Charles Murray Floyd (12 September 1905 – 27 June 1971) was an English businessman, surveyor, land agent and local politician.

Biography

Charles Murray Floyd was born on 12 September 1905,"Floyd, Charles Murray"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2017). Retrieved 18 January 2018. the third and youngest son of Captain Sir Henry Robert Peel Floyd, 4th Baronet (1855–1915), a Royal Naval officer who fought in the East African Campaign of 1890 and the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, and his wife Edith Anne Kincaid-Smith (died 1955), daughter of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

John Kincaid-Smith, of Polmont House,

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

, Scotland; the elder sons were Brigadier Sir Henry Robert Kincaid Floyd, who became 5th Baronet, and Sir John Duckett Floyd, who succeeded him as 6th Baronet. Charles Floyd was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1927.''Burke's Peerage'', vol. 1 (2003), p. 1475. He was a partner in the surveyors and land agents company Powlett & Floyd of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

from 1935 to 1955 and a Fellow of the

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a global professional body for those working in the Built Environment, Construction, Land, Property and Real Estate. The RICS was founded in London in 1868. It works at a cross-governmental ...

, but his career was interrupted by service in the Second World War; he joined the British Expeditionary Force in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1939 and served with them until 1940. He was later attached to the

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established ...

in the last two years of the war, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and being appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE). In 1955 he became chairman of Wiltshire-based Avon India Rubber Company Limited, which soon acquired its local rival George Spencer, Moulton Ltd; he retired from those posts in 1968. Floyd was also keenly involved with land management and nature conservation; he was a member of the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

's Committee for England from 1954 and was President of the Royal Forestry Society of England and Wales from 1954 to 1956; he was also a member of the Royal Commission on Common Land from 1955 to 1958 and a

Fellow of the Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

. He was involved in the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society and the Wiltshire Record Society, and was instrumental in the formation of the Wiltshire Trust for Nature Conservation (now Wiltshire Wildlife Trust) in 1962. He was

Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) high sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Gove ...

for 1962–63 and councillor on

Wiltshire County Council Wiltshire Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Wiltshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Wiltshire in South West England, and has its headquarters at County Hall in Trowbridge. Since 2009 it has bee ...

from 1965 till his death on 27 June 1971. In 1948, Floyd married Mary Elizabeth Fleetwood Fuller,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, JP, DL (1916–1996), the daughter of Major Robert Fleetwood Fuller (1875–1955), JP, DL, of Great Chalfield,

Melksham Melksham () is a town and civil parish on the Bristol Avon, River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about northeast of Trowbridge and south of Chippenham. The parish population was 18,113 at the 2021 census. History Early history Excavations in ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

(of which county he was High Sheriff in 1926), and the widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick John Salvin Boyle (1910–1944).''Burke's Peerage'', vol. 2 (2003), p. 1566. Floyd and his wife had three children: Robert Charles (born 1949), Thomas Henry Floyd (born 1951) and William Duckett (born 1956); the businessman Sir Simon Boyle was his stepson from Mary's first marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Floyd, Charles Murray 1905 births 1971 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 20th-century British businesspeople British surveyors Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Members of Wiltshire County Council Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Eton College Younger sons of baronets High sheriffs of Wiltshire British Army officers British Army personnel of World War II