John Barnard Bush (5 February 1937 – 11 May 2024) was an English farmer, landowner, and Justice of the Peace. He was High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1997, a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire from 1998, and from 2004 to 2012 was Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire.

As non-executive chairman of West Midland Farmers Association Ltd, an agricultural co-operative, he oversaw its conversion into Countrywide Farmers PLC.

Early life The son of Barnard Robert Swanton Bush, of Norton St Philip, Somerset, and of his wife Elizabeth Weeks, Bush was educated at Monkton Combe School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read philosophy, politics, and economics and graduated BA and MA.BUSH, John Barnard, in Who's Who 2009, A & C Black, 2008Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Irish Family Records (London: Burkes Peerage Ltd, 1976), p. 50

Career Bush was a career farmer, owning a mixed farm at Heywood, Wiltshire. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire in 1980 and as a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire in 1998.

From 1995 to 1999 he was non-executive chairman of West Midland Farmers Association Ltd, a regional agricultural co-operative based in Melksham, Wiltshire. He oversaw its demutualisation in 1999 to become Countrywide Farmers PLC, a farming, equestrian and rural supplies firm, continuing as chairman until 2004, shortly before the business moved its base to Upton-upon-Severn. When he retired from the post, Countrywide Farmers had 11,000 farmer shareholders and an annual turnover of £150 million. Pages 2, 9

Bush served as Chairman of the Bristol Avon Flood Defences Committee from 1981 to 2000 and was a Governor of Lackham College between 1986 and 1998. He was High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1997–1998,The London Gazette, Issue 54715, 25 March 1997, p. 3622 and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the county in 1998.London Gazette, 10 July 1998, page 7540 (Commissions signed by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Wiltshire on 1 July 1998) He served as Chairman of the Wiltshire Magistrates' Courts Committee from 2001 to 2005.

In 2004, Bush was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, succeeding Sir Maurice Johnston.David Andrew, Meet John ... the Queen's new man, thisiswiltshire.co.uk, 20 October 2004], accessed 2 August 2007 He retired in 2012, at the age of seventy-five, to be succeeded by Sarah Rose Troughton, a cousin of the Queen.Morwenna Blake, Queen appoints new Lord Lieutenant, Salisbury Journal, 3 December 2011, accessed 7 May 2012 As Lord Lieutenant, he was also custos rotulorum, and his public duties included overseeing the arrangements for visits to Wiltshire by members of the royal family, representing the Queen at local events, such as presenting awards and medals on her behalf, liaising with the Wiltshire units of the Royal Navy, Army, and Air Force; leading the local magistracy as Chairman of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace; and advising on nominations for national honours.The history and duties of Lord-Lieutenants, westsussexlieutenancy.org.uk, accessed 14 March 2021

Bush was Patron of the Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon, Chairman of Fredericks Wiltshire, and a Trustee of the Devizes Assize Courts Trust. He chaired the Wiltshire Historic Buildings Trust and the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust and was president of the Salisbury and South Wiltshire branch of the English Speaking Union."English Speaking Union say goodbye to chairman of six years", Salisbury Journal, 2 October 2010

Honours 1997–1998: High Sheriff of WiltshireLondon Gazette, 25 March 1997, pages 3621–2 1998: Deputy Lieutenant of WiltshireLondon Gazette, 10 July 1998, page 7540 2004: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) - for services to the community in Wiltshire, 2004 Birthday HonoursUnited Kingdom list: The Daily Telegraph, , 16 June 2004 10 November 2004: Lord Lieutenant of WiltshireLondon Gazette, Notice: 1001 (Issue: 57490), 9 December 2004: "The QUEEN has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 10 November 2004 to appoint John Barnard Bush, Esquire, OBE, to be Lord-Lieutenant of and in the County of Wiltshire." 27 July 2005: Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John (CStJ)London Gazette, Notice: 1002 (Issue: 57714), 27 July 2005 1 January 2012: Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) - 2012 New Year Honours

Personal life On 30 December 1961, Bush married Pamela Eve Irene Bagwell, the daughter of Lieutenant-Commander William Bagwell RN of Clonmel, County Tipperary and his wife Evelyn Irene Hamilton Wills, the only child of Sir Frederick Wills, 1st Baronet. They had two children, Alexander Hugh Barnard Bush (called Alex, born 4 October 1964) and Carolyn Louise Bush (called Carly, born 18 July 1967).The Times, 1 January 1962; pg. 12; col BMontgomery-Massingberd, H., ed., Burke's Irish Family Records (London: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1976), p. 50 They also had five grandchildren, Morgan, Jasmine, Scarlett, Thomas, and Lucy.

Pamela Bush died in May 2021,"Pamela Eve Irene Bush" in England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2022, accessed 12 May 2024: "Name MS Pamela Eve Irene Bush / Gender Female / Age 83 / Birth Date 18 June 1938 / Last Residence Westbury, Wiltshire, South West, England / Death Date 8 May 2021" and John Barnard Bush died on 11 May 2024, at the age of 87. His funeral took place at Edington Priory on 30 May."Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire", "Wiltshire Council Minutes", wiltshire.gov.uk, accessed 30 May 2024

See also High Sheriff of Wiltshire List of Deputy Lieutenants of Wiltshire

References

External links Who's Who 2007 (A. & C. Black, London, 2007) John Bush at wiltshire.gov.uk (accessed 2 August 2007) Meet John ... the Queen's new man by David Andrew at thisiswiltshire.co.uk, 20 October 2004 (accessed 2 August 2007)