Sir Thomas awarded top honour

2:51pm Friday 25th April 2008

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SIR Thomas Dunne KCVO, Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire, has been made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

The appointment puts Sir Thomas, of Gatley Park, Leinthall Earls, among the holders of Britain’s oldest order of chivalry – established in 1348.

Sir Thomas told the Hereford Times he was “quite thrilled” to receive the honour, which he believed was the first awarded to a Herefordshire recipient in recent memory.

Public confirmation of the honour, membership of which is extremely limited and granted only by the monarch alone, came yesterday (Wednesday).

Sir Thomas was told on Monday in a phone call from the private secretary to the Queen. The investiture ceremony will take place in June.

Sir Thomas has been Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire since 1998. From 1977 to 1998 he served as Lord Lieutenant of Hereford and Worcester.

He is also chairman of Hereford Cathedral Council, patron of the Friends of Hereford Cathedral and vice-president of the Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust.

On hearing the news, the Very Rev Michael Tavinor, Dean of Hereford, said: “We are all truly delighted. It is a wonderful recognition for the many unstinting years of public life in support of our county, diocese and cathedral.”