Actor Hugh Bonneville appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of West Sussex

Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, Susan Pyper, made the announcements earlier this week.

Hugh, whose family has lived in the county for 40 years, was joined in the role by Julia Aisbitt and Peter Webb.

Hugh’s family has lived in West Sussex since 1978. He studied Theology at Cambridge and subsequently attended the Douglas Webber Academy of Dramatic Art.

His career as a professional actor started in 1986 and since then he has become well known for his many stage and screen appearances. He has been a member of the National Theatre company and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has appeared at the Old Vic, in the West End and most recently at Chichester Festival Theatre. His films include Notting Hill, The Monuments Men, Viceroy’s House, Paddington and Downton Abbey, and his television appearances include Twenty Twelve, W1A and Downton Abbey. He has received several BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

Hugh is a patron of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, Primary Shakespeare Company, Scene & Heard, the National Youth Arts Trust and the South Downs National Park Trust.

Julia Aisbitt began her career in the hotel and catering industry having completed the HCIMA qualification at Oxford Polytechnic.

In 1986 she and her husband moved to New York for a year where she worked at UNICEF on the First Earth Run. Having started her family on her return to the UK she worked part-time for the Youth Employment Scheme and then joined the Magistracy in 1994 being assigned to the Haywards Heath Bench.

Following three years in Sydney she returned to the bench and later became a deputy bench chairman. In 2014, Julia was elected bench chairman for Sussex Northern Bench which later merged to form the West Sussex Bench and she continued as the chairman for a further two years. Julia is a presiding justice in the adult and youth courts and a member of the Family Panel. She is a supporter of the Sussex Community Foundation and Glyndebourne Opera House.

Peter Webb lives in Worthing where he grew up, studying at Northbrook College. For the past 36 years he has established and run his own business, Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd.

Its success has been recognised by four Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in the overseas trade and innovation categories.

The company has also received numerous local awards, and Peter was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Adur & Worthing Business Awards in 2013, named IoD London & South East Director of the Year in 2015 and made an MBE in the same year.

He is a director of the Worthing and Adur Chamber of Commerce and a director of the Adur and Worthing Business Partnership. Peter is an active member of Worthing Horticultural Society.

Peter is an active member of the Worthing Horticultural Society and enjoys watching football and rugby.