Tony Giffard, 3rd Earl of Halsbury
John Anthony Hardinge Giffard, 3rd Earl of Halsbury FRS[1] (4 June 1908 – 14 January 2000), was a British crossbencher peer and scientist. Halsbury succeeded to the title in 1943.[2]
Early life[edit]
Giffard was educated at Ludgrove School (where a schoolmaster inspired an interest in astronomy) and Eton. His years at Eton were highly successful, as he was a house captain, rowed in the school eight, and was elected to the small band of school prefects known as Pop.[3]
Career[edit]
Giffard was Managing Director of the National Research Development Corporation 1949–1959, after having been Director of Research of Decca Record Company 1947–1949, and previously worked for Lever Brothers, and Brown-Firth Research Laboratories. Subsequently he served on many public bodies, including chairing the Committee on Decimal Currency (1961–1963). Between 1966 and 1997 he was Chancellor of Brunel University.[2]
He was President of the British Computer Society during 1969–70.[4] In 1970 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the British Psychological Society.[5]
In addition, he was also a friend of J. R. R. Tolkien and was one of the few people to read The Silmarillion in Tolkien's lifetime, in 1957.[6]
His grandmother was the Edwardian couturiere Lady Duff-Gordon, otherwise known by her professional name Lucile, who was a survivor of the RMS Titanic disaster.[citation needed]
References[edit]
- ^ Lindsay, C. O. J. M. (2001). "John Giffard, 3rd Earl of Halsbury, 3rd Earl of Halsbury. 4 June 1908 – 14 January 2000". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 47: 239. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2001.0014.
- ^ a b "Lord Halsbury". The Guardian. 31 January 2000. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
- ^ Lindsay, O. J. M. (November 2001). "John Anthony Hardinge Giffard, 3rd Earl of Halsbury. 4 June 1908-14 January 2000". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 47: 240–242. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2001.0014. JSTOR 770366. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ BCS Past Presidents, British Computer Society, UK.
- ^ "Honorary Fellows | BPS". Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ Carpenter, Humphrey (ed.), The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, letters 174 & 204.
External links[edit]
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