GORDON LENNOX, Michael Charles OBE RN 1938-2024
Richard R
He was s of Rear-Adm Sir Alexander Henry Charles GORDON LENNOX KCVO CB DSO 1911-87 (gs of 7th Duke of RICHMOND etc 1845-1928) and Barbara 1913-87 d of Maj-Gen Julian McCarty STEELE CB CMG DSO 1870-1926 and Sybil May 1879-1964 only child of William John MURE CB 1845-1924 (only s of David MURE 1810-91 (a lord of Session as Lord Mure) who was 5th s of William MURE 1758-1831 sometime head) of that Scots gentry family f/o Caldwell, as well a gt gs of Sir James HUNTER BLAIR 1st Bt 1741-87 and his wife who was a 4xgt gd of 3rd Earl of CASSILIS 1515-58 (4xgt gf of 1st Marquess of AILSA 1770-1846), and Emily May MBE 1859-1944 d of John Brown INNES of Edinburgh and Emily Mary Helena COTGRAVE.
He m 1974 Jennifer (Jenny) Susan b 1944 d of Capt Hon Vicary Paul GIBBS 1921-ka1944 (s of 4th Baron ALDENHAM & (2nd) HUNSDON 1888-1969) and as her 1st h Jean Frances 1923-2017 d of Angus Valdimar HAMBRO 1883-1957 scion of that gentry family of The Hyde and his 2nd w Vanda Dorothy Julia 1885-1981 d of St John CHARLTON 1843-1919 of Shotton Hall, Shrewsbury and Elizabeth Bronwen d 1941 d of Hugh Robert HUGHES 1827-1911 and Lady Florentina Emily LIDDELL 1828-1909 d of 1st Earl of RAVENSWORTH 1797-1878 by his wife a scion of the HERTFORD marquesses, GRAFTON & BEAUFORT dukes etc etc), and had a son and two daus as above.
colinp
colinp
Michael Gordon Lennox, naval officer who revolutionised limpet mine checks and ran Blind Veterans UK – obituary
On Remembrance Sunday, in his bowler hat, arms linked with a blind serviceman, he would lead his charity’s contingent past the Cenotaph
Captain Michael Gordon Lennox, who has died aged 85, effectively led a national charity for blind ex-servicemen after a successful naval career during the Cold War.
In the late 1990s Gordon Lennox relieved Admiral Sir Henry Leach as chairman of St Dunstan’s, a charity set up during the First World War. Under Gordon Lennox’s leadership, a new, vigorous chief executive was chosen, and the charity expanded its work from a single training, convalescent, care and holiday centre near Brighton to other centres in Llandudno and Sheffield.
Soldiers blinded in the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns were admitted to the charity and membership was also expanded to include service people who had lost their sight through natural causes. Gordon Lennox encouraged the charity’s staff to achieve accreditation with Investors in People, and in 2012, on retiring from the chairmanship, he changed the charity’s name to Blind Veterans UK, to help ensure that the organisation and its work would be better recognised and understood……
He was awarded the OBE for his services to the charity.
Michael Charles Gordon Lennox was born in Knightsbridge, in London, to Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander Gordon Lennox, KCVO, DSO, latterly Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons and Barbara Steele, daughter of Lieutenant General Julian Steele of the Coldstream Guards. Young Gordon Lennox was educated at Wellesley House, Broadstairs, and then Eton, before joining Dartmouth in 1957…….
After the Navy, Gordon Lennox was head of the naval personnel vetting organisation, based in Portsmouth, until it moved to York. Besides St Dunstan’s, he supported local charities including the Midhurst branch of the Royal British Legion and was a trustee and secretary of the Coastal Forces Heritage Trust…..
In 1974 Gordon Lennox married Jenny Gibbs, now Dame Jennifer Gordon Lennox, DCVO, who served as lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and then to the late Queen. Jenny survives him with their two daughters and a son.
Captain Michael Gordon Lennox, born September 30 1938, died January 10 2024