Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Aubrey Leland Oakes Buxton, Baron Buxton of Alsa (15 July 1918 – 1 September 2009) was a British soldier, politician, television executive, and writer.

Biography

Early life

He was born on 15 July 1918. His father was Leland William Wilberforce Buxton and his mother, Ada Mary Oakes. He was the great-great-grandson of the anti-slavery campaigner Sir Thomas Buxton. He was educated at

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and graduated from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He served in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was decorated with the

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

in 1943.

Career

From 1958 to 1988, he was a Director of

Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

. He was best known for creating the

nature documentary A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on video taken in their natural habitat but also often including footage of tr ...

series ''Survival'', which ran for four decades.

Philanthropy

In 1961 he was one of the co-founders of the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

.''The Daily Telegraph'' , Obituary , Lord Buxton of Alsa.
/ref> As well as the WWF, he was involved with the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

, the

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is an international wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Charles III, and its president is Kate Humble. History The WWT was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist a ...

and the

London Zoological Society The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

. In 1976 he and Lady Buxton donated a 10 hectare estate near

Elsenham Elsenham is a village and civil parish in north-west Essex in eastern England. Its neighbouring towns include Bishop's Stortford, Saffron Walden and Stansted Mountfitchet. History Elsenham is recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' of 1086 as ''Alsen ...

to the

Essex Wildlife Trust The Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) is one of 46 wildlife trusts which cover the United Kingdom. The EWT was founded in 1959, and it describes itself as Essex's leading conservation charity, which aims to protect wildlife for the future and the people ...

, and it is named the

Aubrey Buxton Nature Reserve Aubrey Buxton Nature Reserve is a nature reserve west of Elsenham in Essex. It was donated to the Essex Wildlife Trust by Aubrey Buxton and his wife in 1976. The site was previously a park for Norman House. It is woodland on a sandy and gravel s ...

. In 1964, he was

Extra Equerry An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

and in 1972

High Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the ...

. He became Deputy Lieutenant of Essex in 1975 and held this office until 1985.

Peerage

On 11 May 1978, he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Buxton of Alsa, ''of Stiffkey in the

County of Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

''. In 1996, Buxton, was invested as a

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(KCVO).

Personal life

He was married twice: firstly to Pamela Mary "Maria" Birkin, daughter of

Sir Henry Birkin, 3rd Baronet Sir Henry Ralph Stanley "Tim" Birkin, 3rd Baronet (26 July 1896 – 22 June 1933) was a British racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s. Background and family Birkin was born into a wealthy Nottingham family in 1896, the son of S ...

, on 14 November 1946; and secondly (having been widowed in 1983) to Mrs. Kathleen Peterson, an American on 16 July 1988. His first marriage produced six children, one of whom,

Cindy Buxton Lucinda Catherine "Cindy" Buxton FRGS (born 21 August 1950)Debretts1769.comBuxton of Alsa, Barony of retrieved 9 June 2022 is a British wildlife film-maker, photographer and author. Background and education The third of the six children of Lor ...

, is a noted filmmaker. He died on 1 September 2009, aged 91, from undisclosed causes.

Bibliography

*''The Birds of Arakan'' (1946) *''The King in his Country'' (1955) *''

The London Scene ''The London Scene'' is the name given to a series of six essays that Virginia Woolf wrote for ''Good Housekeeping'' magazine in 1931 and 1932. The title was not chosen by Woolf but comes from the 1975 republication of five of the essays. Origina ...

'' (1961)

References

External links

* * 1918 births 2009 deaths Conservative Party (UK) life peers Deputy Lieutenants of Essex Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II British conservationists English television executives Equerries High Sheriffs of Essex Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Ampleforth College

Aubrey Aubrey is traditionally a male English given name. The name is from the French derivation Aubry of the Germanic given name Alberic / Old High German given name Alberich, which consists of the elements ALF "elf" and RIK "king", from Proto-Germani ...

People from Stiffkey 20th-century English businesspeople Life peers created by Elizabeth II Place of birth missing {{UK-army-bio-stub