Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Sir Richard John Trowbridge, (21 January 1920 – 4 May 2003), was a senior officer in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and the 25th Governor of Western Australia, serving from 25 November 1980 to 24 November 1983. He was the last non-Australian vice-regal representative in Australia. He was also the first officer to rise from boy seaman to captain of the Queen's yacht HMY ''Britannia''.

Early life and naval career

Richard John Trowbridge was born on 21 January 1920 to a farming family at Andover in the county of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England. He was educated at Andover Grammar School and was fully expecting to become a farmer until a downturn in agriculture saw him leave school in 1935 at just 15 years of age to join the

as a boy seaman. Trowbridge was quickly promoted through the navy ranks, and was commissioned as sub-lieutenant in 1940, serving throughout 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 ...

at sea. At the end of hostilities, he was stationed in Singapore for a number of years where he was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in 1953, and where he met and married Anne Perceval (1920–2013), on 26 February 1955. From 1956 to 1958, Trowbridge captained the destroyer in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, and following this served as the second-in-command of the cruiser from 1958 to 1959. He then returned to the gunnery school at Whale Island in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, where he was promoted to captain in 1960. From 1962 to 1964 he was captain of the frigate and in charge of the Fishery Protection Squadron, and from 1967 to 1969 he commanded the guided missile destroyer , which for many years was the flagship of the Western Fleet. Trowbridge became extra equerry to the

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1970 and he served as

Flag Officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

from 1970 to 1975.

Governor of Western Australia

The

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive br ...

, Sir Charles Court, in 1975 sought to revive the practice of appointment of British-born governors for Western Australia, contrary to the advice of Lord Goronwy-Roberts, British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, who supported the newly established custom that Australian state governors should be Australian-born. An initial compromise was the appointment of Sir Wallace Kyle, a retired

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 ...

officer who, although totally Anglicised, was

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

-born. Following Kyle's term, Trowbridge was appointed Governor of Western Australia on Premier Court's recommendation, for a term from 25 November 1980 to 24 November 1983. On completion of his term, Trowbridge returned to retirement in the United Kingdom living in Portsmouth. His life was overshadowed by exposure to asbestos which was being removed from Britannia during a long refit which he supervised, almost certainly leading to his death from lung cancer. He died on 4 May 2003, in Portsmouth.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trowbridge, Richard 1920 births 2003 deaths Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Equerries Governors of Western Australia Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order People from Andover, Hampshire Military personnel from Hampshire