Sir Samuel Charles Whitbread (22 February 1937 – 17 January 2023) was a British businessman and public servant. Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 22 February 1937 to

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 ...

Simon Whitbread, he joined the board of Whitbread Plc in 1972 and became its chairman in 1984. He stepped down from the chair eight years later and from the board in 2001. He has been chairman of Whitbread Farms Ltd since 1985 and was also a director of Whitbread Investments and Sun Alliance."Whitbread, Sir Samuel (Charles)"
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Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

'' (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2018). Retrieved 11 June 2019. Outside of business, Whitbread became a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

for

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

in 1969, served as High Sheriff for the 1973–74 year, and in 1974 was appointed a deputy lieutenant and returned as a

county councillor A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

(serving on the council until 1982). He was also chairman and later president of the Mid-Bedfordshire

Conservative Association A Conservative Association (CA) is a local organisation composed of Conservative Party members in the United Kingdom. Every association varies in membership size but all correspond to a parliamentary constituency in England, Wales, Scotland and No ...

. From 1991 to 2012, Whitbread was also

Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire. Since 1711, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Bedfordshire. *William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton 1549–1551 *Oliver St John, 1st Baron St J ...

, during which time he received three royal visits and two

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in 1994 and of the Society of Antiquaries in 2007. In the

2010 Birthday Honours The 2010 Birthday Honours for the Commonwealth realms were announced to celebrate the Queen's Birthday on 7 June 2010 in New Zealand, on 12 June 2010 in the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Sai ...

, he was appointed 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). Whitbread died on 17 January 2023, at the age of 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitbread, Samuel 1937 births 2023 deaths British businesspeople Councillors in Bedfordshire English justices of the peace Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Lord-Lieutenants of Bedfordshire Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire