Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 10th Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 10th Earl of Shaftesbury Bt (22 May 1938 – c. 5 November 2004), styled Lord Ashley between 1947 and 1961, and Earl of Shaftesbury from 1961 until his death, was a British peer from Wimborne St Giles, Dorset, England. He was the son of Major Lord Ashley and Françoise Soulier.
The Right Honourable The Earl of Shaftesbury | |
---|---|
Lord Shaftesbury in Nice, 2004 | |
Tenure | 1961–2004 |
Predecessor | Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl of Shaftesbury |
Successor | Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 11th Earl of Shaftesbury |
Other titles | Baron Ashley of Wimborne St Giles Baron Cooper of Pawlett |
Known for | Philanthropy; conservation |
Born | Anthony Ashley-Cooper 22 May 1938 London, England |
Died | c. 5 November 2004 66) Cannes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France | (aged
Cause of death | Murder by asphyxiation |
Body discovered | Théoule-sur-Mer, Alpes-Maritime, France |
Buried | Parish Church at Wimborne St Giles |
Residence | Nice, France; St Giles House in Wimborne St Giles |
Spouse(s) | Bianca de Paolis
(m. 1966; div. 1976)Christina Montan
(m. 1976; div. 2000) |
Issue | Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 11th Earl of Shaftesbury Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury |
Father | Major Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Ashley |
Mother | Françoise Soulier |
Lord Shaftesbury was the grandson of the 9th Earl of Shaftesbury. Shaftesbury's father was the heir apparent to the earldom and its subsidiary titles, but he predeceased his father, the 9th Earl. His death made his son next in the line of succession. When his grandfather died in 1961, Tony became the 10th Earl of Shaftesbury, Baron Ashley of Wimborne St Giles and Baron Cooper of Pawlett.
The 10th Earl of Shaftesbury was a wealthy landowner of over 9,000 acres (3,600 ha) in East Dorset, and received honours and awards for his philanthropic and conservationist work, which included planting over a million trees in South West England. He served as president of the Shaftesbury Society, pursuing the same goals of his second great grandfather, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, who had founded the organisation as Ragged Schools in 1840. He also served as the vice president of Sir David Attenborough's British Butterfly Conservation Society.
In November 2004, the 10th Earl of Shaftesbury went missing while in France, prompting an international police investigation. His remains were found at the bottom of a remote ravine in the foothills of the French Alps five months after his death. Investigations revealed that he was murdered by his brother-in-law during an argument regarding a divorce from his wife, Jamila M'Barek, both of whom were convicted of his murder.