Robert Washington Shirley, 13th Earl Ferrers (8 June 1929 – 13 November 2012), styled Viscount Tamworth between 1937 and 1954, was a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords as one of the remaining hereditary peers. He was one of the few people to serve in the governments of five prime ministers.
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Early life and education
Lord Ferrers was the eldest child and only son of Robert Shirley, 12th Earl Ferrers, and his wife Hermione Justice (née Morley). He was educated at West Downs School, Winchester College and Magdalene College, Cambridge.
He succeeded to the earldom in 1954 on the death of his father. He took his seat in the House of Lords on 2 February 1955.
Military service
Ferrers received an emergency commission as a second lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards on 27 November 1948, serving in Malaya. His commission was regularized on 4 March 1950, with seniority from 1 January 1949. He was promoted to lieutenant on 3 August 1950.
Political career
An early contribution in parliament in 1957 was against the admission of women:
Frankly, I find women in politics highly distasteful. In general, they are organizing, they are pushing and they are commanding. Some of them do not even know where loyalty to their country lies. I disagree with those who say that women in your Lordships' House would cheer up our Benches. If one looks at a cross-section of women already in Parliament I do not feel that one could say that they are an exciting example of the attractiveness of the opposite sex. I believe that there are certain duties and certain responsibilities which nature and custom have decreed men are more fitted to take on; and some responsibilities which nature and custom have decreed women should take on. It is generally accepted that the man should bear the major responsibility in life. It is generally accepted, for better or worse, that a man's judgment is generally more logical and less tempestuous than that of a woman. Why then should we encourage women to eat their way, like acid into metal, into positions of trust and responsibility which previously men have held? If we allow women into this House where will this emancipation end? Shall we in a few years' time be referring to "the noble and learned Lady, the Lady Chancellor"? I find that a horrifying thought. But why should we not? Shall we follow the rather vulgar example set by Americans of having female ambassadors? Will our judges, for whom we have so rich and well-deserved respect, be drawn from the serried ranks of the ladies? If that is so, I would offer to the most reverend Primate the humble and respectful advice that he had better take care lest he may find himself out of a job. These examples may sound a little excessive, but I fail to see any reason whatever why, if one allows women to become Peers, this form of emancipation should not extend into those other positions of trust and responsibility which in the past have been carried out, and to such good effect, by men. There is another reason: in this age of science and statistics, where everything has to be accounted for and tabulated, where even the atom and the molecule are no longer a mass of red and green balls attached by pieces of wire which no well-intentioned student could ever understand, there are nevertheless three virtues which evade such tabulation: common sense, intuition and judgement; and I do not believe that the common sense, intuition and judgement of the public will allow women to be taken into those positions of trust of which I have spoken. I hope, therefore, that your lordships' judgement and logic will be such that women will not find their way here."
In the event, a small number of women came into the Lords as a result of the Life Peerages Act 1958. Women who held hereditary peerages in their own right were admitted by the Peerage Act 1963.
Personal life
In 1951, then styled Viscount Tamworth, he married Annabel Carr (1930–2019), daughter of William Greenwood Carr. The couple had five children:
Robert William Saswalo Shirley, 14th Earl Ferrers (born 29 December 1952), a chartered accountant
Lady Angela Mary Shirley (b. 16 June 1954)
Lady Sallyanne Margaret Shirley (22 March 1957 – 6 July 2011)
Lady Selina Clare Shirley (1 July 1958 – 2 June 1998), in whose memory the Royal Academy's Selina Chenevière Travel Award was founded
The Hon. Andrew John Carr Sewallis Shirley (born 24 June 1965).
The family country seat is Ditchingham Hall near the village of Ditchingham, south Norfolk. In the 1960s, Lord Ferrers ran a farm in Hedenham and in 1969 bought a farm in the nearby village of Mundham.
In 2011 his autobiography was published, Whatever Next? Reminiscences of a Journey Through Life (Biteback Publishing, 2011).
Death
Lord Ferrers died in November 2012 at the age of 83. He was succeeded in the earldom by his elder son, Robert.