R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross
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The Right Honourable The Viscount Cross GCB GCSI PC FRS DL |
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| Home Secretary | |
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In office 21 February 1874 – 23 April 1880 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | Benjamin Disraeli |
| Preceded by | Robert Lowe |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Vernon Harcourt |
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In office 24 June 1885 – 1 February 1886 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | Sir William Vernon Harcourt |
| Succeeded by | Hugh Childers |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
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In office 29 June – 4 July 1895 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | The Lord Tweedmouth |
| Succeeded by | The Lord James of Hereford |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
30 May 1823 Red Scar, Lancashire |
| Died | 8 January 1914 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Georgiana Lyon (d. 1907) |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross, GCB GCSI PC FRS DL (30 May 1823 – 8 January 1914), known before his elevation to the peerage as R. A. Cross, was a British statesman and Conservative politician. He notably served as Home Secretary between 1874 and 1880 and 1885 and 1886.
Cross was born in Red Scar, near Preston, Lancashire, the son of William Cross (1771–1827) and his wife Ellen, daughter of Edward Chaffers. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1849.
Cross entered Parliament as one of two representatives for Preston in 1857, a seat he held until 1862. He was out of Parliament for the next year, but in 1868 he was elected for South West Lancashire, and continued to represent this constituency until his elevation to the peerage in 1886. Cross first came to prominence as Home Secretary in Disraeli's second government (1874–1880), and retained this office in Lord Salisbury's first government (1885–1886). The latter year he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Cross, of Broughton-in-Furness in the County of Lancaster. He then moved over to the India Office (1886–1892). Lord Cross was very briefly Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in Salisbury's third government (1895–1902) before being elevated to the sinecure post Lord Privy Seal. In 1898 he chaired the Joint Select Committee on Electrical Energy (Generating Stations and Supply), which recommended granting compulsory purchase powers for the building of power stations. He retired in 1900.
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