Sir William Rous | |
---|---|
Birth name | William Edward Rous |
Born | 23 February 1939 North Walsham, Norfolk, England |
Died | 25 May 1999 Chichester, West Sussex, England | (aged 60)
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1959–1996 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Commands held |
4th Armoured Division Staff College, Camberley |
Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Lieutenant General Sir William Edward Rous KCB, OBE (23 February 1939 – 25 May 1999) was a British Army officer who served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces.
Rous was the second son of Hon. Keith Rous and Pamela Catherine Mabell Kay-Shuttleworth, [1] only daughter of Capt. Hon. Edward James Kay-Shuttleworth (1890–1917). His mother was the granddaughter of Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron Shuttleworth and sister of the 4th Baron. [2]
He had an elder brother, Keith Rous, later the 6th Earl of Stradbroke. [2]
His parents divorced in 1940. His father remarried, in 1943, to April Mary Asquith, daughter of Brig-Gen. Hon. Arthur Asquith, and had one more son and four daughters. He was educated at Harrow School and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. [1]
In 1983, his father succeeded his elder brother, John Rous, 4th Earl of Stradbroke, as the 5th Earl of Stradbroke but lived only four days as earl (14 July 1983 – 18 July 1983) before his own death. [1]
Rous was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1959. [3]
He was appointed General Officer Commanding 4th Armoured Division in 1987 [4] and then selected to be Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley in 1989. [5]
In 1991, he was appointed Military Secretary [6] and in 1994 he went on to be Quartermaster-General to the Forces. [7] He retired in 1996. [8]
He was also Colonel of the Coldstream Guards. [9]
In 1970, Rous married Rosemary Persse, only child of Maj. Jocelyn Arthur Persse, and Joan Shirley (later Lady Carew Pole). They had two sons: James Anthony Edward (born 1972) and Richard William Jocelyn (born 1975). [1]
In 1998, he was appointed as Chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Board but resigned in 1999 following ill health. [10]
In retirement, he was Chairman of Kingston Hospital. He died of cancer in May 1999 and the cancer unit at the hospital is named after him. [11]