John Barnard Bush

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John Bush
Born5 February 1937[1]
Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
DiedMay 11, 2024(2024-05-11) (aged 87)

John Barnard Bush CVO OBE KStJ (5 February 1937 – 11 May 2024) was an English farmer, landowner, and Justice of the Peace. He was High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1997, a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire from 1998, and from 2004 to 2012 was Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire.

As non-executive chairman of West Midland Farmers Association Ltd, an agricultural co-operative, he oversaw its conversion into Countrywide Farmers PLC.

Early life[edit]

The son of Barnard Robert Swanton Bush, of Norton St Philip, Somerset, and of his wife Elizabeth Weeks, Bush was educated at Monkton Combe School and Balliol College, Oxford, graduating BA and MA.[2]

Career[edit]

Bush was a career farmer, owning a mixed farm at Heywood, Wiltshire. He was appointed as a Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire in 1980 and as a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire in 1998.[2]

From 1995 to 1999 he was non-executive chairman of West Midland Farmers Association Ltd, a regional agricultural co-operative based in Melksham, Wiltshire. He oversaw its demutualisation in 1999 to become Countrywide Farmers PLC, a farming, equestrian and rural supplies firm, continuing as chairman until 2004, shortly before the business moved its base to Upton-upon-Severn. When he retired from the post, Countrywide Farmers had 11,000 farmer shareholders and an annual turnover of £150 million.[2][3]

Bush served as Chairman of the Bristol Avon Flood Defences Committee from 1981 to 2000 and was a Governor of Lackham College between 1986 and 1998.[2] He was High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1997–1998,[4] and was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of the county in 1998.[5] He served as Chairman of the Wiltshire Magistrates' Courts Committee from 2001 to 2005.[2]

In 2004, Bush was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, succeeding Sir Maurice Johnston.[6] He retired in 2012, at the age of seventy-five, to be succeeded by Sarah Rose Troughton, a cousin of the Queen.[7] As Lord Lieutenant, he was also custos rotulorum, and his public duties included overseeing the arrangements for visits to Wiltshire by members of the royal family, representing the Queen at local events, such as presenting awards and medals on her behalf, liaising with the Wiltshire units of the Royal Navy, Army, and Air Force; leading the local magistracy as Chairman of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace; and advising on nominations for national honours.[8]

Bush was Patron of the Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon, Chairman of Fredericks Wiltshire, and a Trustee of the Devizes Assize Courts Trust. He chaired the Wiltshire Historic Buildings Trust and the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust and was president of the Salisbury and South Wiltshire branch of the English Speaking Union.[9]

Honours[edit]

Personal life[edit]

On 30 December 1961, Bush married Pamela Eve Irene Bagwell, the daughter of Lieutenant-Commander William Bagwell RN of Clonmel, County Tipperary and his wife Evelyn Irene Hamilton Wills, the only child of Sir Frederick Wills, 1st Baronet. They had two children, Alexander Hugh Barnard Bush (called Alex, born 4 October 1964) and Carolyn Louise Bush (called Carly, born 18 July 1967).[16][17] They also had five grandchildren, Morgan, Jasmine, Scarlett, Thomas, and Lucy.

Pamela Bush died in May 2021[18] and Bush in May 2024.

Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
2004–2012 		Succeeded by

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Countywide Farmers Ltd, New Director appointed, company-information.service.gov.uk, 26 May 1999, accessed 17 September 2021
  2. ^ a b c d e BUSH, John Barnard, in Who's Who 2009, A & C Black, 2008
  3. ^ "2005 Annual Report and Accounts" (PDF). Countrywide Farmers. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2007. Retrieved 6 October 2008. Pages 2, 9
  4. ^ The London Gazette, Issue 54715, 25 March 1997, p. 3622
  5. ^ London Gazette, 10 July 1998, page 7540 Archived 31 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine (Commissions signed by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Wiltshire on 1 July 1998)
  6. ^ David Andrew, Meet John ... the Queen's new man, thisiswiltshire.co.uk, 20 October 2004], accessed 2 August 2007
  7. ^ Morwenna Blake, Queen appoints new Lord Lieutenant, Salisbury Journal, 3 December 2011, accessed 7 May 2012
  8. ^ The history and duties of Lord-Lieutenants, westsussexlieutenancy.org.uk, accessed 14 March 2021
  9. ^ "English Speaking Union say goodbye to chairman of six years", Salisbury Journal, 2 October 2010
  10. ^ London Gazette, 25 March 1997, pages 3621–2
  11. ^ London Gazette, 10 July 1998, page 7540 Archived 31 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ The Daily Telegraph, Queen's Birthday Honours List, 16 June 2004
  13. ^ London Gazette, Notice: 1001 (Issue: 57490), 9 December 2004: "The QUEEN has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 10 November 2004 to appoint John Barnard Bush, Esquire, OBE, to be Lord-Lieutenant of and in the County of Wiltshire."
  14. ^ London Gazette, Notice: 1002 (Issue: 57714), 27 July 2005
  15. ^ "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 3.
  16. ^ The Times, 1 January 1962; pg. 12; col B
  17. ^ Montgomery-Massingberd, H., ed., Burke's Irish Family Records (London: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1976), p. 50
  18. ^ "Pamela Eve Irene Bush" in England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2022, accessed 12 May 2024: "Name MS Pamela Eve Irene Bush / Gender Female / Age 83 / Birth Date 18 Jun 1938 / Last Residence Westbury, Wiltshire, South West, England / Death Date 8 May 2021"
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