View source for Basil Sanderson, 1st Baron Sanderson of Ayot

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name          = The Lord Sanderson of Ayot
|honorific_suffix = [[Military Cross|MC]]
|image         =
|caption       =
|birth_name    =
|birth_date    = {{Birth date|1894|6|19|df=yes}}
|birth_place   =
|death_date    = {{Death date and age|1971|8|15|1894|6|19|df=yes}}
|death_place   =
|nationality   =
|citizenship   =
|other_names   =
|known_for     =
|education     =  [[Rugby School]]
|alma_mater    = [[Trinity College, Oxford]]
|occupation    = Businessman
|years_active  =
|title         = [[Baron Sanderson of Ayot]]
|term          =
|predecessor   =
|successor     =
|boards        =
|party=
|spouse        = Evelyn Constance Ismay
|partner       =
|children      = [[Alan Lindsay Sanderson]]
|parents       = [[Harold Arthur Sanderson]]<br/>Maud Blood
|relations     = [[J. Bruce Ismay]] <small>(father-in-law)</small>
|website       =
}}
'''Basil Sanderson, 1st Baron Sanderson of Ayot''', [[Military Cross|MC]] (19 June 1894 – 15 August 1971),<ref name=Burkes>{{Citation| year = 2003| title = Burke's Peerage & Baronetage | publisher  = Burke’s Peerage | publication-place = Crans, Switzerland| page = 3522}}</ref><ref name=CP>{{Citation | last1 = Cokayne | first1 = George Edward| last2 = Hammond | first2 = Peter W. | year = 1998 | title = The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant: Addenda and Corrigenda | publisher  = Sutton Publishing, Ltd. | publication-place = Gloucestershire, England | volume = XIV | page = 829 }}</ref> was a British businessman and public servant.
==Early life==
Basil Sanderson was born on 19 June 1894. His father, [[Harold Arthur Sanderson]],<ref name=Burkes/> was the general manager of the [[White Star Line]]. His mother was Maud Blood of [[New York City]].<ref name=Burkes/>
Sanderson was educated at the [[Rugby School]] and at [[Trinity College, Oxford]].<ref name=Burkes/> He was commissioned in the [[Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry]] in the [[First World War]], in September 1914,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28910|page=7491|date=22 September 1914}}</ref> and was awarded the [[Military Cross]].<ref name=Burkes/><ref>{{London Gazette
| issue = 30901
| date = 13 September 1918
| page = 10903
| supp = y
}}
</ref>
The citation for his MC reads as follows:
{{Quote|For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. During a heavy engagement this officer went forward with complete disregard for his own safety under heavy shell fire to clear up the situation, which at the time was obscure. He returned with very valuable information. He performed his staff duties under most trying circumstances cheerfully and with cool and skilful precision on all occasions.}}
==Career==
Like his father he became involved in business, especially the shipping trade, and held directorships with numerous companies.
During the [[Second World War]] he served as Director of Shipping in Port at the [[Minister of Shipping|Ministry of Shipping]] from 1939 to 1941 and as Head of Port Transit Control at the [[Minister of War Transport|Ministry of War Transport]] from 1941 to 1945. After the war Sanderson was managing director of the [[Shaw Savill Line|Shaw Savill]] shipping line from 1945 to 1959 and the firm's chairman from 1947 to 1963. He was [[Sheriff of the County of London]] in 1948.
On 4 July 1960, he was raised to the peerage as '''Baron Sanderson of Ayot''', of [[Welwyn]] in the [[County of Hertford]].<ref name=Burkes/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=42085 |date=5 July 1960 |page=4671}}</ref>
==Personal life==
In 1927 Sanderson married Evelyn Constance Ismay (1897–1940),<ref name=Burkes/> daughter of businessman [[J. Bruce Ismay]]<ref name=CP/> who was the managing director of the [[White Star Line]].
Transcripts of Sanderson's diaries and First World War memoirs are held at [[Churchill Archives Centre]], Cambridge.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Collection: Transcripts of Basil Sanderson's Diaries|url=https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1455|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-29|website=Churchill Archives Centre, ArchiveSearch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929095427/https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1455 |archive-date=29 September 2021 }}</ref>
==Death and legacy==
Sanderson died on 15 August 1971, aged 77.<ref name=Burkes/> He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest twin son Alan, who [[Peerage Act 1963|disclaimed]] the peerage for life the same year.<ref name=CP/>
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|centre|150px]] [[File:Sanderson of Ayot Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = Paly of six Argent and Azure on a bend Sable a mullet Argent between two annulets Or.
|crest = A talbot passant Argent pied and eared Sable resting the dexter forepaw on an annulet Or.
|supporters = On either side a talbot sejant.
|motto = ''[[Semper Fidelis]]'' (Always Faithful)<ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=2003}}</ref>}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-reg|uk}}
{{S-new|creation}}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Baron Sanderson of Ayot]] | years=1960–1971 }}
{{s-aft| after=[[Alan Lindsay Sanderson]]}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson Of Ayot, Basil Sanderson, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Welwyn]]
[[Category:Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom|Sanderson]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of the County of London]]
[[Category:Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:20th-century English businesspeople]]
[[Category:Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Territorial Force officers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]