Nicholas Hunt
Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt GCB LVO DL | |
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![]() Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt | |
Birth name | Nicholas John Streynsham Hunt |
Born | (1930-11-07)7 November 1930 Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales |
Died | 25 October 2013(2013-10-25) (aged 82) Shere, Surrey, England |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() |
Years of service | 1952–1987 |
Rank | Admiral |
Commands | Commander-in-Chief Fleet and Allied Commander-in-Chief Channel and Eastern Atlantic. Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland Director-General, Naval Manpower and Training Flag Officer, Second Flotilla |
Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order |
Spouse(s) | Meriel Eve Hunt, Lady Hunt (née Givan) |
Relations | Jeremy Hunt (son) |
Admiral Sir Nicholas John Streynsham Hunt GCB LVO DL (7 November 1930 – 25 October 2013) was a senior Royal Navy officer. He was Commander-in-Chief Fleet from 1985 to 1987.
Early life
Hunt was born on 7 November 1930[1] in Hawarden, Flintshire, the younger son[2] of Brigadier John Montgomerie Hunt of the 5th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment, Indian Army[3] and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Walter Baldwyn Yates CBE.[2] The Hunt family were landed gentry, of Boreatton, Baschurch, Shropshire. A cousin was Agnes Hunt, pioneer of orthopaedic nursing.[4]
Naval career
Hunt was educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.[1] After graduating, he gained a commission in the Royal Navy and was promoted to lieutenant on 31 July 1952.[5] He served as Assistant Private Secretary to Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent from 1959[6][7] to 1962.[1] Promoted to lieutenant commander on 17 August 1960,[8] he was posted to the Directorate of Naval Plans at the Ministry of Defence in 1966.[9]
Hunt became executive officer of HMS Ark Royal[6] in 1969 and was then given command of the amphibious warfare ship HMS Intrepid in February 1974[10] before attending the Royal College of Defence Studies later that year.[1] He went on to be Director of Naval Plans at the Ministry of Defence in August 1976[11] and captain of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in October 1978.[12] Appointed aide-de-camp to the Queen on 7 July 1980[13] (which post he held until 7 January 1981),[14] he became Flag Officer, Second Flotilla in October 1980.[1] He was promoted to rear admiral on 7 January 1981[14] and became Director-General, Naval Manpower and Training in November 1981.[1]
Hunt was promoted to vice admiral on 6 December 1983,[15] on appointment as Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland,[6] and to admiral on 25 June 1985,[16] on appointment as Commander-in-Chief Fleet[6] and Allied Commander-in-Chief Channel and Eastern Atlantic.[1] He retired from the Navy on 26 July 1987.[17]
Later life
Hunt was Deputy Managing Director at Eurotunnel from 1987 to 1989[1] and Director-General of the Chamber of Shipping[6] from 1991 to 1997.[1] He also held part-time appointments including Chairman of the South West Surrey District Health Authority from 1990 to 1995,[1] Chairman of Nuffield Hospitals from 1996 to 2001,[1] Commissioner of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission from 1988 to 1992[1] and Chairman of Chatham Historic Dockyard from 1998 to 2005.[18] He also became Chairman of Ferrero UK Ltd in 2005.[1]
Hunt was known to be a strong supporter of the nuclear deterrent[19] and was Chairman of the Royal Navy Club of 1765 & 1785 (United 1889).[20] He became Deputy Lieutenant to the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey on 23 January 1996.[21]
Hunt was appointed Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom in 1994,[22] holding that post until 1997 when he became Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom[23] and Lieutenant of the Admiralty,[1] positions that he held until 2001.[24]
He died at his home on 25 October 2013 at the age of 82.[25]
Personal life
In 1966, he married Meriel Eve Givan, daughter of Major Henry C. Givan of the Isle of Wight,[2] formerly of Rangoon.[26] Together they had two sons (the elder of whom is the former Foreign Secretary and the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt)[27] and one daughter.[6] Lady Hunt died in 2022.[28]
Awards and decorations
On 20 July 1961, Hunt was made a Member of the Fourth Class of the Royal Victorian Order.[29] Members of this class were renamed Lieutenants in 1984 and henceforth used the post-nominals LVO. Hunt was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1985 New Year Honours.[30] He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1987 New Year Honours.[31]
Hunt was made a Freeman of the City of London in 1988.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o HUNT, Adm. Sir Nicholas (John Streynsham). A & C Black. November 2011.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (help) - ^ a b c "Forthcoming marriages". The Times. 23 September 1965. p. 14.
- ^ "Births". The Times. 12 November 1930. p. 1.
- ^ Burke's Landed Gentry 1952, 17th edition, ed. L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, p. 1320, Hunt of Boreatton pedigree
- ^ "No. 39622". The London Gazette. 12 September 1952. p. 4299.
- ^ a b c d e f Debrett's People of Today 1994
- ^ "Official Appointments and Notices". The Times. 24 December 1958. p. 8.
- ^ "No. 42128". The London Gazette. 26 August 1960. p. 5866.
- ^ "Appointments in the Forces". The Times. 9 May 1966. p. 14.
- ^ Commanding Officers of Royal Navy Warships Archived 14 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Appointments in the Forces". The Times. 17 May 1976. p. 16.
- ^ Senior Royal Navy Appointments Archived 15 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "No. 48245". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 July 1980. p. 9709.
- ^ a b "No. 48490". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 January 1981. p. 459.
- ^ "No. 49559". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 December 1983. p. 16119.
- ^ "No. 50172". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 June 1985. p. 8667.
- ^ "No. 51009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 July 1987. p. 9567.
- ^ "Dockyard trust chairman to retire". BBC. 25 January 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
- ^ Nuclear deterrent is vital to global stability The Times, 21 January 2009
- ^ "The Royal Navy Club of 1765 & 1785 (United 1889)". Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ "No. 54315". The London Gazette. 13 February 1996. p. 2193.
- ^ "No. 53552". The London Gazette. 20 January 1994. p. 847.
- ^ "No. 54946". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 November 1997. p. 12703.
- ^ "No. 56194". The London Gazette. 3 May 2001. p. 5329.
- ^ Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt GCB LVO DL
- ^ "Forthcoming marriages". The Times. 20 April 1933. p. 1.
- ^ "Profile: Jeremy Hunt". BBC News. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ^ Hunt
- ^ "No. 42423". The London Gazette. 28 July 1961. p. 5569.
- ^ "No. 49969". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1984. p. 2.
- ^ "No. 50764". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1986. p. 2.
Military offices | ||
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Preceded by | Flag Officer, Scotland and Northern Ireland 1983–1985 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by Sir William Staveley | Commander-in-Chief Fleet 1985–1987 | Succeeded by |
Honorary titles | ||
Preceded by | Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom 1994–1997 | Succeeded by Sir Jeremy Black |
Preceded by | Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom 1997–2001 | Succeeded by Sir Jeremy Black |