SEVEN new Deputy Lieutenants of Kent have been appointed today, each of them honoured for their positive contributions to the County and the Nation.
They are Mr Paul Barrett MBE (Canterbury); Mrs Marian Boswall (Maidstone); Colonel (Retd) Jane Carey-Harris TD VR (Canterbury); Hilary Edridge, Lady Melville (Swale); Mr Nicholas Fisher (Tunbridge Wells); Professor Anan Shetty (Medway) and Brigadier Andrew Wood TD VR (Medway).
Paul Barrett was born and brought up in Kent. He is Chairman of the family-owned motor retail business which has been established over 120 years. Paul served as High Sheriff of Kent from 2019-2020. He is a Freeman of the City of Canterbury, a Trustee of The Canterbury Cathedral Trust and has recently retired as a Trustee of the Air Ambulance Kent Surrey & Sussex Charity after 9 years. He is also Deputy Chair of the Kent Ambassadors and a member of the Kent & Medway Business Advisory Board.
Paul is involved with HMP Swaleside’s Employment Advisory Board which seeks to help prisoners find employment upon their release.
He is an enthusiastic cyclist riding every week as a founder member of Canterbury Velo Club (CVC). In 2007 he led a group of cyclists on a journey following the route of the Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome to raise funds for Canterbury Cathedral and in 2012 rode from Olympia in Greece, to the Olympic stadium in London, to raise money for the Air Ambulance Kent Surrey & Sussex Charity.
Marian Boswall has lived and worked in Kent for over twenty years. A leading landscape architect and environmentalist specialising in regenerative landscape design, she is a fellow of the landscape institute and fellow of the society of garden designers. She also co-founded the Sustainable Landscape Foundation, and is author of bestselling book ‘Sustainable Garden’.
Marian was previously a lecturer at Greenwich University, Trustee of the Blackthorn Trust and Director of the British Association of Landscape Industries. She regularly appears in the press and social media speaking about regenerative design, feminine leadership and kindness.
Jane Carey-Harris trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London and retired as an Assistant Director in a Primary Care Trust. She served in the Army Reserves attaining the rank of Colonel. Jane was appointed the Territorial Army’s Queen’s Honorary Nurse in 2012.
She is an active member of the Royal British Legion and the South East Reserve Forces and Cadets Association.
Jane is a Trustee to St John’s and St Nicholas’ Almshouses, Canterbury. She is also a Liveryman in the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and the Upper Warden in The Worshipful Company of Nurses.
Hilary Edridge, Lady Melville is Head of Campaigns and Philanthropy at the University of Kent and leads an ambitious fundraising campaign for the new joint Kent and Medway Medical School. She has lived in Kent for 30+ years. Her earlier career was in advertising and the NHS and subsequently held a range of roles in the University sector. She is currently Chair of Porchlight, Kent’s Homeless Charity.
Nicholas Fisher was brought up in Kent and still lives in the County. He is a solicitor specialising in banking and finance work and was based in the City of London for over 25 years, having been head of department in a City headquartered international firm of solicitors. He continues to practise law.
He has been Chairman of Trustees of the Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust since 2014. The Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust is a significant grant making charity that has supported Kent and Kent’s communities since 1969. He has also acted as a trustee and fundraised for other livery, educational and military charities and causes and is a member of the development group currently raising funding for Canterbury Cathedral.
He is a Freeman of the City of London, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Turners and was a Court Assistant of that Company for several years.
Professor Anan Shetty is an Emeritus Professor of Orthopaedics and Stem Cell Research at the Canterbury Christ Church University. Prior to this he was a consultant in knee and Limb Reconstruction Surgery at the King’s College hospital, London, where he led some of the world class research and innovation in fracture treatment .
He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS Eng), Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, London (FRSM).
He was awarded the prestigious Hunterian Surgical Medal and Hunterian Professorship in 2017 by the Royal College of surgeons of England, London, for his work on the stem cell research and its clinical application.
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Since his arrival in UK from India in 1985, he has lived most of life in the Medway towns and was instrumental in delivering the frontline orthopaedic and trauma care. He is a familiar name in the Medway community and social circle and his name appears in the book entitled “Men and Women of Gillingham: 70 people who made their mark”.
Brigadier Andrew Wood was born and raised in Kent. His career has been primarily in the defence sector, beginning as an apprentice engineer at Marconi Avionics. He has served over 40 years in the Regular and Reserve Forces, initially as a Bomb Disposal Operator, seeing active service in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, and concluding as the Deputy Director of the Land Warfare Centre.
He is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Ripple Pond – a charity supporting adult family members of physically or psychologically injured Armed Forces personnel and veterans. He is also Chair of the Kent committee of the South East Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association.
He is a member of the Royal College of Defence Studies (rcds), a Fellow of the Institution of Royal Engineers (FInstRE) and a freeman of the City of London.
His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Kent, The Lady Colgrain said: “I am absolutely delighted to be able to welcome these outstanding new Deputy Lieutenants to the Kent Lieutenancy. Their wide breadth of experience will further enhance an already strong team of Deputies who support me in my role as Lord-Lieutenant and act as the eyes and ears for the Lieutenancy throughout this incredibly diverse county.”
