Kenneth Huson Preston (19 May 1901 – 6 June 1995) was a British

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

. He competed at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

and the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Early life and education

Preston was the eldest of three sons of the industrialist and politician Sir Walter Preston. His younger brother,

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

, Dod's Peerage, R. P. Dod, S. Low, Marston & Co., 1923, p. 706 was also an Olympic sailor. He 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

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

, which he left without a degree, but where he played rugby, narrowly missing a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

due to an ankle injury.

Career

Preston went into the family engineering business, and was a highly successful businessman. He was chairman of one of the family's acquisitions, Platt Brothers, which provided machinery for most of the Lancashire cotton industry. He was knighted in 1959.

Sporting achievements

Preston competed in the 1936 and 1952 Olympic Games, and was regarded as a major figure in the sailing of "big boats" in the 1950s. All three Preston brothers were elected members of the

Royal Yacht Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to we ...

; Preston was a member for 72 years, and was vice-commodore from 1965 to 1971. He was also vice-commodore of the Royal Thames Yacht Club from 1953 to 1966.

References

External links

* 1901 births 1995 deaths British male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors for Great Britain Sailors at the 1936 Summer Olympics – 8 Metre Sailors at the 1952 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre People from Sevenoaks {{UK-yachtracing-bio-stub