Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Malcolm Mount, 2nd Baronet[1] TD (28 December 1904 – 22 June 1993) was a British Army officer, High Sheriff of Berkshire and grandfather to David Cameron, former UK Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party.

Headstone of William Malcolm Mount at Wasing church.

Personal life

Eldest son of Sir William Arthur Mount, 1st Baronet and wife Hilda Lucy Adelaide Low, Mount was born on 28 December 1904. He was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford.[1]

On 17 October 1929 at St. John the Baptist, Moulsford, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), Mount married Elizabeth Nance Llewellyn (Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, 22 December 1904 – 5 December 1994).

His eldest daughter Cecilia Mary (born 1931) married Sir William Dugdale, Warwickshire landowner and former chairman of Aston Villa football club, and is the mother of the documentary filmmaker Joshua Dugdale.[1] His second daughter, Mary Fleur (b. 1934), married Ian Donald Cameron and is the mother of David Cameron,[1] Conservative Party leader from 2005 to 2016, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016.[2]

Baronetcy

He inherited the baronetcy and the family estate at Wasing Place in Berkshire on 8 December 1930 on the death of his father.

Career

Military

On 25 February 1924, he was commissioned in the 99th (Bucks and Berks Yeomanry), a Territorial Army unit of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, a second lieutenant.[3] He was promoted to lieutenant on 25 February 1926.[4] He was promoted to captain on 1 March 1937,[5] and major on 17 September 1938.[6]

He served in World War II during which time he was wounded at D-Day in Normandy.[7] He transferred to the Reconnaissance Corps on 14 September 1941, and given the service number 28268.[7] He was awarded the Efficiency Decoration (TD) on 15 May 1942.[8] He was made Lieutenant-Colonel.

Aviation

Mount had interest in aviation, being a director of the Miles Aircraft Company.[9] In 1950 he stood trial with F.G. Miles on 24 charges of making false and reckless statements in connection with the 1946 Miles share prospectus.[10] Mount went on to develop Brimpton Airfield.[9]

Berkshire appointments

Mount was appointed as High Sheriff of Berkshire,[11] and Vice-Lieutenant for Berkshire in 1960.[1]

Death

He died at the age of 88 in 1993. At the time of his death, he had three daughters but no surviving sons so his baronetcy was inherited by his nephew Ferdinand.[1]

References

1. "Mount". Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage: With Her Majesty's Royal Warrant Holders, 1969. Kelly's Directories. 1968. p. 577.
2. "David Cameron is UK's new prime minister". BBC. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
3. "Territorial Army – Royal Regiment of Artillery – 99th (Bucks and Berks Yeomanry)". The London Gazette. 4 March 1924. p. 1929. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
4. "99th (Bucks and Berks Yeomanry)". The London Gazette. 23 April 1926. p. 2781. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
5. "Territorial Army – Royal Artillery – 99th (Bucks and Berks Yeomanry)". The London Gazette. 27 April 1937. p. 2735. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
6. "Territorial Army – Royal Artillery – 99th (Bucks and Berks Yeomanry)". The London Gazette. 16 September 1938. p. 5893. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
7. "Territorial Army – Reconnaissance Corps". The London Gazette. 20 February 1942. p. 890. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
8. "Reconnaissance Corps". The London Gazette. 12 May 1942. p. 2113. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
9. "Brimpton (EGLP) Near Aldermaston, Berkshire". Brimpton Airfield. Archived from the original on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
10. "Gemini." Flight, 1947. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
11. Dennis Laxton (1956). "About Britain and the habits of the British". Onward (London). 4. p. 43.