Sir Robert Rankin, 1st Baronet


Sir Robert Rankin, 1st Baronet was a Liverpool shipbuilder, and British Conservative politician, who was elected a Member of Parliament for Liverpool Kirkdale in 1931 until 1945.

Career

Rankin worked for Pollok, Gilmour and Company, before it was subsequently renamed, and he became director and chairman of shipbuilders Rankin, Gilmour and Company, Liverpool. He was president of the Lonsdale Unionist Division, a vice-president of the Royal Commonwealth Society, and a vice-president of the Air League of the British Empire.
He was selected High Sheriff of Lancashire for 1948.

Personal

Born in Liverpool in 1877, Robert Rankin was the elder son of John Rankin and his wife Helen Margaret. He attended Clare College, Cambridge, and in 1914, joined the 18th Royal Fusiliers, and later became a captain in the Royal Army Service Corps.
He had two daughters by his first wife, Helen Mary, who died in 1932. In 1940 he married Rachel Dufrin.

Fortune

His step-father, John Joseph Fahie, left him a fortune in 1934. In 1937, the Rankin Baronetcy was created, becoming the 1st Baronet of Broughton Towers at Broughton-in-Furness. In 1946, Rankin gifted the mansion and 1205 acres, to Lancashire.

Death and funeral

Those attending his funeral at Golders Green Crematorium on Friday 14 October 1960 included Lady Rankin, Air Vice-Marshal and Mrs John Grandy, Mrs C.H.M. Shaw, Mr James Rankin, Lieutenant R. Rankin and Mr John Cherry, Mr and the Hon. Mrs George Drayson and Mrs K. Bull, Mrs Jefferson Hogg, Mr and Mrs William Rathbone, Mr and Mrs W. Rathbone, died nine days later on 20 October 1960.