User:Kaliforniyka/William Lobjoit

Sir William George Lobjoit (1 October 1859 – 28 May 1939) was an English farmer and author who served as the Controller of Horticulture for the Ministry of Agriculture.

Lobjoit was born in Putney, Surrey. His father was a market gardener. His surname is of French Huguenot descent. Lobjoit was educated at Putney Grammar School and at Halbrake Collegiate School. He became a partner in W. J. Lobjoit and Son.

During the First World War, he served as chairman of the Hounslow Local War Pensions Committee. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1920 Civilian War Honours 26 March 1920 The London Gazette, Supplement 31840, Page 3794

He was knighted in 1927. 1 July 1927 The London Gazette, Issue 33290, Page 4233

O.B.E., V.M.H., from 1920 to 1927 Controller of Horti- culture at the Ministry of Agriculture, Bucks, on Sunday. Born at Putney on October 1. 1859, son of the late Mr. W. J. Lobjoit. William George

and at the time of his death was chairman of the firm. He farmed and grew market garden produce on an extensive scale, and took an active part in local government work as a member of the Heston-lsleworth U.D.C. from 1898 to1921,and as a member of theMiddlesex County Council, of which he became an alder- man. In 1920 the Minister of Agriculture (Lord Lee of Fareham) appointed Lobioit to be Controller of Horticulture (unpaid) at the Ministry. There could hardly have been a better choice, for Lobjoit was a man of wide experience, being at that time president-elect of the Chamber of Horticulture, chairman of the Agricultural Committee, the Small Holdings Committee, and the Agricultural Education Committee of the Middlesex County Counicil. Hle was also chairman of the Market Gardening, Fruitgrowing, and Hop Committee of the Central Chamber of Agri- culture, examiner to the Royal Horticultural Society, and a member of the Horticultural Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Agri- culture. In 1927 Lobjoit resigned his appoint- ment of Controller of Horticulture at the Ministry in order that he might be free to accept the invitation of the National Farmers' Union to become the chairman of the Fruit and Vegetables Committee of the Union. Other positions held by Sir William Lobjoit included those of chairman of the Mental Hospitals Committee of the Middlesex C.C.; governor of Swanley Horticultural College; member of the Royal Commission on Trans- port (1929); and member of the Poisons Board (1934). Sir William was a well-known wvriter on horticultural subjects.

He married Jane Speakman, with whom he had three daughters. He died in 1939 at Oakdene, Wooburn, Buckinghamshire.