Charles Alfred (The Hon.) LISTER

14 May 1915

Lord Ribblesdale's Heir

An interesting name to the people of Craven in Saturday morning's casualty lists is that of Mrs. Asquith's nephew, Lieutenant the Hon. Charles Lister, who has been wounded in the Dardanelles campaign. Lieutenant Lister's father, Lord Ribblesdale, married a sister of Mrs. Asquith. Lord Ribblesdale is not one of the wealthiest of our peers, but his soldier son will one day inherit an estate of 5,000 acres, a fine house in Manchester Square, and the family seat, Gisburne Park. Lieutenant Lister created a mild sensation in society a few years ago by throwing in his political lot with the Socialist party. After a brilliant career at Eton and Balliol, he announced his conversion to Socialism. He wore a red tie habitually, and joined the Blackburn branch of the Independent Labour Party. His attitude won the enthusiastic approval of Labour leaders. Shortly afterwards, however, Mr. Lister left the I.L.P. in deep disgust because one of its publications had made a deliberate attack on his family. He is now regarded as an orthodox Liberal.

03 September 1915

LIEUTENANT THE HONOURABLE CHAS. A. LISTER WOUNDED

Lieutenant the Hon. Charles A. Lister, the only surviving son and sole heir of Lord Ribblesdale, was wounded on the 24th ult. for the third time during the war. He is a lieutenant in the Royal Marines, and is with the Royal Naval Division in the Mediterranean.

10 September 1915

LORD RIBBLESDALE'S HEIR KILLED – Hon. C. Lister Succumbs to Wounds

In the casualty list issued on Friday was the name of Lieut. The Hon. Charles A. Lister, R.M., of the Hood Battalion, who was reported wounded in Gallipoli, August 24th, as reported in our last week's edition, and who succumbed to his injuries on August 28th. Lieut. Lister was the only surviving son and heir of Lord Ribblesdale, of Gisburne Park. His elder brother was killed in action at Vidhalli in Somaliland, in 1904. He held a commission in the Middlesex Hussars, and had been twice previously wounded. He went out to the Dardanelles in the Spring to take up a post as interpreter on board one of the warships there. He was 27 years of age.

Lieutenant Lister was in the diplomatic service, his first position having been in the British Embassy at Rome, from which he was transferred to Constantinople, where he was stationed when war broke out. Joining the Royal Naval Division he went to the Dardanelles.

The Hon. Charles Lister, when a nineteen year-old boy at Eton, created a mild sensation by announcing his conversion to Socialism. He was member of P.O.P., and a great debate took place on the subject, ‘Ought we to welcome the advent of the Labour Members of Parliament?’ Shortly after the General Election of 1905, he made the first speech, advocating Socialistic principles, that had ever been listened to within the walls of the Eton Debating Society.

He stated that it was through reading that he had become a Socialist. He found no remedy for the injustice of our social system in the Tory or Liberal programmes, and therefore applied for help to the Labour party.

Heir to 4,800 acres, he held that the rural population could not be stayed so long as this present system of land tenure obtained, and complained that land was still in the hands of the aristocracy. “Eton does not take politics very seriously,” he added, “so I have not been kicked round the ‘quad’ four times every morning before breakfast, and I have not been consigned to Coventry. My opinions are respected by few, tolerated by many, and persecuted by none.”

Shortly after this declaration of faith a young man turned up at a meeting held by Mr. Victor Grayson, at Rochdale, announced himself as the Hon. Charles Lister, and delivered a fervent, socialist speech, expressing a hope that the aristocracy, who were the real unemployed, would be reduced to marching through the streets with banners saying “Curse your charity, give us work.” A few days later, Rochdale Socialists were dismayed to hear that they had been hoaxed, and that Mr. Lister had never been to the town. Who impersonated him so successfully has never been discovered.

He retired from his membership of the Independent Labour Party on account of an attack on his family, and resigned his membership of the Blackburn branch.

His mother, the late Lady Ribblesdale, was a daughter of the late Sir Charles Tenant, Bart., a sister of Mrs. Asquith, wife of the Prime Minister, and also of Lord Glenconner.

17 September 1915

GISBURN – THE LATE HON. CHARLES LISTER

Gisburn is mourning the loss of Lieut. the Hon. Charles Lister, son and heir to Lord Ribblesdale. On Sunday a memorial service was held at Gisburn Parish Church, which was crowded. Lord Ribblesdale, his daughters –Lady Wilson, Lady Lovat, and the Hon. Mrs. Percy Wyndham – were present, and in addition to representatives of all the chief families in the neighbourhood, there attended Lord and Lady Desborough, who are staying at Sawley Lodge. The service, which was very impressive throughout, opened with the deceased soldier's favourite hymn, ‘The Church's one foundation,’ and concluded with the ‘Dead March’ in Saul, and the National Anthem.

The Vicar (Rev. J. Heslop) preached from the words, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” He said the war had already cost us dearly, the list of those who had fallen in their country’s cause being painfully though gloriously long. The great majority of those who had died were unknown to them, but others had left memories which still remained, like Lieut. Percy Wyndham, whose death in the performance of duty was strikingly characteristic of his life. Yet another, Lieut. the Hon. Charles Lister, who was with them it seemed only yesterday, had given his life for his country. They all remembered him well. The glimpses they had of him showed how ready he was to do his duty, taking his life in his hand cheerfully and contentedly, ever desirous that those near and dear to him should not be made unduly anxious, but at the same time doing his work in hourly peril. Lieutenant Lister, with many others, came forward in the country's hour of need. They gave up much for the sake of duty, and that made their death all the more glorious. To go to the awful trenches in Flanders or Gallipoli was the last thing they had in mind a year ago, but duty called them, and they answered winning glory and honour in a way neither they nor their friends expected. The name Lister would never be forgotten in that parish. He was brave, sagacious, loyal, and vigorous, but those who knew him best were most struck by his freedom from self-regard. He felt no malice, asserted no rights, and took no vengeance.

08 October 1915

LORD RIBBLESDALE’S THANKS

The Clerk read the following letter from Lord Ribblesdale in reply to the Council’s vote of condolence on the death of his son, the Hon. Charles Lister:–

Gisburn, Sept. 12th

“I write to thank the Urban Council for their sympathy and condolence. Believe me I am truly grateful to my Barnoldswick friends and neighbours for this remembrance of me and my family, and their recognition of the duty and service my dear son Charles has rendered to his Country. Will you convey my gratitude to your Council, and believe me,

“Yours sincerely, Ribblesdale.”

05 January 1917

HON. CHARLES LISTER

Lord Ribblesdale’s memoir of his only son, the Hon. Charles Lister (who was well known and respected in Craven), is one of the most distressing chapters in the history of the war, and one of the brightest (says the ‘Yorkshire Post’ of Wednesday this week), in reviewing Lord Ribblesdales’ book just published by Fisher Unwin. The loss of a brilliant and lovable character who had entered upon what seemed likely to be a career of distinction is saddening, but there is consolation even to the bereaved in reflecting that the best has been sacrificed in a noble cause. Lord Ribblesdale does not speak of his private sorrow. His only purpose is to preserve the memory of one who, in the words of Sir Rennell Rodd, his chief in the British Embassy at Constantinople, “combined the spirit of a sportsman and the love of adventure with the instincts of the scholar gentleman.” The memoir is brief; it is written with affection and with justifiable pride, and with something of the easy gaiety and good sportsmanship which always characterised the relations of father and son. Lord Ribblesdale’s many friends in Yorkshire will understand this spirit, and honour it. If he had chosen, Charles Lister might have retained his post in the Diplomatic Service, as the Government desired, and kept out of the war, but he would not. By some scheming he came to England, obtained a commission as interpreter to the Staff of the Royal Naval Division, and went out to Gallipoli, where he was thrice wounded. He helped to bury his friend Rupert Brooke in a rocky ravine under Mount Paphlee, and was himself laid to rest at Mudros, almost within hearing of the guns. He had been mentioned in despatches for his resource and bravery, and Sir Ian Hamilton pays a high tribute to his cheery gallantry.

Charles Lister was a young man of remarkable ability. When he was a child, Mr. Gladstone said of him: “He seems to be a clever man.” A boyish fondness for long words impressed the statesman, but this weakness was soon thrown off, and Lister cultivated a literary style of engaging simplicity and force, which probably he derived in part from his father. The whole book, consisting largely of Charles’s letters, and his father’s footnotes, is charmingly written. The story of Charles’s association with the Independent Labour Party during his Eton days, and for some time afterwards, is told by Lord Ribblesdale with indulgent merriment:

“I enjoyed this Socialist or Fabian period, and was sorry in a way when its blood-heat passed off … I felt that he had things in his mind which were capable of practical expression, which some day he would express. But the day came when he abandoned these castles in Spain, and resorted to the Sydney Webbs. I use the term generically. The remedies for the race – at this time wholly comprehended and involved in Labour – were to be prescribed regulations, by-laws and returns, based on statistics, and worked out to decimals. I was able to lend him two or three books of this dismal gospel, and I got him more from the London Library. Yet, curiously enough, I do not remember seeing him read this sort of book, though I suppose he did… But let me return to his relations with the I.L.P.

“The day came when he elected to be received within its bosom; we were neither pleased nor displeased. His mother thought it a mistake to contract himself out of being helped by the machinery and caucus support of either of the two great recognised parties – at that time a condition of adoption and grace; but she was reassured by Mr. A. J. Balfour, who was mildly interested and approving. Indeed, he pointed out to her that Charles would get all sorts of experience and some sort of special knowledge which might be of more use to him in after-life than if he kept Selling Platers, or ran an actress. I was present and I heartily concurred. The ceremonies took place at Blackburn, and I rather think Mr. and Mrs. Snowdon were his hosts for the occasion; anyhow, either then or very soon after, he enjoyed their hospitality.”

Hospitality was returned, and the Independent Labour Partyites were entertained at Gisburne Park, Lord Ribblesdale recalls the incident with good humour:

“One day a reception of the I.L.P and a tea party took place at Gisburne; speeches were made by leading Extremists, slightly cramped in style by their courteous reservations in favour of one particular park and one particular proprietor. Mr. Clough, the Member of our division, made a capital, if unexpected, speech, all but rebuking Charles for having acted hastily in cutting himself off from the traditions to which it had pleased God to call him.”

After a while, Charles tired of the I.L.P. and his early interest in Socialism became “platonic and critical,” and in 1911 he wrote to his friend T. Lascelles:

“I feel the Labour grievance as strongly as ever but I’ve lost faith in most of the remedies I used to believe in. If only they could get back to the old sober trade unionism, and to collective bargaining on the old lines. But a change of spirit in most of the trade unions is required before this is achieved.”

Charles Lister did brilliantly at Balliol College, Oxford, and entered the Diplomatic Service. After two years in our Embassy at Rome, he moved to Constantinople. His letters reveal a close study of European questions, and a remarkably shrewd judgement of what Germany was aiming at in Turkey. A few passages in letters might with advantage have been pruned, but they are eminently readable, and lift a corner of the veil which conceals the life of a diplomat and the relations of European Embassies in Constantinople. His letters from Gallipoli give a most graphic description of the glorious but disappointing campaign, and illustrate afresh the buoyancy of the British character in the face of bad luck. They strike also a deeper note. Charles Lister, like Rupert Brookes and many another, was blithe and hopeful in the presence of death and the mystery of the Unknown. “I am glad that you pray for me,” he wrote home; “I know now that I shall live. I do not mean that I may not be killed.” At his bedside, after his death, there was found a little pile of books which he had been reading as long as reading was possible. Among them were Dante’s ‘Purgatory,’ the ‘Imitation of Christ,’ the Koran, a book of Italian verse, and some volumes of Goethe. With Charles Lister this was not his death-bed literature. Such books were his life companions and he read them with Thackeray, Anatole France and other great and cheerful spirits. A man is known by his books.

04 July 1919

PEACE SUPPLEMENT TO THE 'CRAVEN HERALD' – CRAVEN'S FALLEN OFFICERS

LIEUTENANT THE HON. C. A. LISTER, R.N.

Hood Battalion, son and heir of Lord Ribblesdale, Gisburne Park. Died of wounds received in Gallipoli 28th August, 1915.