Henry_William_George_Elwes

Henry Elwes

Henry Elwes

British retired politician and public servant

Sir Henry William George Elwes KCVO KStJ JP DL (born 24 October 1935) is a retired British politician and public servant. He served as a District and County Councillor in Gloucestershire for 32 years and was Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire between 1992 and 2010.

Quick Facts Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, Personal details ...

Early life

Elwes was born on 24 October 1935.[1][2] He was educated at Eton College, a public boys boarding school in Eton near Windsor, Berkshire.[3]

Military service

As part of National Service, Elwes was commissioned in the Scots Guards as a second lieutenant on 4 December 1954. He was given the service number 438925.[4] He transferred to the Army Emergency Reserve of Officers on 24 June 1956 as a second lieutenant with seniority from 4 December 1954.[5] This ended his active service. Also on 24 June 1956, he was granted the acting rank of lieutenant with seniority from 31 May 1956.[5] He moved to the Regular Army Reserve of Officer (Class III) on May 27, 1959, keeping his seniority and assuming the confirmed rank of lieutenant[6]

Career

Elwes was a member of Cirencester Rural District Council from 1959 to 1974. In 1971, he joined Gloucestershire County Council. He served as Vice-Chairman of the council from 1976 to 1983 and in 1991, and Chair from 1983 to 1985. He retired from politics in 1991.[2]

Elwes is the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire. His appointment was announced in March 2012,[7] and he was installed in October 2012.[8]

Personal life

Elwes married Carolyn Cripps in 1962.[9] They live in Colesbourne Park, (known as 'England's Greatest Snowdrop Garden'), an estate owned by his family since 1600.[10] The botanist Henry John Elwes is his great-grandfather.[11]

Elwes suffered serious injuries when he fell three floors through a building he was inspecting. His life was saved by Great Western Air Ambulance Charity and he subsequently made an excellent recovery.[12]

Carolyn Elwes died on 23rd December 2022, following a stroke.(21).

Honours

He was nominated for High Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1976[13] and 1977.[14] He was appointed High Sheriff for 1979,[15] having been nominated for that year in 1978.[16] On 24 May 1982, he was commissioned a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of Gloucestershire.[17] He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, Queen Elizabeth II's personal representative in the county of Gloucestershire, on 17 February 1992.[18]

In April 1992, he was appointed Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John (KStJ).[19] In the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO).[20]

References

  1. [1]
    "ELWES, Sir Henry (William George)". Who's Who 2013. A & C Black. November 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  2. [2]
    "Sir Henry Elwes, KCVO". People of Today Online. Debrett's. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  3. [3]
    "UWE awards honorary degree to Henry Elwes Esq". University of the West of England. 10 November 2006. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  4. [4]
    "No. 40403". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 February 1955. p. 839.
  5. [5]
    "No. 40821". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 June 1956. p. 3882.
  6. [6]
    "No. 41742". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 1959. p. 3995.
  7. [7]
    "New Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor announced" (PDF). Alumni News. University of Gloucestershire. March 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  8. [8]
    "University Installs new Chancellor" (PDF). Alumni News. University of Gloucestershire. October 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  9. [9]
    "Henry Elwes; Lord-Lieutenant for Gloucestershire". Cotswold Life. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  10. [10]
    "Sir Henry Elwes reflects on time as Lord-Lieutenant". BBC News. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  11. [11]
    "Sir Henry and Lady Elwes". Colesbourne Gardens LLP. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  12. [12]
    "We didn't know whether he would have survived the 30ft fall". Great Western Air Ambulance Charity. 19 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  13. [13]
    "No. 47099". The London Gazette. 23 December 1976. p. 17200.
  14. [14]
    "No. 47383". The London Gazette. 18 November 1977. p. 14510.
  15. [15]
    "No. 47795". The London Gazette. 16 March 1979. p. 3547.
  16. [16]
    "No. 47701". The London Gazette. 30 November 1978. pp. 14345–14346.
  17. [17]
    "No. 49004". The London Gazette. 8 June 1982. p. 7571.
  18. [18]
    "No. 52841". The London Gazette. 20 February 1992. p. 2983.
  19. [19]
    "No. 52881". The London Gazette. 1 April 1992. p. 5813.
  20. [20]
    "No. 59090". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 2009. p. 3.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Henry_William_George_Elwes, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.