David Cunliffe-Lister, 2nd Earl of Swinton

Who was David Cunliffe-Lister, 2nd Earl of Swinton?

David Yarburgh Cunliffe-Lister, 2nd Earl of Swinton, JP, DL was a British peer and politician.

David Cunliffe-Lister was born to the Hon. John Yarburgh Cunliffe-Lister and his wife Anne Irvine Medlicott. His father died in 1943 of wounds received in action in during the Second World War. David was educated at Winchester College and the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester.

In 1959, he married Susan Lilian Primrose Sinclair. He and his wife were one of the few couples who both hold noble titles in their own right. They have two adopted children, Claire and John.

His grandfather, Philip Cunliffe-Lister, the first Earl of Swinton, had been an MP and a veteran of 11 Conservative cabinets. His great-grandfather was Samuel Lister, the founder of Lister's Mill in Bradford. Before the nationalisation of the coal industry, the family had owned the colliery in Featherstone and David never forgot his links with the area, being a fervent supporter, as well as president of, Featherstone Rovers rugby league club.

Cunliffe-Lister was a member of the North Riding of Yorkshire County Council 1961–1974, and of its successor, North Yorkshire County Council, 1973–1977.