John Anthony Hardinge Giffard, 3rd Earl of Halsbury FRS (4 June 1908 – 14 January 2000), was a British

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

peer and scientist, succeeding to his title in 1943. A visionary industrialist and public servant who helped develop jet engines and the British computer industry, he also introduced the original private members bill to the House of Lords which eventually became law as

Section 28 Section 28 refers to a part of the Local Government Act 1988, which stated that Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with t ...

of the

Local Government Act 1988 The Local Government Act 1988 (c. 9) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was famous for its controversial section 28. This section prohibited local authorities from promoting, in a specified category of schools, "the teaching ...

Early life

Giffard was educated at

Ludgrove School Ludgrove School is an English independent school, independent boys' Preparatory school (UK), preparatory boarding school. Ludgrove was founded in 1892 at Ludgrove Hall in Middlesex by the Old Etonian sportsman Arthur Dunn. Dunn had been employed ...

(where a schoolmaster inspired an interest in astronomy) and Eton. His years at Eton were highly successful, as he was a house captain, rowed in the school eight, and was elected to the small band of school prefects known as

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

Career

Giffard was managing director of the

National Research Development Corporation The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) was a non-departmental government body established by the British Government to transfer technology from the public sector to the private sector. History The NRDC was established by Attlee's La ...

1949–1959, after having been Director of Research of Decca Record Company 1947–1949, and previously worked for

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and su ...

, and Brown-Firth Research Laboratories. Subsequently, he served on many public bodies, including chairing the Committee on

Decimal Currency Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...

(1961–1963). Between 1966 and 1997 he was

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

. He was President of the British Computer Society during 1969–70. In 1970 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the

British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the org ...

. In addition, he was also a friend of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

and was one of the few people to read ''

The Silmarillion ''The Silmarillion'' () is a book consisting of a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited, partly written, and published posthumously by his son Christopher in 1977, assisted by G ...

'' in Tolkien's lifetime, in 1957.Carpenter, Humphrey (ed.), The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, letters 174 & 204. His grandmother was the

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

couturiere Lady Duff-Gordon, otherwise known by her professional name ''Lucile'', who was a survivor of the disaster.

References

External links

*
Obituary from The Guardian
1908 births 2000 deaths British chief executives Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Fellows of the Royal Society People associated with Brunel University London Presidents of the British Computer Society People educated at Ludgrove School People educated at Eton College Hereditary peers removed under the House of Lords Act 1999 {{UK-earl-stub