View source for Tony Giffard, 3rd Earl of Halsbury

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'''John Anthony Hardinge Giffard, 3rd Earl of Halsbury''' [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (4 June 1908 &ndash; 14 January 2000), was a British [[crossbencher]] peer and scientist, succeeding to his title in 1943.<ref name="Guardian"/> 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]] of the [[Local Government Act 1988]].<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Lindsay | first1 = C. O. J. M. | title=John Anthony Hardinge Giffard, 3rd Earl of Halsbury. 4 June 1908-14 January 2000 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |date=November 2001 |volume=47  |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2001.0014 |jstor=770366 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/770366 |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref>
==Early life==
Giffard was educated at [[Ludgrove School]] (where a schoolmaster inspired an interest in astronomy) and [[Eton College|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 [[Eton College#Prefects|Pop]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lindsay |first1=O. J. M. |title=John Anthony Hardinge Giffard, 3rd Earl of Halsbury. 4 June 1908-14 January 2000 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |date=November 2001 |volume=47 |pages=240–242 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2001.0014 |jstor=770366 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/770366 |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref>
==Career==
Giffard was Managing Director of the [[National Research Development Corporation]] 1949–1959, after having been Director of Research of [[Decca Record Company]] 1947–1949, and previously worked for [[Lever Brothers]], and [[Firth Brown Steels|Brown-Firth Research Laboratories]]. Subsequently he served on many public bodies, including chairing the Committee on [[Decimalisation|Decimal Currency]] (1961–1963). Between 1966 and 1997 he was [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of [[Brunel University]].<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/feb/01/guardianobituaries3 |title=Lord Halsbury |work=The Guardian |date=2000-01-31 |access-date=2018-06-17}}</ref>
He was [[President of the British Computer Society]] during 1969–70.<ref>[http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=conWebDoc.1635 BCS Past Presidents], [[British Computer Society]], UK.</ref> In 1970 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the [[British Psychological Society]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bps.org.uk/what-we-do/bps/history-psychology-centre/history-society/honorary-fellows/honorary-fellows |title=Honorary Fellows &#124; BPS |access-date=2017-05-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023084310/http://www.bps.org.uk/what-we-do/bps/history-psychology-centre/history-society/honorary-fellows/honorary-fellows |archive-date=23 October 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
In addition, he was also a friend of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] and was one of the few people to read ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' in Tolkien's lifetime, in 1957.<ref>Carpenter, Humphrey (ed.), [[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien]], letters 174 & 204.</ref>
His grandmother was the [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] couturiere [[Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon|Lady Duff-Gordon]], otherwise known by her professional name ''Lucile'', who was a survivor of the {{RMS|Titanic}} disaster.{{cn|date=June 2022}}
== References ==
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==External links==
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-john-giffard | the Earl of Halsbury }}
* [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/feb/01/guardianobituaries3 Obituary from The Guardian]
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{{Succession box | title=[[Earl of Halsbury]] | before=[[Hardinge Giffard, 2nd Earl of Halsbury|Hardinge Gouburn Giffard]] | years=1943–2000 | after=Adam Edward Giffard }}
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[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:British chief executives]]
[[Category:Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:People associated with Brunel University London]]
[[Category:Presidents of the British Computer Society]]
[[Category:People educated at Ludgrove School]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
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[[Category:Hereditary peers removed under the House of Lords Act 1999]]