Admiral of the Fleet Sir David Benjamin Bathurst, GCB 1936-2025

Admiral of the Fleet Sir (David) Benjamin Bathurst, GCB, died in Gibraltar, 12 October, 2025. He was 89.

He was a scion of the Earls Bathurst, and descended maternally from the Earls Temple of Stowe.

Bathurst served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from 1993 to 1995: in that capacity he advised the British Government on the deployment of naval support including Sea Harriers during the Bosnian War.

He was born 27 May, 1936, son of Group Capt Peter Bathurst (1903-1970), and his wife Lady Elizabeth Ann Temple-Gore-Langton (1908-2004), sister of the 6th Earl Temple of Stowe (1909-66), and the 7th Earl Temple of Stowe (1910-1988); and married 29 August, 1959, Sarah Christian Pandora Peto (born 6 July, 1940), scion of the Peto baronets, daughter of Maj Basil Arthur John Peto (1900-1954), and his wife the former Patricia Geraldine Browne (1911-2011), by whom he had issue, a son, Lieutenant General Sir Benjamin Bathurst, KCVO, CBE (born 15 Apr, 1964), and three daughters, Alice (born 24 May, 1962), Anna (born 15 Aug, 1968), and Lucilla (born 28 Dec, 1970).

He was appointed KCB in 1987, advanced to GCB in 1991, and appointed an Admiral of the Fleet in 1995. From 2022 he was the only non-royal Admiral of the Fleet, the sole remaining Admiral of the Fleet is HM The King.

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