Nigel James Moffatt Anderson, MC, DL,

FRGS The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

(1920 – 23 May 2008) was a British soldier, landowner, and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician 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 ...

. He was Chairman of Wiltshire County Council from 1979 to 1983 and

High 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 Go ...

in 1991.

Early life

Born in 1920 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Anderson was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

from 1934 to 1938 and matriculated at

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, in 1938, intending to follow his father and grandfather into the medical profession.Former High Sheriff dies at 88
''Salisbury Journal'' website, 4 June 2008
at ox.ac.ukOld Marlburian deaths
at marlboroughcollege.org

Career

Wiltshire_County_Council_Armorial_Banner

In 1939, some months before the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he joined the 4th ( Territorial Army) Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and was commissioned a second lieutenant on 27 May 1939. First posted to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, he took part in the Norwegian Campaign of April to June 1940, one of the first British engagements of the war, in which his unit covered the withdrawal of the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...

from Krokstrand. At the age of twenty, he won one of the earliest

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

es of the war. On his return from Norway, he was posted to No. 2 Commando and took part in raids on the French coast. He was seriously wounded in 1941. After the war, Anderson studied

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

and became a

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingd ...

. While there, he was the commanding officer of the school's

Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, sub divided into Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to ...

from 1948 to 1953. In 1952, he inherited from a cousin the Hamptworth estate at

Landford Landford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish southeast of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. To the south and east of the parish is the county of Hampshire and the New Forest National Park. The parish includes the small villa ...

near

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

and went to live there the next year. In 1953, he was first elected to

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 ...

, on which he served for thirty years. He chaired a number of committees, was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the county, and succeeded Frank Willan as Chairman of the Council from 1979 to 1983, when he retired. In October 1974, he was Gazetted a Deputy Lieutenant for

, and in 1991 he was appointed as the 999th

. From 1981 to 1985 he chaired the committee of the Wiltshire Victoria County History. He was also chairman of the Wiltshire Scouts Association and president of the Wiltshire Youth Orchestra and of the Wiltshire branch of the Country Landowners Association. He died on 23 May 2008, at the age of eighty-eight. In his book ''Battling for Peace'' (1999), Richard Needham, Wiltshire member of parliament and Northern Ireland minister, recalls attending a service at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

in 1991:

The former chairman of the county council and high sheriff for the year, Nigel Anderson, was a redoubtable old soldier who had a profound dislike of Mrs Thatcher and kept muttering "Well done, keep it up" in a loud whisper at every opportunity when there was a lull in the service.Richard Needham, ''Battling for Peace: Northern Ireland's Longest-Serving British Minister'' (Blackstaff Press, 1999) p. 214

Family

Anderson met his wife, Daphne, while serving with the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in Northern Ireland, and they had one son, Donald.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Nigel 1920 births 2008 deaths Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Teachers at Radley College Military personnel from Melbourne Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Welch Fusiliers officers Members of Wiltshire County Council Conservative Party (UK) councillors Deputy lieutenants of Wiltshire High sheriffs of Wiltshire Politicians from Wiltshire Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society

Early life

Career

Family

See also

References