Sir Simon Michael Hornby (29 December 1934 – 17 July 2010) was a British businessman. He was chairman of

WHSmith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...

, the British retail chain, the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

and the

Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the prom ...

. He founded the

National Literacy Trust The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity (registered no. 1116260 in England and Wales and registered no. SCO42944 in Scotland) based in London, England, that promotes literacy. It was founded by Sir Simon Hornby, former chairman of th ...

Early life

Simon Michael Hornby was born on 29 December 1934 in London. He was the son of Michael Hornby and grandson of St John Hornby. He grew up on his father's estate at Pusey House in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) and was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

, New College, Oxford and Harvard Business School. He served in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

as a 2nd Lieutenant from 1953-55.

Career

Hornby followed his father and grandfather on to the board of WHSmith, becoming Chairman in 1982. During his chairmanship the company acquired the Our Price records chain and the Paperchase stationery chain. They developed the Do It All DIY superstores and took a half-share in the Richard Branson created Virgin Megastores. Hornby also oversaw the acquisition of rival booksellers Waterstone's from former WHSmith manager, Tim Waterstone. His hobby was gardening and he created gardens first at Lake House, close to Pusey, then at The Ham, his last home near Wantage. He wrote on gardening for ''

The Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

'' and was President of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1994 to 2001. He was chairman of the

from 1986 to 1992.

Personal life

He married Sheran Cazalet, the sister of his friend, the high court judge Sir Edward Cazalet, and daughter of the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also u ...

's horse trainer Peter Cazalet. They had no children.

Honours

Hornby was knighted in the 1988 New Year Honours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hornby, Simon 1934 births 2010 deaths

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

People from Vale of White Horse (district) People educated at Eton College Alumni of New College, Oxford Harvard Business School alumni Knights Bachelor Cazalet family