Christopher Howes

Last updated

Sir Christopher Kingston Howes KCVO CB FRICS FRIBA (born 30 January 1942) is a British Chartered Surveyor. A specialist in the study of land and buildings, with careers in the public, private, and academic sectors, he has worked in city planning, land use, and environmental management.

Contents

After ten years as Director of Land and Property at the Department of the Environment, Howes was Chief Executive of the Crown Estate from 1989 to 2001. He was a member of the councils of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall.

Early life

The younger son of Leonard Howes OBE and Marion Howes (née Bussey), he was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, and the University of London, where he graduated BSc in estate management in 1965. [1] [2] His father was Lord Mayor of Norwich for 1963–1964. [3] He became an Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 1966 and graduated as a master of philosophy at the University of Reading in 1975. [2]

Career

Howes's career has spanned the public and private sectors. In 1965 to 1967 he worked in the Valuation and Planning Department of the Greater London Council, then from 1967 to 1978 he was Steward and Honorary Surveyor to the Dean and Chapter of Norwich Cathedral. [1] At the beginning of 1969 he joined the family firm of Percy Howes & Co., Surveyors and Valuers, of Cathedral Close, Norwich. [4] Also becoming a member of Norwich City Council, [1] by 1974 he was a Justice of the Peace for Norfolk. [5] In Norwich he was a founding member of the Theatre Royal Trust, the Cotman Housing Association, and the Third World Centre.

From 1979 to 1989, Howes was Deputy Director of Land Economy and then Director of the Land and Property Division at the Department of the Environment. He was also a Visiting Professor at University College London from 1983 to 2001; [1] Chairman of the World Land Policy Conference 1984, and the OECD's Urban Policy Group 1985. [1]

From 1992 to 1999, Howes was a trustee of the Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture; from 1995 to 1998 a Member of the Secretary of State for the Environment's Thames Advisory Board, [1] and a Member of the Court of Advisers of St Paul's Cathedral.

From 1989 to 2001, he was the Second Commissioner and Chief Executive of the Crown Estate. [1] This owns large area of Central London including Regent Street, over half of Britain's forests, hundreds of farms and other rural estates, and the whole of the British seabed between the coast and the twelve-mile international limit. In 2006, the annual income of the Crown Estate was around £200 million. He also served as a member of the Prince’s Council, the Duchy of Cornwall, and as a Council member of the Duchy of Lancaster. [1]

From 2001 to 2017 Howes was an adviser to Barclays Capital and a member of the advisory board and Senior Adviser to Barclays Private Bank. [6] He is a member of the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall; Deputy Chairman of Howard de Walden Estates; [6] adviser to the Marcol Group; [6] a member of the Investment Committee of St Paul's Cathedral; a board member of the British Architectural Trust; a trustee of the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust; a trustee of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, and patron of the Heatherley School of Fine Art. [7]

Career outline

Academic appointments

Honours

Publications

Related Research Articles

Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a number of situations where a legal interest in land was destroyed by operation of law, so that the ownership of the land reverted to the immediately superior feudal lord.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchy of Lancaster</span> Private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster

The Duchy of Lancaster is a private estate of the British sovereign. The estate has its origins in the lands held by the medieval Dukes of Lancaster, which came under the direct control of the monarch when Henry Bolingbroke, the then duke of Lancaster, ascended the throne in 1399. In 1461 King Edward IV confirmed that the Duchy would be inherited by the monarch, but held separately from the Crown Estate, the other assets which belong to the monarch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradninch</span> Town in Devon, England

Bradninch is a small town, civil parish and manor in Devon, England, lying about 3 mi (5 km) south of Cullompton. Much of the surrounding farmland belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall. There is an electoral ward with the same name, which since May 2023 comprises the entire parish. The population was 2,165 in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchy of Cornwall</span> Royal duchy in England

The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of Duke of Cornwall at birth or when his parent succeeds to the throne, but may not sell assets for personal benefit and has limited rights and income while a minor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Privy Purse</span> British sovereigns private income

The Privy Purse is the British sovereign's private income, mostly from the Duchy of Lancaster. This amounted to £20.1 million in net income for the year to 31 March 2018.

The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's private estate. The Crown Estate in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland is managed by the Crown Estate Commissioners. In Scotland, the Crown Estate is managed by Crown Estate Scotland, since the Scottish estate was devolved in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild</span> English peer, investment banker and philanthropist (1936–2024)

Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild,, was a British peer, investment banker and member of the Rothschild banking family. Rothschild held important roles in business and British public life, and was active in charitable and philanthropic areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitutional status of Cornwall</span> Overview of the constitutional status of Cornwall within the United Kingdom

The constitutional status of Cornwall has been a matter of debate and dispute. Cornwall is an administrative county of England.

Unowned property includes tangible, physical things that are capable of being reduced to being property owned by a person but are not owned by anyone. Bona vacantia is a legal concept associated with the unowned property, which exists in various jurisdictions, with a consequently varying application, but with origins mostly in English law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Pemberton Leigh, 1st Baron Kingsdown</span>

Thomas Pemberton Leigh, 1st Baron Kingsdown PC, KC, was a British barrister, judge and politician. Originally a successful equity lawyer, he then entered politics and sat as an MP from 1831 to 1832 and from 1835 to 1843. From 1841 to 1843 he was attorney-general for the Duchy of Cornwall. However, he is best remembered for his role on the judicial committee of the Privy Council, of which he was a member for nearly twenty years. Having turned down the post of Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain in 1858, he was the same year elevated to the peerage as Baron Kingsdown. He died unmarried in October 1867, aged 74.

Norwich & Peterborough Building Society (N&P) is a trading name of Yorkshire Building Society based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Formed by the merger of the Norwich and Peterborough building societies in 1986, at the time of merger with YBS, it was the ninth largest building society in the United Kingdom, with assets in excess of £4.9 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater</span>

Charles David Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater, is a British diplomat and businessman who served as a key foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornish nationalism</span> Nationalist movement in the United Kingdom

Cornish nationalism is a cultural, political and social movement that seeks the recognition of Cornwall – the south-westernmost part of the island of Great Britain – as a nation distinct from England. It is usually based on three general arguments:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finances of the British royal family</span> UK monarchys income and spending

The finances of the British royal family come from a number of sources. The British government supports the monarch and some of his family financially by means of the Sovereign Grant, which is intended to meet the costs of the sovereign's official expenditures. This includes the costs of the upkeep of the various royal residences, staffing, travel and state visits, public engagements, and official entertainment. Other sources of income include revenues from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, income from assets of other trusts, income from private investments, and a parliamentary annuity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harewood Park</span> Country estate in Herefordshire, England

Harewood Park is a rural estate of 900 acres (360 ha) in the civil parish of Harewood in Herefordshire, England, which has been owned by the Duchy of Cornwall since 2000. It is approximately midway between Hereford and Ross-on-Wye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University College of Estate Management</span> Online college of real estate related subjects

The University College of Estate Management, formerly the College of Estate Management (CEM) is an independent UK-based higher education institution which provides courses by distance learning for people in the real estate development and construction industries throughout the world. UCEM is also one of eight original members of the Independent Universities Group, made up of universities not funded by the HEFCE. As of 2013, UCEM had educated over 150,000 students.

The Parliamentary Surveys were initiated by Oliver Cromwell to evaluate lands which he had confiscated. Primarily they were Crown or Ecclesiastical estate lands in England and the assessments were carried out by a team of surveyors during the period 1647 to 1650. The objective was to identify all landholders in each manor; determine how much land each held and how much rent they paid. The surveyors then made a valuation of what each holding was worth, so that the manor could be put up for sale. The money thus generated was to be used to pay Cromwell's Model Army.

Catherine Mary Waddams is a British economist and academic, who specialises in industrial organization, privatisation, regulation, and competition. Since 2000, she has been Professor of Regulation at Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia. From 2000 to 2011, she served as the first director of the Centre of Competition and Regulation at the University of East Anglia.

Sir Walter Robert "Bertie" Alexander Ross, KCVO, FRICS is a Scottish surveyor and courtier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Fursdon</span> English cricketer

Edward David Fursdon is an English landowner and former cricketer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Macalister, Terry (1 September 2001). "Keeper of the Queen's piece". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Howes, Sir Christopher (Kingston), (born 30 Jan. 1942), Who's Who (online edition), 01 December 2007, accessed 30 November 2021 (subscription required)
  3. Norfolk Archaeology, Vol. 33 (1965), p. 300
  4. The Estates Gazette, Vol. 209 (1969), p. 145
  5. Justice of the Peace, Vol. 138 (1974), p. 143
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "MARCOL". MARCOL. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  7. www.samteq.co.uk, SAMTEQ. "Patrons & Trustees - The Heatherley School of Fine Art". www.heatherleys.org. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2018.