George Wyatt Truscott Vanity Fair 4 November 1908

Sir George Wyatt Truscott, 1st Baronet (9 October 1857 – 16 April 1941)"Truscott, Sir George (Wyatt)." WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. December 01, 2007. Oxford University Press. was a British businessman and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

from 1908 to 1909.

Background

Truscott was born in 1857, the eldest surviving son of Alderman Sir

Francis Wyatt Truscott Sir Francis Wyatt Truscott (24 November 1824 – 3 March 1895) was Lord Mayor of London in 1879–80, a member of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, Worshipful Company of Stationers and the father of Sir George Wyatt Trus ...

and Eliza Freeman, daughter of James Freeman. His father was Lord Mayor of London 1879–80, and a sister Louisa Truscott (d. 1933) was the wife of Sir

Homewood Crawford Sir Henry Homewood Crawford (12 June 1850 – 17 November 1936) was a British solicitor, prominent in the livery companies of the City of London and the National Association of Local Government Officers (NALGO). Crawford was educated at Thane ...

, for many years Solicitor to the

Corporation of the City of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's fi ...

. He was educated at private schools, and stayed for a while in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He was Chairman of Brown, Knight & Truscott, Ltd, printers and stationers. He was a resident of the London suburb of

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Lambeth, Lambeth and London Borough of Southwark, Southwark. It is north ...

where his parents had also lived for many years.

Civic career

Truscott had a long career in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. He was a Common Councilman, City of London, 1882–1895, then elected

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the

Dowgate Dowgate, also referred to as ''Downgate'' and ''Downegate'', is a small ward in the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London, England. The ward is bounded to the east by Swan Lane and Laurence Poutney Lane, to the south by th ...

Ward, in succession to his late father, in 1895. He was elected a

Sheriff of the City of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

in 1902 (serving October 1902 to September 1903), together with Thomas Henry Brooke-Hitching. During his year as Sheriff, he accompanied the Lord Mayor ( Sir Marcus Samuel) on an official visit to the English city

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

(November 1902), where they made a journey down the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

, and visited the Elswick works. Five years later, he was elected

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

of the

in 1908 (serving November 1908 to November 1909). He was on the Commission for the Lieutenancy for City of London; a Chairman of Visiting Committee of the City of London Mental Hospital; Governor of St Bartholomew's, St Thomas's, Christ's and Bethlehem Hospitals; and of Queen Ann's Bounty. Truscott received the Honorary Freedom of the City of London in 1937. During his mayoralty, Truscott opened the widened

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple C ...

and drove the first

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

across it, on 14 September 1909. Truscott was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

while he was sheriff, in the November

1902 Birthday Honours The 1902 Birthday Honours were announced on 10 November 1902, to celebrate the birthday of Edward VII the previous day. The list included appointments to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and the British Empire. The list was publi ...

list, and knighted by

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

on 18 December 1902. For his service as Lord Mayor he was customary created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Oakleigh in

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

in the

County of Sussex Sussex ( /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom and, later, a county. It includes the ceremonial counties of East Sussex and We ...

, on 16 July 1909. He received several foreign awards during his years in the City, including Officer of the Order of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

of France, Officer of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

of Belgium, Knight Commander of the Order of Wasa of Sweden, Knight Commander of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

of Japan, and Grand Cross of the Russian

Order of St Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Kingdom of Poland between 1765 a ...

Family

Truscott married Jessie Stanham (d 1921), elder daughter of George Gordon Stanham, an architect. She was a Lady of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. They had two sons and two daughters. One of their sons were killed in the war, the other was Eric Homewood Stanham Truscott who succeeded him as baronet in 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Truscott, George Wyatt 1857 births 1941 deaths Sheriffs of the City of London 20th-century lord mayors of London 20th-century English politicians 19th-century English politicians Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom