courtesy barons and lords of Parliament]]
[[Category:Heirs apparent who never acceded]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of St John]]
[[Category:Ashley-Cooper family]]
[[Category:Officers' Training Corps officers]]
[[Category:Royal Tank Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Intelligence Corps officers]]
[[Category:People from East Dorset District]]