Sir Hugh Charles Philip Bidwell (1 November 1934 – 7 December 2013) was a British businessman and the 662nd

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

in 1989–90. Prior to his election as mayor Bidwell was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of the Billingsgate ward from 1979 to 1996, and a sheriff of the City of London in 1986. Bidwell was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) on his election as mayor. Bidwell was born in 1934, the son of a wine importer, and was schooled at

Stonyhurst Stonyhurst is the name of a rural estate owned by the Society of Jesus near Clitheroe in Lancashire, England. It is centred on Stonyhurst College, occupying the great house, its preparatory school Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall and the parish ...

. Undergoing National Service in the

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...

in 1953, he served in Nyasaland, Kenya with the 1st Btn King's African Rifles. Bidwell began working in the food industry with the breakfast cereal maker Viota, and became a director of Viota in 1962. Bidwell was subsequently chairman of the food company Pearce Duff, headed the food arm of Gill & Duffus, and joined Allied Lyons in 1985. Bidwell was married twice, first to Jenifer Webb in 1962, with whom he had two sons, and a daughter. Webb died in 2001. Bidwell married for a second time to Priscilla Pode (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Hunter). His wife and three children survived him at his death. Bidwell was buried with his first wife in the cemetery of Holy Cross Church, Goodnestone, Kent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bidwell, Hugh 1934 births 2013 deaths King's African Rifles officers 20th-century British Army personnel 20th-century British businesspeople 21st-century British businesspeople Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Sheriffs of the City of London 20th-century lord mayors of London 20th-century English politicians East Surrey Regiment officers People from Goodnestone, Dover People educated at Stonyhurst College