Henry Pybus Bell-Irving

Henry Pybus Bell-Irving
23rd Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia
In office
May 18, 1978 – July 15, 1983
MonarchElizabeth II
Governors GeneralJules Léger
Edward Schreyer
PremierBill Bennett
Preceded byWalter Stewart Owen
Succeeded byRobert Gordon Rogers
Personal details
Born(1913-01-21)January 21, 1913
Vancouver, British Columbia
Died September 21, 2002(2002-09-21) (aged 89)
NationalityCanadian

Henry Pybus "Budge" Bell-Irving, OC DSO OBE OBC ED CD (January 21, 1913 – September 21, 2002) was the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1978 to 1983.

Born in Vancouver, he was educated at Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island and Loretto at Musselburgh, Scotland. He returned to attend the University of British Columbia, but withdrew because of the war. During World War II, Bell-Irving served with The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and commanded a company of the battalion in Sicily and Italy and northwest Europe before becoming the commander of the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade.

Next he returned to Vancouver and he joined his family real estate company, Bell-Irving Insurance Agencies, which later merged with A.E. LePage in 1972. In 1974 he was elected Chairman of the Vancouver Board of Trade.

In 1978, Governor General Jules Léger, on the advice of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, appointed him Lieutenant-Governor of BC.

Bell-Irving met his wife, Nancy, while attending UBC and was married in April 1937.

  1. ^ "No. 36180". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 September 1943. p. 4221.