Horace Walter Rigden,

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 ...

, (2 April 1898 – 1986) was an English chemist and oil industry executive who managed the Anglo-Persian oil refinery at Abadan in Iran during the 1930s and the Second World War, receiving the Order of the British Empire in 1945 for his service.

Early life

Horace Walter Rigden was born in

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

, London, on 2 April 1898 to Walter Thomas Rigden, an advertising contractor, and Jane Rigden. Horace had a sister Amy and a brother Thomas. He worked as a laboratory assistant and after the outbreak of the First World War joined the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

on 19 August 1915 where he served as an Air Mechanic 2nd Class. On 1 April 1918 he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

where he served as a Second Lieutenant. He was discharged on 5 June 1918. His advanced education was delayed by the war and he enrolled at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, graduating in 1922 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Career

Rigden was employed by The Anglo-Persian Oil Company Limited in

Abadan Abadan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Abadan County), Central District of Abadan County, Khuzestan province, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The city is in the southwest of the coun ...

, Iran, which eventually became

British Petroleum BP p.l.c. (formerly The British Petroleum Company p.l.c. and BP Amoco p.l.c.; stylised in all lowercase) is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. It is one of the oil and gas " supermajors" and one of ...

. He managed the Abadan oil refinery during the 1930s and the Second World War,Obituary: Jill Allibone.
Hermione Hobhouse, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 22 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2015. a period when its production was of vital strategic interest to the British government, and received the Order of the British Empire in 1945 for his service. Rigden was a fellow of the

Royal Institute of Chemistry The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation. Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland (ICGBI), its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its ai ...

Family

Rigden married Frances Helena Shilling (born 12 July 1903) on 20 Mar 1926 at

All Saints Church All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to: Albania * All Saints' Church, Himarë Australia * All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * All Saints Anglican Church, Brisbane, Queensland *All ...

, Whitstable. Their daughter Jill Allibone, who was born at Abadan in 1932 (died 1998), was a distinguished

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

who founded The Mausolea and Monuments Trust."Evicted from Eternity?"
by Michael Hall, '' Country Life'', 15 January 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigden, Horace 1898 births Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Air Force officers 1986 deaths Royal Flying Corps soldiers People from Highgate Royal Air Force personnel of World War I English chemists British Army personnel of World War I