REAR Admiral Sir Peter Anson, a long-time Rowledge resident, stalwart of the South West Surrey Conservative Association and former High Sheriff of Surrey, has died aged 93.

Sir Peter was born on July 31, 1924, the son of Sir Edward Reynell Anson, 6th Baronet Anson, and Frances Alison Pollock.

He was educated at Royal Naval College, Dartmouth and fought in the Second World War between 1941 and 1945, where he served in the south west Pacific and was a prisoner of war.

He succeeded as the 7th Baronet Anson on June 26, 1951 and married Elizabeth Audrey Clarke, daughter of Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Philip Clarke and Audrey Doreen White, on April 16, 1955.

As his Royal Navy career progressed, Sir Peter later served as commander of the HMS Alert on the Far East Station between 1957 and 1958 and gained the rank of commander between 1961 and 1962 in the HMS Broadsword.

He also gained the rank of commanding officer between 1966 and 1968 in the HMS Naiad, and between 1968 and 1970 in the HMS Mercury.

Away from military service, Sir Peter was appointed Companion, Order of the Bath in 1974, and chairman of Marconi Space Systems in 1985 - later holding the office of Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey and High Sheriff of Surrey in 1993.

Two years later his wife Elizabeth, herself a long-serving councillor and Mayor of Waverley in 1987, was invested as a Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1995.

The couple lived for many years in Boundstone Road, Rowledge, where they held an annual barbecue for members of the South West Surrey Conservative Association, famously welcoming the new Prime Minister Theresa May in 2016.

Sir Peter died on Tuesday, April 17 and is survived by Dame Elizabeth and their four adult children Louisa, Philip, Hugo and Sarah.

Tributes to follow in next week’s Herald.