John Bush

Background

The son of Barnard Robert Swanton Bush, of Norton Street Philip, Somerset, and of Elizabeth Bush (née Weeks), Bush was educated at Monkton Combe School and Balliol College, Oxford, graduating Bachelor and Master of Arts.

Education

Balliol College.

Career

He was Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire from 2004 to 2012, having previously served as the county"s High Sheriff. Bush is a career farmer, owning a mixed farm at Heywood in western Wiltshire. He served from 1995 to 1999 as non-executive chairman of West Midland Farmers Association Limited, a regional agricultural co-operative previously based in Melksham, Wiltshire.

He oversaw its demutualisation in 1999 to become Countrywide Farmers plc, a farming, equestrian and rural supplies firm, continuing as chairman until 2004.

When he retired from the post, Countrywide Farmers had 11,000 farmer shareholders and an annual turnover of £150 million. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire in 1980, as High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1997–1998, and as a Deputy Lieutenant of the county in 1998.

He served as Chairman of the Bristol Avon Flood Defences Committee from 1981 to 2000, and of the Wiltshire Magistrates" Courts Committee from 2001 to 2005, and was a Governor of Lackham College between 1986 and 1998. From 2004 to 2012 he was Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, retiring at the age of seventy-five, to be succeeded by Mrs Sarah Rose Troughton, a cousin of H. M. the Queen.

Bush is currently Patron of the Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon and Chairman of Fredericks Wiltshire.

His other interests in Wiltshire have included chairing the Bobby Van Trust. 1997–1998: High Sheriff of Wiltshire On 30 December 1961, Bush married Pamela Eve Irene Bagwell, the daughter of Lieutenant-Commander William Bagwell Registered Nurse of Clonmel, County Tipperary and of Evelyn Irene Hamilton Wills, the only child of Sir Frederick Wills, 1st Baronet. They have two children, Alexander Hugh Barnard Bush (born 4 October 1964) and Carolyn Louise Bush (called Carly, and born 18 July 1967).

They also have four grandchildren, Jasmine, Scarlett, Thomas and Lucy, and Jasmine has a son, Freddie.

Achievements

• 1997–1998: High Sheriff of Wiltshire 1998: Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire 2004: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (for services to the community in Wiltshire) 10 November 2004: Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire 27 July 2005: Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John 1 January 2012: Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (2012 New Year list).

Membership

As Lord Lieutenant he was also custos rotulorum, and his public duties included overseeing arrangements for visits to Wiltshire by members of the Royal and escorting them. Representing H. M. the Queen at events, and presenting awards and medals on her behalf. Liaising with the Wiltshire units of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.

Leading the local magistracy as Chairman of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace.

And advising on nominations for national honours.