Four new Deputy Lieutenants of Kent have been appointed, each of them honoured for their positive contributions to the County and the Nation.
They are Mr Desmond Crampton (Canterbury), Mr Bill Ferris (Headcorn), The Lord King of Lothbury KG, GBE, FBA (Canterbury) and Her Honour Judge Adèle Williams (Ashford).
Mr Desmond Crampton DL
Mr Crampton left his native South Africa to settle in Kent in 1985. His subsequent business career involved him in the commercial operation and statutory conservancy of the River Medway for over twenty years.
During that time Mr Crampton served on several industry and county bodies including Thames Gateway Kent Partnership and Kent Economic Board. He led the founding of Lorenden Preparatory school and helped establish the Isle of Sheppey Academy. He is now a Vice President of Demelza Hospice Care for Children after more than a decade as a trustee including six years as chairman. He is a non-executive company director.
Mr Bill Ferris OBE
Mr Ferris OBE has lived in the Headcorn area since 1991 and has been involved in a number of heritage and tourism projects in Kent. He has operated in Tunbridge Wells, Dover and Canterbury as well as nationally. He has held the post of Chief Executive of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust since 2000 where the strategy of “preservation through re-use has transformed the most complete dockyard of the age of sail into a world class visitor attraction and thriving residential and business community.
Bill has served on the Visit Kent Board for a number of years and has only recently stepped down as chair of the national Association of Independent Museums with more than 1000 members. His interest in the role that heritage can play in regeneration and economic prosperity means that he is a keen participant in a range of other associations and bodies at a local, regional and national level and is a regular speaker at conferences on the subject. He was awarded the OBE for Service to Heritage in 2011.
The Lord King of Lothbury KG, GBE, FBA, DL
The Lord King of Lothbury KG, GBE, FBA served as Governor of the Bank of England and Chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee and Financial Policy Committee from 2003 – June 2013. He was previously Deputy Governor from 1998 to 2003, Chief Economist and Executive Director from 1991, and non-executive director of the Bank from 1990 to 1991. He was knighted (GBE) in 2011, made a life peer in 2013, and appointed by The Queen to be a Knight of the Garter in 2014.
Lord King took up a position as Professor of Economics and Law at New York University in September 2014, and a position as School Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics in 2015. He studied at King’s College, Cambridge, and Harvard (as a Kennedy Scholar) and taught at Cambridge and Birmingham Universities before spells as Visiting Professor at both Harvard University and MIT. From October 1984 he was Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics where he founded the Financial Markets Group.
Lord King is a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Fellow of King’s and St John’s Colleges, Cambridge and holds honorary degrees from Birmingham, Cambridge, City of London, Edinburgh, London Guildhall, London School of Economics, Wolverhampton, Worcester, Helsinki, Abertay, Dundee and Kent Universities. He is a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is on the Advisory Council of the London Symphony Orchestra, is President of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, and a Trustee of the National Gallery.
Her Honour Judge Adèle Williams DL
Judge Adèle Williams was born and grew up in Wales. She has lived in Kent for the last 36 years. She has worked at first as a barrister and then as a Judge in the Kent Courts since 1974. At different times, she was both Junior and Senior of the Kent Bar Mess. She was appointed as a Recorder in 1995 and as a Circuit Judge in 2000.
In 2008, she became Resident Judge at Canterbury Crown Court. She is Diversity and Community Relations Judge for East Kent. She is interested in both the treatment of witnesses in the Criminal Justice System and in the rehabilitation of offenders. She has been married to His Honour Andrew Patience Q.C. for forty years (he was Resident Judge at Maidstone Crown Court between 2000 and 2010). Between 2008 and 2010, they were the only married couple in England and Wales who were both Resident Judges.
Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Kent, Viscount De L’Isle MBE said: “In making these appointments we are further strengthening a team of men and women who share their great experience, in helping me support The Queen and her family throughout the ceremonial county of Kent”.
Fact File
- The Lieutenancy of Kent consists of the Lord-Lieutenant, Vice Lord- Lieutenant, and a maximum of 70 other Deputy Lieutenants, approximately one per 25,000 people.
- The office dates back to Tudor times and was originally responsible for the County’s local defence and maintenance of order. The role of the Lieutenancy is entirely non-political and unpaid.
- Deputy Lieutenants come from all walks of life and all parts of the County. Their local and specialist knowledge and experience is used to positive effect in key areas ranging from education to youth services, and from the Volunteer Reserve Forces to business and the rural economy.
- Duties include greeting and accompanying Royalty and Heads of State during official visits to the County, the presentation of honours and awards on behalf of the Crown, and participation in Citizenship ceremonies.
- They advise on events potentially warranting Royal visits, on how local people can put forward others suitable for honours and on anniversaries warranting a message from The Queen. They also advise on how community organisations can gain recognition in The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Scheme.
