Nigel Strutt
Encyclopedia
Sir Nigel Edward Strutt DL
TD
, (18 January 1916 - 28 January 2004) was the chairman of the Strutt & Parker (Farms) Ltd firm of agricultural property consultants, land agent
s and farm managers. He farmed 22500 acres (91.1 km²) in Essex
and Suffolk
. He was a Deputy Lieutenant
for Essex from 1954, and High Sheriff of Essex
in 1966. He was offered of a peerage but declined it, as had his great-great-grandfather, Joseph Holden Strutt.
-winning physicist, John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
. His great-uncle was a founder member of the Order of Merit
; his grandfather was an early Companion of Honour.
The Strutts can trace their ancestry to a miller from Essex who died in 1694. They became stalwart members of the shire gentry, and several members of the family sat in Parliament
from the 18th century. Nigel's great-great-grandfather, Joseph Strutt, was an MP for 40 years and colonel of several regiments of Essex militia. He was offered a peerage, but suggested that the title be conferred on his wife instead, so Lady Charlotte Strutt
became Baroness Rayleigh.
Strutt was educated at Winchester College
, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He showed interest in farming, and attended Wye College
in Kent
.
in 1937, and moved to Africa to become an honorary aide-de-camp
to the governor of Northern Rhodesia
. He joined the Essex Yeomanry Royal Horse Artillery
on the outbreak of the Second World War. He served as a forward observation officer in North Africa and was severely wounded in 1941 near Bardia
, in Libya
, losing his right eye. After recovering from his injuries, he was offered a staff position as an ADC in Palestine
, but asked to be returned to his regiment instead. However, before he could rejoin his comrades, he was captured by a German patrol and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp
in northern Italy. In Camp 41, near Parma
, he shared a room with Edward Tomkins
and Pat Gibson, all three becoming firm friends. He was best man at Tomkins's wedding in 1955.
Strutt was repatriated in 1943 on medical grounds and in exchange for a German prisoner. He kept his parole
, rejoining the Essex Yeomanry after the war and was later awarded the Territorial Decoration
.
After the war, Strutt became a farmer, living for the remainder of his life in a farmhouse in Terling
. He farmed 22500 acres (91.1 km²) in Essex
and Suffolk
, through two family firms, Lord Rayleigh's Farms and Strutt & Parker Farms. The farms produced wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, peas and sugar beet, with herds of Friesian cattle
at Terling
and Lavenham
producing two million gallons of milk
per annum.
in 1976-7. He received the Massey-Ferguson Award in 1976, and received honorary degrees from Cranfield University
and Essex University.
Strutt became a Deputy Lieutenant
for Essex in 1954 and in 1966 he was High Sheriff of Essex
. He was knighted in 1972. Like his ancestor, Joseph Strutt, he was offered of a peerage, but declined.
Strutt had an apartment in The Albany
, and was a member of Brooks's
. He enjoyed outdoor activities, such as walking, game shooting, and skiing. He never married.
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
TD
Territorial Decoration
The Territorial Decoration was a medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army...
, (18 January 1916 - 28 January 2004) was the chairman of the Strutt & Parker (Farms) Ltd firm of agricultural property consultants, land agent
Land agent
Land agent may be used in at least three different contexts.Traditionally, a land agent was a managerial employee who conducted the business affairs of a large landed estate for a member of the landed gentry of the United Kingdom, supervising the farming of the property by farm labourers and/or...
s and farm managers. He farmed 22500 acres (91.1 km²) in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. He was a Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
for Essex from 1954, and High Sheriff of Essex
High Sheriff of Essex
The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient High Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years...
in 1966. He was offered of a peerage but declined it, as had his great-great-grandfather, Joseph Holden Strutt.
Early life
Strutt was the youngest son of Captain Edward Jolliffe Strutt and his wife Amelie (née Devas). His grandfather, Hon. Edward Gerald Strutt, was the son of John James Strutt, 2nd Baron Rayleigh, and younger brother of Nobel PrizeNobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
-winning physicist, John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, OM was an English physicist who, with William Ramsay, discovered the element argon, an achievement for which he earned the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1904...
. His great-uncle was a founder member of the Order of Merit
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
; his grandfather was an early Companion of Honour.
The Strutts can trace their ancestry to a miller from Essex who died in 1694. They became stalwart members of the shire gentry, and several members of the family sat in Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
from the 18th century. Nigel's great-great-grandfather, Joseph Strutt, was an MP for 40 years and colonel of several regiments of Essex militia. He was offered a peerage, but suggested that the title be conferred on his wife instead, so Lady Charlotte Strutt
Charlotte Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh
Charlotte Mary Gertrude Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh , known as Lady Charlotte FitzGerald from 1758 to 1789 and as Lady Charlotte Strutt from 1789 to 1821, was a British peeress....
became Baroness Rayleigh.
Strutt was educated at Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He showed interest in farming, and attended Wye College
Wye College
The College of St. Gregory and St. Martin at Wye, more commonly known as Wye College, was an educational institution in Kent, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1447 by John Kempe, the Archbishop of York, as a college for the training of priests. It is located in the small village of Wye, Kent, 60...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
.
Career
Strutt joined the Essex YeomanryEssex Yeomanry
The Essex Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army raised in 1797. The regiment recruited volunteers from the county of Essex in the East of England.-Origins:...
in 1937, and moved to Africa to become an honorary aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to the governor of Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
. He joined the Essex Yeomanry Royal Horse Artillery
Royal Horse Artillery
The regiments of the Royal Horse Artillery , dating from 1793, are part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery of the British Army...
on the outbreak of the Second World War. He served as a forward observation officer in North Africa and was severely wounded in 1941 near Bardia
Bardia
Bardia is a geographic region in the Democratic Republic of Nepal.Bardia comprises a portion of the Terai, or lowland hills and valleys of southern Nepal. The Terai is over 1,000 feet in elevation, and extends all along the Indian border...
, in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, losing his right eye. After recovering from his injuries, he was offered a staff position as an ADC in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, but asked to be returned to his regiment instead. However, before he could rejoin his comrades, he was captured by a German patrol and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
in northern Italy. In Camp 41, near Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, he shared a room with Edward Tomkins
Edward Tomkins
Sir Edward Emile Tomkins, GCMG, CVO was a British diplomat. He was British Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1970 to 1972, and British Ambassador to France from 1972 to 1975. He owned Winslow Hall in Winslow, Buckinghamshire, often attributed to Christopher Wren, from 1959.Tomkins was the son of...
and Pat Gibson, all three becoming firm friends. He was best man at Tomkins's wedding in 1955.
Strutt was repatriated in 1943 on medical grounds and in exchange for a German prisoner. He kept his parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
, rejoining the Essex Yeomanry after the war and was later awarded the Territorial Decoration
Territorial Decoration
The Territorial Decoration was a medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army...
.
After the war, Strutt became a farmer, living for the remainder of his life in a farmhouse in Terling
Terling
Terling is a village in the county of Essex, England, between the town of Witham and the villages of Great Leighs and Hatfield Peverel. The village was mentioned in the Domesday book...
. He farmed 22500 acres (91.1 km²) in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, through two family firms, Lord Rayleigh's Farms and Strutt & Parker Farms. The farms produced wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, peas and sugar beet, with herds of Friesian cattle
Holstein (cattle)
Holstein cattle is a breed of cattle known today as the world's highest production dairy animal. Originating in Europe, Holsteins were bred in what is now the Netherlands and more specifically in the two northern provinces of North Holland and Friesland...
at Terling
Terling
Terling is a village in the county of Essex, England, between the town of Witham and the villages of Great Leighs and Hatfield Peverel. The village was mentioned in the Domesday book...
and Lavenham
Lavenham
Lavenham is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is noted for its 15th century church, half-timbered medieval cottages and circular walk. In the medieval period it was among the 20 wealthiest settlements in England...
producing two million gallons of milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
per annum.
Later life
Strutt was a member of the National Economic Development Council for Agriculture, and chairman of the Advisory Council for Agriculture and Horticulture from 1973-80. He was president of the Country Landowners' Association from 1967-9, president of the British Friesian Cattle Society in 1974-5, and president of the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1982-3. He became a fellow at Wye College in 1970, and was Master of the Worshipful Company of FarmersWorshipful Company of Farmers
The Worshipful Company of Farmers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company became a Livery Company in 1952, and was granted a Royal Charter three years later. The Farmers' Company supports farming students, and otherwise promotes education in agriculture.The Farmers'...
in 1976-7. He received the Massey-Ferguson Award in 1976, and received honorary degrees from Cranfield University
Cranfield University
Cranfield University is a British postgraduate university based on two campuses, with a research-oriented focus. The main campus is at Cranfield, Bedfordshire and the second is the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom based at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. The main campus is unique in the United...
and Essex University.
Strutt became a Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
for Essex in 1954 and in 1966 he was High Sheriff of Essex
High Sheriff of Essex
The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient High Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years...
. He was knighted in 1972. Like his ancestor, Joseph Strutt, he was offered of a peerage, but declined.
Strutt had an apartment in The Albany
The Albany
The Albany or Albany is an apartment complex in Piccadilly, London.-Building:...
, and was a member of Brooks's
Brooks's
Brooks's is one of London's most exclusive gentlemen's clubs, founded in 1764 by 27 men, including four dukes. From its inception, it was the meeting place for Whigs of the highest social order....
. He enjoyed outdoor activities, such as walking, game shooting, and skiing. He never married.