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 ...

Sir David Edward Charles Steel (29 November 1916 – 9 August 2004) was an English army officer, lawyer, and businessman. Steel was the sixth chairman of British Petroleum, from 1975 to 1981. Steel was the son of Ellen Price-Edwards and Gerald Arthur Steel. His father was private secretary to the

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

throughout the First World War, and later general manager of the

British Aluminium Company British Aluminium was an aluminium production company. It was originally formed as the British Aluminium Company Ltd on 7 May 1894 and was subsequently known as British Alcan Aluminium plc (1982-1996). History In the late 1880s and early 1890s, ...

. Steel was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

, and

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

, where he received a bachelor's degree in law. Steel was a tank commander in the Second World War, and was awarded the DSO* and an MC. At the end of 1974, Steel succeeded Sir Eric Drake as chairman of BP. On 3 November 1956, Steel married Ann Wynne Price, the daughter of Major-General

Charles Basil Price Major-General Charles Basil Price ("C.B." or "Basil"; 12 December 1889 − 15 February 1975) was a Canadian Army officer who served in both of the world wars. He joined the Victoria Rifles of Canada in 1905 and received an officer's commission in ...

, at St Paul's Anglican in

Knowlton, Quebec The Town of Brome Lake (officially Ville de Lac-Brome) is a town in southern Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 5,609. Tourism is a major industry in the village of Knowlton because of skiing in the winter, lake activ ...

. She bore a son and two daughters for him, and died in 1997. Steel was a member of the

Cavalry Club The Cavalry Club was a London gentlemen's club, which was established in 1890. In 1975, it merged with the Guards' Club, and became the Cavalry and Guards Club, which still exists today. When the Cavalry Club first occupied the site, on Piccadi ...

in London and the

Links Club The Links is a private club in New York City. It is located at 36 East 62nd Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Charles_B._Macdonald, a golf champion and founder of the United States Golf Association, started the Links in 19 ...

in New York City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steel, David Edward Charles 1916 births 2004 deaths British businesspeople in the oil industry British chairpersons of corporations Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Chairmen of BP Knights Bachelor 9th Queen's Royal Lancers officers British Army personnel of World War II Alumni of University College, Oxford People educated at Rugby School 20th-century British businesspeople Military personnel from London