Donald Gosling

Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Donald Gosling KCVO (2 March 1929 – 16 September 2019) was a British vice admiral, who was Chairman of National Car Parks and benefactor to naval charities.

Sir Donald Gosling
Gosling onboard HMS Victory, May 2012
Birth nameFrederick Donald Gosling
Born(1929-03-02)2 March 1929
Died16 September 2019(2019-09-16) (aged 90)
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Royal Naval Reserve
Years of service1944–2019
RankVice-Admiral (Honorary)
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Knight Bachelor
Knight of the Order of St John
Grand Cross of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia

Business career

Gosling joined the Royal Navy in 1944 during World War II and served in the Mediterranean in the cruiser HMS Leander.[1] After the War, together with Ronald Hobson, he founded Central Car Parks, when the pair invested £200 in a bombsite in Holborn, central London to create a car park.[2] In 1959 Central Car Parks took over National Car Parks from Anne Lucas, the widow of Colonel Frederick Lucas.[3] Gosling co-chaired the business until he retired in 1998.[1]

Retirement

Gosling became a trustee of the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton in 1974 and Vice-President of Seafarers UK in 1993.[1] He was appointed honorary Captain of the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) by the Queen in January 1993; he was subsequently promoted to Commodore and then to honorary Rear Admiral of the Reserve.[4] He also had a long association with the White Ensign Association, serving as Chairman from 1979 to 1983, Vice President from 1983 to 1987 and then as President on the council of management under the patron, The Prince of Wales.[5] In 1998 during the Kosovo War, Gosling arranged a rendezvous with the submarine HMS Splendid aboard his motor yacht Leander G to provide the men on board with fresh stores and allow them a few hours aboard the yacht in order to shower and rest. [6]

In April 2012, he became Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom, an honorific position sub-ordinate to the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom, the Duke of Edinburgh.[7]

Gosling was knighted in the 1976 Resignation Honours List[8] and appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in the 2004 New Year Honours for services to The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and the Outward Bound Trust.[9]

His interests included yachting and he owned the motor yacht Leander G until she was sold in February 2016.[10]

Gosling died on 16 September 2019, aged 90, after a short illness.[11]

Royal Naval Reserve ranks
  • 27 January 1993 – May 2005: Captain (Honorary)[12]
  • 31 May 2005 – March 2009: Commodore (Honorary)[13]
  • 2 March 2009 – 2 April 2015: Rear Admiral (Honorary)[14]
  • 2 April 2015 – 16 September 2019: Vice Admiral (Honorary)[15]

Family and personal life

In 1959 he married Elizabeth Shauna Ingram; together they had three sons before their marriage was dissolved in 1988.[1]

Honours and awards
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO)2004[9]
Knight Bachelor1976[8]
Knight of the Order of St John
War Medal 1939–1945
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal2012
Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal2017
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia (David Bagration of Mukhrani)2016[16]

References
  1. Who's Who 2010, A & C Black, 2010, ISBN 978-1-408-11414-8
  2. "Support Servies". Business.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2016. (subscription required)
  3. "BUSINESS | Millions for car park entrepreneurs". BBC News. 24 March 1998. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  4. Sir Donald Gosling authorised biography Debretts.com
  5. Council The White Ensign Archived 27 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Sir Donald Gosling's superyacht memories, Boat International, 28 February 2010
  7. Windsor Castle Court Circular, 23 April 2012
  8. The Times, Thursday, May 27, 1976; pg. 2; Issue 59714; col B: "Sir Harold's resignation honours list in full"
  9. New Year Honours List The Independent, 31 December 2003
  10. Gosling, Donald. "Sir Donald Gosling's superyacht memories". Boat International. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  11. "Tributes paid to millionaire car parking tsar who saved HMS Victory with £25m donation". www.portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  12. "No. 53227". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 February 1993. p. 3311.
  13. "No. 57693". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 July 2005. p. 8688.
  14. "No. 59029". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 April 2009. p. 5961.
  15. The Daily Telegraph, 16 February 2015, p.28.
  16. "NEWS". Royalhouseofgeorgia.ge. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Sir George Zambellas		 Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom
2012–2019		 Vacant
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