Thomas Trenchard, 2nd Viscount Trenchard MC (15 December 1923 – 29 April 1987) was a

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

and junior minister in

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

's Conservative government from 1979 to 1983. Thomas Trenchard was born in 1923, the son of Katherine and

Hugh Trenchard Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the "Father of the ...

, whom many regard as the father of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. He 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, C ...

and served in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

being awarded the MC in 1945. On 19 June 1948, Thomas Trenchard married Patricia Bailey, the daughter of Admiral Sir Sidney Robert Bailey. They had three children: * Hon

(b. 12 March 1951), later 3rd Viscount Trenchard; * Hon John Trenchard (b. 13 March 1953) who married Clare Marsh (youngest daughter of Edward Chandos de Burgh Marsh, of The Old Rectory, Salcott, Essex) in 1983, and has issue (one son and one daughter); and * Hon Thomas Henry Trenchard (16 July 1966 – 23 February 2003) who married Sarah Saunders in 1997, and had one daughter. He succeeded his father as second

Viscount Trenchard Viscount Trenchard, of Wolfeton in the County of Dorset, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1936 for Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Hugh Trenchard, 1st Baron Trenchard. He had already been created a Baronet, o ...

on 10 February 1956, and took his seat in the House of Lords on 28 February 1957. He was subsequently a Director of Unilever Ltd and Unilever NV from 1967 to 1977 and served as a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

, Department of Industry from 1979 to 1981 and as

Minister for Defence Procurement The Minister of State for Defence Procurement is, as a Minister of State, a mid-level defence minister in the Ministry of Defence of the British Government. The current incumbent of the post, Conservative MP Alex Chalk, was appointed in October 202 ...

from 1981 to 1983. After this, he became president of

Women and Families for Defence Women and Families for Defence was a Conservative-aligned pressure group originally founded in March 1983 as Women for Defence. It was founded in opposition to the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and ai ...

, an anti-

CND The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

group. Lord Trenchard died on 29 Apr 1987 and was succeeded by his eldest son Hugh. Lady Trenchard died in 2016 at the age of 90.TRENCHARD
/ref> They are buried together in the churchyard at

North Mymms North Mymms is a civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. At the 2011 Census the civil parish had a population of 8,921. The village itself is an enclosure. North Mymms Park and Brookmans Park enclose large areas of the parish. Even t ...

, Hertfordshire.

References

1923 births 1987 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers King's Royal Rifle Corps officers People educated at Eton College Recipients of the Military Cross Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom {{UK-viscount-stub