Sir Arthur Ford Hetherington (12 July 1911 – 16 February 2002) was the first Chairman of

British Gas Corporation British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving ...

.''Daily Telegraph'' 7 March 2002
Obituary Hetherington 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, the son of Sir Roger Gaskell Hetherington, and went to

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparato ...

. He studied

Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

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 ...

and married Margaret Lacey on 19 July 1937.Anne Pimlott Baker, ‘Hetherington, Sir Arthur Ford (1911–2002)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

, Oxford University Press, Jan 2006; online edn, May 200
accessed 8 Aug 2010
/ref> They had two children. During 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 served in the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

and was awarded the

DSC DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

. After the war, he joined the gas industry, rising to Chairman of the Southern Gas Board. With the advent of

North Sea gas North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea ...

, he moved to the East Midlands Gas Board to manage the introduction of natural gas to British industry and domestic consumers. Along with Sir

Denis Rooke Sir Denis Eric Rooke (2 April 1924 – 2 September 2008) was an English industrialist and engineer. Early life Denis Eric Rooke was born in New Cross, London, the younger son of Frederick George Rooke, a printer and travelling salesman, and h ...

and Sir Henry Jones of the Gas Council, he was then responsible for combining the Gas Council and 12 separate gas boards into the

in 1973.''Historic Gas Times'' (December 2008) issue 57; ISSN 1475-617X "Sir Denis Rooke, A Tribute".

Knighthood

He was knighted in 1974 and was one of the founding Fellows of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

. He was also Chairman of the

British Standards Institute The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the Standards organization, national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies standards certification services ...

Family

On 19 July 1937, he married Margaret, the only daughter of Stephen Lacey and his wife Edith Hannay. The Laceys had been in the gas industry for two generations. They had one son and one daughter.

Death

He died 16 February 2002 at his home in

Connaught Square Connaught Square in London, England, was the first garden square, square of terraced house, city houses to be built in Bayswater. It is named after a royal, the Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, Earl of Connaught who ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hetherington, Arthur 1911 births 2002 deaths British chief executives in the energy industry People educated at Highgate School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Knights Bachelor Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Businesspeople from the London Borough of Camden Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) 20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from the London Borough of Camden Military personnel from the City of Westminster People from Highgate