Paul Wilson, Baron Wilson of High Wray
Paul Norman Wilson, Baron Wilson of High Wray BBC.
Early life
The younger son of Norman Forster Wilson, CE, of Kendal, Westmorland, and of Mrs H. G. M. Wilson (née Harris), Wilson was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, and Clare College, Cambridge.[1]
Career
Wilson began his career as an engineer in
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, most of that time being spent at sea in capital ships. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and retired as a temporary Lieutenant-Commander, to return to Gilbert Gilkes & Gordon. He was chairman of the company from 1954 to 1978.[1]
In 1950 and 1951, he stood as Labour Party General Election candidate for his home constituency of Westmorland but lost on both occasions.
In public life, Wilson became a
Lord Lieutenant of the newly created county of Cumbria, 1974 to 1980. He was a Governor of the BBC from 1968 to 1972, governor of Sedbergh School, 1965–1974, and chairman of governors of Kendal College of Further Education, 1958–1974. He served as chairman of the Kendal & District Local Employment Committee (1954–1969), a member of the Westmoreland Youth Employment Committee (1946–1969) and of the National Youth Employment Council (1959 to 1969). A member of the Advisory Council of the Science Museum, 1968–1972 and 1973–1978, he was also Chairman of the Fund for the Preservation of Technological and Scientific Material, 1973–1978. Chairman of Trustees and Governors of the Lake District Museum Trust, 1968–1978.[1]
Honours
- Distinguished Service Cross, 1945[2]
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire, 1959[1][3]
- Lord Lieutenant of Westmorland, 1965 to 1974
- Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John, 1966[1]
- Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria, 1974 to 1980[1]
- Created a life peer with the title Baron Wilson of High Wray, of Kendal in the County of Cumbria on 3 February 1976[4]
- President of the Newcomen Society, 1973–1975 (and vice-president, 1968–1973 and 1975–1977)[1]
- Patron of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 1965 (President, 1975–1978)[1]
- Deputy Chairman of the British Hydromechanics Research Association, 1973–1975[1]
Major publications
- Watermills, an introduction (1956, 2nd edn 1973)[1]
- Watermills with Horizontal Wheels (1960)[1]
- Water Turbines (Science Museum, 1974)[1]
- Water and other forms of Motive Power in History of Technology, 1900–1950 (1977)[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Paul Norman Wilson, Baron Wilson of High Wray, of Kendal in the County of Cumbria (Life Peer 1976, Extinct 1980), Debretts.com online: retrieved 4 May 2022
- ^ "No. 37119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1945. p. 2969.
- ^ "No. 41589". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1959. p. 14.
- ^ "No. 46816". The London Gazette. 5 February 1976. p. 1787.
